Cloaks’ debut album Versus Grain was a sophisticated, logical extension of the marriage of dubstep and dark hop, with its original, fibrous roots in Mick Harris’ Scorn—a hard, autistically-absorbed beat bashing against an electrified fence of sputtering but well-tuned noise.
The most unspeakable things have be done to wonderful, wobbly dubstep since it stepped beyond the confines of South London and into the spotlight of mainstream popularity. But there’s one group who pulled it back into the shadows and gave it a good working over. Cloaks’ debut album Versus Grain was a sophisticated, logical extension of the marriage of dubstep and dark hop, with its original, fibrous roots in Mick Harris’ Scorn—a hard, autistically-absorbed beat bashing against an electrified fence of sputtering but well-tuned noise.
Versions Grain is a trunk show of remixes with the label trotting out its entire roster—many of whom prove to have promising debut long-players in the offing—to abuse its first and most critically-successful release, along with two special guests. Cloaks themselves set the tone with the first of two takes that didn’t make the original album, a smelt oven rendition of “Detritus.” The tone changes immediately with Legion of Two’s extended, bouncy dub “Against,” where the live drums get real skin in the game. After Godflesh, Palesketcher and Jesu, Justtn Broderick’s latest incarnation, JK Flesh—whose debut slipped out into the world on 3by3 right after this collection—takes a stiff-bristled steel brush to “Rust on Metal” to bring out a clean sheen to reflect his unleashed guitar gleam. Ancient Methods organize a hi-def, tribal hedonist dance out of “R.F.I.D.” over a full, invigorating nine minutes.
Hearing Cloaks’ second unreleased alternative take, “Sixmenace One,” perfectly justifies its being left off the first time, but Latvian producer Oyaarss creates an entire film noir screenspace on which to project his version of “Sixmenace Two.” Dead Fader’s roaring lion and Devilman’s mad scientist lightning bolts are of more interest to naturalists and mad scientists than aficionados of clever remixes, but a second go at “R.F.I.D” by Volt Music (one half of Cloaks) forces the original to stay autistically fixated on its relentless beat.
Versions Grain is available on 3BY3.
