Download:Kowton- RA.226 podcast

The Bristol-based producer blurs the lines between techno and dubstep on his mix for the RA podcast.

Can a producer successfully traverse the boundaries between dubstep and techno? Shed certainly doesn’t seem to think so. But the work of Bristol-based producer Joe Cowton may make him think twice about bass music creators meddling with four-to-the-floor dynamics and lower tempos.

Cowton made his first foray into dubstep production while he was studying music technology in Manchester. Inspired by both his visit to a DMZ rave in Leeds’ West Indian Centre, and the records that he was picking up at Boomkat’s now defunct physical store, Pelican Neck, Cowton started to craft his own take on the dubstep sound, pricking the ears of blogger and Keysound owner Martin “Blackdown” Clark at an early stage. His first actual releases came under his Narcossist moniker, fusing together deep sub-bass tones with the rhythmic skip of UK garage on both the Mindset and Clandestine Cultivations imprints, but by the middle of last year, Cowton had started to unveil a much different style to his work.

His debut release as Kowton for Keysound was the first chance for many to hear what he’d been concocting in his new surroundings of Bristol. By dropping the tempo down by a good 15 BPM and trying to integrate heavily swung rhythms and dubstep production tropes into a house and techno template, Cowton has managed to create a genuinely unique niche for himself. The clanking minimalist churn of his 12-inch for Idle Hands from earlier this year only served to compound his reputation in techno circles, but Cowton definitely hasn’t left dubstep behind. His DJ sets frequently combine music from both genres, and that’s exactly what he’s done with his RA podcast, transitioning through low-slung techno into hyper-kinetic dubstep.(…More at RA)

Published / 27 September 2010
Filesize / 63.24 MB
Length / 00:52:41

Download:Kowton- RA.226 podcast