Weekend Weapons: Sub Swara

Weekend Weapons: Sub Swara

9 November, 2010 | 4.13AM

• Written by: Alex Hughes
• Filed under: Music News: low motion records, sub swara, weekend weapons

Today, Brooklyn’s Sub Swara drop their second album, Triggers. It’s immediately evident how much has changed since their 2008 debut, Coup d’Yah. It’s not just that the beats and bass are heavier: fusing dubstep, hip-hop, dancehall, and South Asian music, the duo’s sound has gelled, its elements more deeply integrated and its drama more all-encompassing. They sound less like a group inspired by far-flung influences, and more like a crew with an acute sense of its own voice.

The main version of the album features guest spots from Dead Prez, Lyrics Born, and others, while the six-track Trigger Instrumentals & Radio Edits EP offers unadulterated beats.

Make no mistake: this is a big record for bass heads. We asked Sub Swara to clue us in as to some of the tunes that have been inspiring their own DJ sets; read on for some serious low-end pressure.

Lorn, “Never Enough” [Brainfeeder]

Lorn’s made a big impact really fast on a slew of folks, and we’re no exception. He has a great ability to merge an ominous undertone with a finely honed sense of melody and banging rhythm in a way that never comes off as standard beat-you-over-the-head-
aggression. This track is a shining example of that confluence and we can’t wait to hear more from him.

Rustie, “Neko” [Warp]

We’ve been a fan of Rustie since “Jagz the Smack” blew people away in 2007, and it’s nice to see him back with his new Sunburst EP. Being fans of intense organic percussion in our own productions, we really appreciate the big, open, live-kit vibe in this one, which lives in perfect harmony with the ebb and flow of the synth melody.

Africa Hitech, “Lash Out” [Warp]

We first heard this tune when the Gaslamp Killer dropped it in his Low End Theory podcast, and it’s straight-up heavy. But what makes it great, other than its inherent intensity, is that it keeps ebbing and flowing, climbing and falling. The synths and the rhythm are always shifting and modulating, keeping you locked but always eager to see where the next twist is. Plus it’s always nice when the main melody line doesn’t start on the downbeat every time.

Starkey, “Rain City” [Triple Vision Music Group]

Our bredren from two hours south, the Seclusiasis gang, headed up by Starkey & Dev 79, are consistently putting out music that runs parallel to the Sub Swara genre-free ethos.  They also happen to push some serious woofer weight, raising high their “Street Bass” flag.  Starkey’s solo output is no different, always bringing forth songs that showcase jagged synths, huge melodies, and crushing drums—perfect ingredients for heavy bass music.

Poirier, “Get Crazy (Mark Pritchard Remix)” [Ninja Tune]

Ghislain Poirier was one of the first artists we booked back in 2008 when we were doing our monthly event, just before his landmark No Ground Under LP came out.  Since then we’ve played with him in NYC, Edmonton, and Sweden, and each time he mashes up soca, dancehall, and underground bass energy in a way that just devastates the dancefloor. This remix by Mark Pritchard—whose “Elephant Dub” on Deep Medi we also love—adds a wonky, paranoid, polyrhythmic energy to Poirier’s relentless sound, making the infectious “Get Crazy” ever more insane.

Hudson Mohawke, “Gluetooth” [Warp]

We love horns (case in point, “Belgrade Riddim” off of our first album, Coup d’Yah, and “Bird of Paradise” on our latest album, Triggers) or, in the case of this tune, a proxy for bad-ass horns. The synths in this track sound like a massive bass/baritone horn section. Paired with the industrial energy of the drums, this is just a huge tune. 

Sub Swara, “Steam” [Low Motion]

More so than any other of our recent tracks, “Steam” encapsulates where we are as a group right now. The focus is on driving rhythms, to the point of almost being tribal about it—intense, but not boneheadedly aggressive; speaker-destroying bass weight; big melodies and twists and turns to keep the dancers (and listeners) excited. This one was a full-on, collaborative Sub Swara effort, based around our own live drum riffs and percussion we recorded in india (and resampled in Brooklyn), and if you catch us on tour, it’s the one we’re opening the sets with—coming out of the gates at 110%.

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