Slugger & Subway // Tessela

Steering towards the most recent straint of the dubstep sound Bath based producer Ed Russel (Tessela) brings us two thundering tunes that really wouldn’t sound out of place on a Hessle audio release. Despite a previous background in production, Ed has only been producing under the ‘Tessela’ monika for the past year and has managed to develop the name in a very short space of time, providing mixes for various websites as well as DJing in nearby (and speculative current home of dubstep) Bristol. The two tracks tastefully combine classic techno and garage influences and will be available via Dublin based label ‘All City Records’ on the 23/05/2011.

'Slugger' eases in with some jazzy dimlite-esque  sample manipulation before lurching into swaying tech-garage rhythms. Maintaining snatches of the original samples Tessela manages to keep our musical interest throughout the track whilst keeping the tune very much within dancefloor vibe. Although a still developing sound in the dubstep world ‘Slugger’ could be compared to the works of artists such as Blawan or Objekt.

'Subway' presents a more traditional dubstep sound via its rolling drum work, although once again Tessela's musicianship and excellent sample manipulation stand this track apart from the typical sub-rolling dubstep. Tessela also harnesses some wonderfully manipulated vocal samples reminiscent of some of Jamie XX's work although in a completely different context. Halfway through the track Tessela flips the tune, shifting to old school synth stabs that recall the sound of early 90s Jungle.

• Published
• Aug 16, 2011

• Credits
• Words by Theo Darton-Moore