Ital Tek: Nebula Dance

Ital Tek
Nebula Dance
Planet Mu
2012-11-14

I have always felt a little bit ambivalent about debstep. I have friends whose opinions on music I trust who swear up and down that dubstep is the future of electronic dance music. I have other friends whose tastes I trust that denounce dubstep as a rank fad. I am not sure where I stand on the issue, but I see where both sides are coming from. Although clearly working in conversation with the genre, it would not be fair to describe Ital Tek’s new record Nebula Dance as straight-up debstep. The rich, booming synth lines and emotive, inviting beats remind this listener of the glory days of British IDM; think Plaid, µ-Ziq, and Aphex Twin. Indeed, this is what I wish dubstep sounded like; catchy, multi-faceted, and rhythmically infectious. It is easy to get lost in these tracks and Nebula Dance is pretty much guaranteed to make your neck hurt from compulsive head bobbing. There is nothing revolutionary going on here, but fans of creative, forward thinking dubstep should eat this stuff up like pills of whatever rave drug happens to be popular this week. Put this stuff through some mighty subwoofers and watch the kids go nuts, but you can also put it through some nice headphones and watch old farts like me who are nostalgic for ’90s era IDM happily rock back and forth.

RATING 7 / 10