Music / Clubs
Subloaded presents 10 years of Tectonic
“One night at Subloaded can change your life,” said Mary Anne Hobbs in her Radio 1 days. She was right. Launched in 2004 by the great Bristol producer Pinch (pictured above), Subloaded was the first dubstep rave outside London and is one of the most influential club nights Bristol has ever had. Those early days are documented beautifully in the 2006 film Living Inside The Speaker, which we’ve embedded here for your viewing pleasure.
Dubstep’s spectacular rise and fall may now be a surreal memory but the factors that shaped it – a tight knit community of artists, experimental attitude and the kind of bass-shock vibrations that insurers won’t pay out on – are still very much present and correct in Bristol. This month Subloaded returns to The Black Swan where it belongs, for a one-off party celebrating the tenth birthday of Pinch’s label Tectonic Recordings. Originally Bristol’s most iconic dubstep imprint, Tectonic has diversified a little in recent years, putting out head-wrecking bass transmissions from Acre, Wen, Distal and Ishan Sound, as well as the essential ‘Proto’ album by Mumdance and Logos.
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Then there is Pinch’s own collaboration with UK dub master Adrian Sherwood, a release that positions Tectonic in a lineage of radical soundsystem music that goes back decades. The lineup will remain under wraps until the day, but Subloaded’s appeal is based less on its personnel than its formula – a grass roots venue, a huge soundsystem and an endless supply of dubplates. Subloaded doesn’t come round often these days so this will be a very special occasion; a snapshot of a scene pushing ever forward with compelling results.
Subloaded presents: 10 Years of Tectonic at The Black Swan on Friday September 25. For more information visit www.facebook.com/Subloaded
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