Uncertain / Vendetta

Having recorded a number of excellent deep, soulful but hard hitting dubstep releases under his DJG monkier, San Francisco's Dean J. Grenier decided to move into fresher pastures this year, announcing his new alias as Grenier. Kicking off with a killer release on Photek Productions early on in 2012 - and not many artists aside from Photek himself can claim a plate on his highly respected imprint - Grenier takes a dark-jungle and classic dubstep inspired perspective on the currently favoured 128bpm / house tempo, and he now delivers a stunning 12" for Tectonic in the process. 'Uncertain' featured on Tectonic label boss Pinch's acclaimed ‘Fabriclive’ mix earlier this year and has been highly requested ever since. Tough bass stabs punch in the intro before wheeling backwards and slamming into a hard, almost 4/4 rhythm, fully charged with a weighted sub. The track devleops with jazzy references and sonic flashes of musicality, almost reminicent of early Peshay and Metalheadz. It is, by any measure, a killer tune. On the flip, 'Vendetta' sticks again with the 128bpm tempo but takes a heavy dark wobble sound, a-la Skream circa 2006, and moulds it around a stepping 4/4 rhythm. This makes for a simple and effective rhythmical weapon of choice that encapsulates much of what made early dubstep so interesting, reincarnated here at the slower housey tempo.