Sunday 13 November 2011

Maverick Sabre: the man, the monster, the mixes

It's no secret that I have an unhealthy obsession with anything marked Maverick Sabre and this new I Need song, well, it's one of his best yet. Sabre delivers a euphoric blend of unique vocals and minimalistic melodies to create more atmosphere than a fifty piece orchestra. No one does urban soul this good and Ireland should be proud to have such a man at the forefront of their music scene (he beats Jedward any day).


There are also about a million remixes floating around. The Brookes Brothers take a while to get warmed up on theirs, but once they've started it's well worth the listen. The siblings tear up the track with their heavy bass/sub-basslines, crazy electronic beats and filthy drums, proving that DnB is certainly making a comeback. I wholly recommend anyone who's just jumped on to the dubstep bandwagon and completely skipped the mad world of drum and bass to check these guys out.


Another London duo, Moto Blanco, have done a great, fun house mix. Loud drums, lively synths and bouncy vocals take the tune to optimal Summer strength. It's an excellent example of house done well in order to create positive energy, emotions and enjoyment. I only wish that it dropped a little bit sooner than it does but apart from that I know for sure I'll be busting a move (and probably a limb) to this on a Friday night.


Then we've got the Cookie Monsta remix; that's right kids Sesame Street's gone dubstep! There's no easy way to put this - it's noise. I mean, I'm game for a lot of the underground dubstep out there at the moment but that just sounds like someone's trying to grind metal on the London Underground. Screeeeeeech!!! But closer to the end it calms down big time; this piano and saxophone comes in, it sounds really romantic and, I think, it would go down nicely in a smoky, late night jazz bar. So drag the video up to about 2:45 and prepare to be transported to somewhere absolutely beautiful. How bizarre.


DubRocca has completely obliterated Cookie Monsta on the dubstep front. It comes from the slower, filthier end of the spectrum that only properly works at half two on a Saturday morning when you're so chilledyou need to immerse yourself in melodies. This is the bass of the future, taking dubstep back to its early routes when it was known as heavy garage and spinning a digital twist. I guarantee you that in five years time this is the kind of thing that will be getting into the charts. At the moment it's more of an underground scene but, with the recent success of Moombahton, the slower tempo dubstep-verging-on-UKG stuff is going to explode.

Of course it's not just epic producers and bloggers like myself that are hooked by Sabre's mellow vocals, Chipmunk and Benny Banks are loving it too. They've doubled up and recruited New Machines to add all sorts of electro mayhem over the chorus and then spat some great bars in between. The guys have taken everything that we love from dubstep and all the fresh stuff from grime and mashed them up in order to create a mental mix that they should certainly be proud of.

The most feel good mix has to be Zed Bias'. Having drawn on influences from Jamaica and the Caribbean, Bias has brought the vibrancy and rawness of carnival to Maverick Sabre with all number of bongos and steel pans. If the Brookes Brothers dealt with the bassy DnB then this is where the drums come in. Don't worry, the original track is still very much present but now it appeals to the early Friday/Saturday evening crew. Oozing with fun, fresh, jump-around energy, Zed Bias has definitely run away with the title of "Best I Need Remix" hands down.

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