Fuller / Hurricane Riddim

Funkystepz are a collective of house producers from North London, with a show on Rinse FM and a string of self-released underground hits under their belts. They're definitely some of the producers to watch out for this year. After a period of trial and testing on dubplate by DJs like Kode9 and Marcus Nasty, this first release for Hyperdub doesn't mess about. ‘Fuller’ is a dancefloor destroyer of a very British vintage. Hard without being rigid, with a cold, elastic sense of melody that bounces and snaps around the midrange between the bass and snares. Tempered by an occasional organ stab, it's one of those tracks that will lively up any club straight away, doing away with the forced euphoria of a lot of contemporary dance music, and instead honing the harder-to-master skill of energetic intensity and building anticipation. ‘Hurricane Riddim’ takes the listener through a number of contrasting moods simply but effectively. Opening with heavy orchestral stabs and military snares reminicent of classic grime, the addition of a complicated, snaking bassline gives the track a jump up feel, and the eight-bar aggression gives way to sections of orchestral calm and a sad but bouncy piano melody.