In my short time in the dubstep scene, Ceramics is an artist I am yet to cross paths with. Now that the day has finally come I am glad to say I am sonically pleased by the sounds that this New Yorker has curated and packaged as ‘Contact’ for Locus Sound's 006. As a hip-hop head through and through, the effective use of samples really gets me going. So when listening to the samples in this project I was pleased to hear the meshing of the samples and other components of the tracks. A sample is a precious thing in dubstep, as it is in any genre, a means of directing a song down a particular path, and sometimes that can be over-powering if not thought out. This is not something that we come across in this project, throughout the EP samples are used simply but effectively, the fading vocals and the middle eastern sounding samples in ‘Medallions’ compliment the short and punchy minimal kick drums similarly to the police receiver fading in under the intro and other parts of the tune in the title track ‘Contact’. The squad over at Juan’s secret HQ appreciate a solid bass-line, and when this is achieved the maracas tend to make an appearance. Ceramics’ supplies said bass lines throughout his project. The smooth steppa-esque wubs of noxious gas pass over ones body, enveloping ones mind, steering you into a head bopping stupor, compared to ‘Medallions’ being skippier than Kermit on acid, the range is varied but the project doesn’t lose its consistency. And lastly sandwiched in-between those two, the deeper l, slower side of dubstep, swimming with the fishes music, trudging through seaweed with Aquaman levels. All in all, this is a well rounded EP from the New Yorker. Well selected samples from the heat of the Middle East to the heat of the West, accompanied by bass lines smooth enough to cure that stubborn after-morning rave headache really tie together the different aspects used by Ceramics.