Just reached back from Boomtown Fair in the Forest of Dean, a real fun little festival with a heavy Bristol following.

Our favourite spot was The Lion’s Den which seemed to be run by those post apocalyptic party favourites Arcadia and had the choicest line up of DJs, heavy on the Reggae, Dubstep and Jungle with The Heatwave fellas, Stivs from free party veterans Life 4 Land & Demolition Man, Congo Natty & Tenorfly, Mungos Hi-Fi and Iration Steppas being amongst the more noticeable. Favourite set came from Baobinga who played a hype set which was possibly the least obvious you can play without losing the crowd.


There was disappointment from missing Jazzsteppa who apparently tore it up, and didn't manage to catch Reso or Komonazmuk either, but none of the music anywhere in the festival was in itself disappointing, which is rare these days. Most of the bands were some combination or other of Dub, Ska, Gypsy and Folk, relying on festival favourites rather than big name pullers, with especially good sets from: Babylon Circus out of Lyon; Babyhead, whose sound has got a lot deeper and dubbier of late but who still remain one of the top festival bands; and Glitzy BagHags.

Unfortunately because Los Albertos, a fantastic Ska based band from Brighton had the last official slot of the festival they only managed to get out two tunes before they had to shut down. It must have killed the organizers to have to do this but with such a good little thing going in a beautiful location it would be a shame to have their license revoked for next year.

We don't really have any suitable tracks to give you from the festival this time so here's a few recent Dubstep favourites from our inbox, starting with these Bronto sized beats from The Snare Bear. Both tracks make up the Jurassic Park EP some eerie tribal Dubstep business, heavy on the 808s and growly on the bass.

(YSI) The Snare Bear - Rex / alt link

(YSI) The Snare Bear - Raptor / alt link


Reasonable little reworking of the fantastic Bats for Lashes track Daniel by Graphics here, not sure how the mix will stand up on a proper set of speakers as just got a shitty pair of headphones on me, but definitely worth trying.

Bats For Lashes - Daniel (Graphics Dubstep Remix)

Next is a mash up by Blessed Love of a few different Skream tunes and some Linton Kwesi Johnson samples that's brimming with chilled intensity. Check out the UK Bass Culture Mixtapes from Blessed Love too for a quick history lesson from Reggae classics through UK Hip-hop and into the current Dubstep trends.

(YSI) Blessed Love - LKJ Vs Skream Dubstep Mash Up / alt link


Finally a heavyweight selection of Dubz that's right up our street, courtesy of The Hoax, holding it down over there in Antwerp.

(Sharebee) The Hoax - Dubstep Mix Aug 09

Tracklisting:

D.Kay - Fire (Rusko Remix)
Mike Lennon - Brass Eye (Reso Remix)
Joker & Ginz - Purple City
Ed Solo - Watch Your Eyes
Benga - One Million
Chase & Status - Eastern Jam (High Rankin Remix)
Tek-One - Broken String
Bar 9 - Murda Sound (VIP Mix)
Reso - Smash Yer Face In
Man Like Me - London Town (Doorly's Cockney Wideboy Remix)
Kevin Rudolf Ft. Kid CuDi - Welcome To The World (High Rankin Remix)
Kyza - Go (Bar 9 Remix)
Cookie Monsta - Ginger Pubes
High Rankin - No Money For Guns
The Prodigy - Breathe (Numbernin6 Remix)
Subscape - Wrong Number
16Bit - PCP
>> B.Rich - We Ball Harder
The Prodigy - Warrior's Dance (Benga Remix)
Reso - Onslaught
Cookie Monsta - Bliss
Don Diablo & Example - Hooligans (Doorly's Dubstep Remix)
Don Diablo & Example - Hooligans (Wire Remix)
Dub Crookz - Skeleton Dust
F-One & Kromestar - Head Twiss
Rico Tubbs - Gangsters (Tes La Rok Remix)
High Rankin - Escape From The Hood
Tek-One - Mate
Major Lazer - Hold The Line (DZ Remix)
Deftones - Shove It (Dubstep Remix)