First off, a release that has been getting plugged right across the blog-world and for good reason. Brooklyn based producer Dre Skull has always been impressive in terms of his scope, turning his hand to genres from Baltimore to dancehall, collaborating with vocalists of ever higher profile, and astute in his choice of remixers. In the latter respect, Bok Bok’s take on his latest track ‘I Want You’ transforms a mellow electro throwback into a stripped-down bass-fest, innovatively drawing on both funky and dubstep. This is definitely one to pick up, as is ‘Glitch Dub’/ ‘Nocturnal’ the latest 12” from Emvee. This is the latest Northern English bassline producer to interpret the more London-centric funky. The B-side impresses particularly, a cut-to-the-bone skanker, enlivened with a steel drum melody which encapsulates the best of the genre’s Caribbean leanings.

Not to over egg the pudding, but it’s still worth talking about Diplo and Switch’s Major Lazer project which has been gratifyingly fulfilling its potential. By now, anyone who’s interested would have heard the album and may have noticed the guest production credits on the final track ‘Jump Up’, none other than Italian duo Crookers. While their production over the last year or two has veered towards the preposterous, clearly the collaboration has brought them back to planet banger, giving vocalists Leftside and Supahyp a bouncy soca-rave riddim to run wild upon. Cannily playing the blog hype game, the Lazer boys had circulated riddim and acapella tracks from their first release, ‘Hold The Line’, and remix prizes have to go to Brazilian Edu-K and Ghislain Porier of ‘Bounce Les Grosses’ in Montreal. Interestingly, Ghis has taken the bones of this remix to form the basis of an original track:

The pace and breadth of global remix culture is definitely to be marvelled at when it goes right – and it often doesn’t! A track really demonstrating the power of blended genres is Mosca’s reworking of Tempa T’s ‘Next Hype’. Tempa is something of controversial figure in grime, where MCs tend to aim for high levels of lyric and flow (when they’re not too busy cashing in on pop crossovers). He, on the other hand shouts… constantly, delivering a vocal that’s somewhere between hype-man and bar brawl. Mosca retains the 140bpm pace and aggressive swagger of the original track, ramping up the hype with Baltimore breaks, syncopated gunshots and squawking car alarms.

Another impressive remix comes courtesy of L-Vis 1990, who recently earned one of the top honours in the scene (a signing to Mad Decent). He’s given the soca ‘n’ bass treatment to one of last year’s notable dubstep anthem ‘3Klane’ by Joker and Jakes (although strictly speaking the kids seem to be calling it ‘wonky’ these days but even Bassfiles thinks this is too much!). The bassline wobbles, the percussion percolates, an all round skanking bubbler to perk up any dubstep dance:

Listening to new developments in dubstep it’s clear that funky’s soca influence is spreading. Meanwhile, funky itself continues on its exciting trajectory, sucking up producers of all varieties. The latest garage veteran to board the train is MJ Cole, and his recent Bodytonic Podcast is highly recommended. It starts off with his newest production ‘Gotta Have It’ which he has also reworked in a funky style. Both versions are well worth copping when they drop. Sticky’s latest ‘Jack it Up’ features Marvin Brown on the vocal and with its bashment vibes is making a big impression on dancefloors.

A forthcoming release that’s showing huge promise comes from Zimbabwean producer Jusa, who’s packed incredible energy into ‘African Airhorn Dance’ which loops its title instrument over frenetic percussion and quickly churning bass. There seems to be a nicely produced video in the pipeline and of course the obligatory dance moves, so it’s quite possible that this will become a bit of a phenomenon, at least until what Tempa calls the ‘next hype’.

Finally, more mention needs to be made of Warrior One, who Nic James writes about on the Toejam blog. For a start they’re half Irish (Eno, who has produced some lovely mash-ups and Baltimore tracks in previous projects). Secondly, their production is gaining serious recognition within the scene, no doubt due to the unique atmosphere of their tracks. The style demonstrated on ‘I Don’t Need you’, ‘The Machine’ and ‘Bad like Jimmy Cliff’ represents a spot on marriage of soca beat and the electronic.