Cargo Records

Clubroot : The Directors Cut (DLP+CD)

With only 450 numbered copies available worldwide, this very special limited vinyl issue of Clubroot’s breathtaking debut album is sure to be in massive demand among the cultured bass music classes.

Packed in a black die-cut jacket, with plain black and grey labels, the double 12” set also includes the complete CD version of the album, on a specially-made disc with unique artwork.

A St. Alban's resident, Clubroot cut his teeth in the early part of this decade with material bearing a likeness to the futurist ideals of drum and bass producers like Optical, Ed Rush, and Nico. As dubstep began to develop its own musical language, its emerging low end sonic tropes and freedom from rhythmic clutter acted as the catalyst for Clubroot, the moment when he realized what was upon him and was instinctually galvanized into action. His epic debut album is unlike any other yet released in the wider context of dubstep, eschewing high impact rhythmic constructions and muscular bass dynamics in favour of rolling grandeur and elaborately-realised emotive scenes, as thematically profound and vast in conception as it is uniquely expressive.

140 bpm tempos and lurching club-tooled sequences are not part of the Clubroot modus operandum : instead we encounter massive bass vistas, intricate garage-influenced spiralling beats, evocative melodic narratives that unwind to reveal fascinating bright flowers and surges of liquid colour, and a sense of stately beauty rarely encountered in electronic music. Like a map of an undiscovered audio landscape, these 10 tracks illustrate a collection of distinct environments which collectively create a whole set of shared senses, their seemingly otherworldly qualities primed to generate vivid emotional responses to be deeply embedded in the memory. Clubroot’s irresistable siren pull is already winning over fans among the few who have already been exposed to his expansive gathering clouds of sound. Mary Anne Hobbs was quick to commission a mix for her world-renowned Radio 1 show, while word spreading like a looming thunderstorm across the forums and blogs has generated huge anticipation among forward-thinking bass music fans, clamouring for the release of this view into the future.

“One of the saddest things you'll ever hear … but for all its influences, this record is remarkably singular. Its sounds coalesce into a feeling for which words would do injustice. (7.8 / 10) – Pitchfork …

“Clubroot leads us through 10 tracks which establish his command of melody and harmony in one of dubstep’s most listenable LPs yet. Fans of Burial, Scuba, or Distance should find plenty to get their listening gear around on this visceral and ambrosial debut.” – Big Up Magazine.