My copy of the OG 'Blow my Smoke' gets touched more than Tekashi 6ix9ine on his first day in prison. When a dancefloor needs a surgical injection of 140 ccs of hype, you can't go wrong with UALP007.
Releasing a remix of an already great tune always comes with a risk. Soon as those stems get sent out, it's in the hands of the gods. On the flip side, though, it sometimes lands in the hands of a god - which is what happened here.
Reigning down from his studio which we can only assume is carved into the side of Mount Olympus, Bukez adds that sense of divine retribution to the surgical precision of Juss B. There's always a sense of unpredictability in a Bukez production, and this is undeniably him in his element. The track takes you on a multitude of journeys, at points it's an eyes-down head bopper, and at others, it's a full-on skank inducing groover. The recommended dance move would have to be some frenetic footwork with your eyes closed.
On the flip, we have an original production from Juss B - 'Bussin'. This one is quintessential Juss B and Uprise, in my opinion. You've got those west coast vocal samples which give the track its name, coupled with those fierce bass synths which are a staple of both the artist and the label. Just like the OG of 'Blow My Smoke', 'Bussin' is undeniably built with the dancefloor in mind. When the dance needs its injection of energy, drop this one to augment the gluteals of the sound system.
For those looking to cop, the release has dropped as a limited 50 copy lathe cut and is currently on pre-order over on Beatport. The lathe cuts have increasingly become a staple of Uprise, with the A:Grade and Kyrist releases from earlier in the year getting similar treatment. It would be amiss of me to not talk about this briefly. Limited press lathe cuts have been causing a bit of a stir in the underground scene as they grow in popularity. I've seen comments from both sides of the debate on the ever wholesome social media.
The main arguments I've seen against these lathe cuts have been: the exclusivity and the expense. In this case, the exclusivity argument doesn't have too much bearing to it - with the digital release coming alongside. Exclusivity doesn't bother me too much; I probably wouldn't have been around dubstep so long if it did, and there's undeniably a case for keeping tunes in their particular context. The move towards lathe cut AND digital is a shrewd move by label head Eddy Seven; it removes those exclusivities and gives two different markets the goods.
The expense argument is slightly more complicated. Nikola Khrushchev once said: "Economics is a subject that does not greatly respect one's wishes", which is especially true when running a dubstep label. The price point on a lathe cut is going to be higher, so it's always worth going into such a purchase with an equal dose of rationalism and altruistic intent. If you can't afford it, don't buy it - but don't complain about it. If you're umming and ahhing with enough dollar in the bank, it's worth considering the changes in the flow of the money compared to a higher-volume pressing. Where the latter has a lower price at the point of sale, that price gets split between a higher number of third-parties. So from the altruistic point of view, the more expensive lathe cut is a more direct way of supporting the big three: the artist, the label and the (usually) small cutting house.
Not every label is going to be releasing limited lathe cuts which is another thing to keep in mind.
I've strayed from the review a little bit if you've got any opinions on the format debate, leave them in the comments below.
All in all another stellar release from the Uprise Audio camp, tunes built for the dancefloor and guaranteed to cause havoc every time, for the thinking head, the format opens up the floor for some (hopefully) civilised debate on lathe cuts, general presses and digital releases.
That lathe cut is up for grabs now from: Bandcamp Digital drops on the 27th of September, but there's a Beatport preorder here.
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