Loefah – Root / The Goat Stare

NOW AVAILABLE DIGITALLY THROUGH LOEFAH'S BANDCAMP: loefahproductions
highly worth it.

Sample in Goat Stare is from the 1981 Sci-Fi/Horror "Scanners".

Classic horror references are sprinkled throughout the dubstep catalog, possibly a reflection of each artists love for the amazing genre of cinema, a fellow "underground" just like dubstep itself. Classic Sci-Fi greatly influenced the impact synthesizers had on music today and the reference to the genera of film is a appreciative nod in that direction.

The introduction sample on Root features Sir Coxsone Dodd, telling how he came up with the idea to release his own records. The sample snipped "not for pubication" and "dubplate" is voced by Alton Ellis. Both Samples can be found on the Studio One Story documentary released by the Soul Jazz label.

Classic Loefah tunes that carve out his incredibly dark and unique sound. The 'Scanners' samples just work perfectly as we get scanned by the bass... "i must remind you the scanning experience is usually painful". Bass with dangerous intent.

i couldn't agree more. everything about this track is top notch

Root is good don't get me wrong, but Goat Stare on the flip is Dubstep taken to another level. As with all genres Dubstep has proliferated into a many headed beast, but this comes from an era (OK it's only five years ago, but still...) where 99.9% of Dubstep singles were almost literally ground breaking and helping to lay the foundations for the behemoth that now provides singles for retro synth pop acts and is played on daytime Radio 1.
Goat Stare manages to stand head and shoulders above most of those 2004/2005 tracks. It really is a masterpiece and highlights Loefah's skills not just as a Bass mechanic, but a purveyor of intricate yet subtle rhythms and someone with a keen ear for a great sample.
As most people know the sample is taken from David Cronenberg's Scanners, more specifically the scene where a telekinetic/pathic Scanner demonstrates his abilities to a crowd. The Scanner warns the viewers that they may find the experience a painful one, "Sometimes leading to nose bleeds, ear aches, stomach cramps and nausea and other symptoms of a similar nature."
Loefah has knowingly used this sample as a platform to describe what his track is capable of doing. In the right environment (say DMZ at 3rd Base, when the whole place including the toilets and bar, would rattle, vibrate and hum like it was the apocalypse) you can really imagine the bass on this track more than capable of exploding the listener's head.
The intro to the track appropriates the echo and reverb aesthetic of dub, but the drums throughout are more tribal, more ethnic for want of a better word. They have that half step lurch, but the woodblocks begin their tattoo and a kind of Jungle funkiness a la Shy FX is felt. And then the bass drop, oh my God, the bass drop...
Sub bass is so prevalent nowadays and has already been morphed, mangled, wibbled, wobbled and wonked out that more often than not we take it for granted as listeners, but when I first heard Goat Stare it was like discovering Acid for the first time (the music, not the drug..well maybe), it was a complete WTF moment. Breath taking, awe-inspiring, jaw dropping - insert relevant cliche here.
So yeh, I like this tune a lot. The structure, the sample, the rhythms, it really is a master class in Dubstep production and deserves to be ed as one of the tunes that paved the way for the slew of producers who are working nowadays, and for those who want to be inspired to produce.