dubstep

"Cool" uncles have always gotten kids into all kinds of wonderful mischief, but 22-year-old Peter O'Grady from London , better known as Joy Orbison, was especially blessed—he credits uncle Ray Keith with introducing him to jungle and U.K. garage long before he could ever hit the clubs. At the age of 13 he took up DJing and eventually moved into production, beginning with Fruity Loops-crafted 8-bar grime loops before shifting into headier territory that combined his love of house, disco, and dubstep with the atmospheric fuzz of bands like My Bloody Valentine, Josef K, and The Beach Boys.

Manchester-based producer xxxy (born Rupert Taylor) is known for refining the propulsive, foot-forward sound of UK garage. Currently he's signed to various labels. Over the past year he has been quietly building a solid reputation with milestone releases on Infrasonics and Fortified Audio, as well as featuring on the seminal Fabric compilation "Elevator Music". With further releases set to come on labels such as Doc Daneeka's Ten Thousand Yen and Well Rounded, and a host of UK and European shows - it's little doubt that xxxy will leave a lasting impression on the UK underground.

The Chrome Kids are currently squatting in the last remaining Hip-hop warehouses, as the rest are bulldozed to make way for new Department stores. Although the buildings themselves are sturdy and in many ways still majestic, the bricks are crumbling slightly, the grand murals on the walls have started to fade and the roofs have been neglected for some time and are in need of repair. It might not be the best place to live but we have a phat stack of speakers that constantly rumble out the dirtiest, digitally mutated basslines and beats this side of Saturn.

With initial support in the form of grime veteran Plastician, “Birmingham’s finest” Emalkay gained the attention of South London based label Boka Records with the warped, future bass drones and epic strings of Gut Feeling. Continuing the success, Testing The Waters EP was released in October 2006 followed by Monsters in June 2007. The revolutionary sound of Mecha, released in the fall of 2007, gained Emalkay support from the likes of Radio 1 DJ Mary Anne Hobbs and breakbeat pioneer FreQ Nasty, as well as many of the leading figures of the current dubstep scene.