The boy from Colorado keeps the D&B madness flowing on his latest album. Substance D further establishes Dieselboy as the pre-eminent U.S. ambassador of the deep, dark atmospherics of the drum-and-bass sound. By holding back on the darkness a little, he sheds new light on a genre in need of revitalization. Not that tracks like "N/V/D (Counterstrike's Zentraedi Remix)" are light. Dieselboy is great at bridging new school D&B with the jazzy, Jamaican elements of Jungle. A lot of producers in the genre get the foreboding, scary intros down pat, but then disappoint when the rambunctious drums kick in. On Substance D, Dieselboy maintains the groove throughout, knowing when to pull it back (one of the tracks is called "The Big Pullback") for a breather. I can easily picture legendary jazz drummers Gene Krupa and Art Blakey rocking black hoodies at a Dieselboy jam, just bobbing their heads at the chaos Dieselboy is controlling. The remixes of both MSTRKFT ("Paris") and Meat Beat Manifesto ("Helter Skelter") have to be heard to be believed. Dieselboy's musicianship shines throughout Substance D.
Substance D drops May 6th.
Hear samples of the album at www.myspace.com/humanimprint.
Or preorder a copy at Amazon.com.