Skream - Outside the Box

Skream Outside the Box (2010)

Electronic, Dubstep, UK Garage, 2 Step

1. Perferated

2. 8 Bit Baby (Feat. Murs)

3. CPU

4. Where You Should Be (Feat. Samn Frank)

5. How Real (Feat. Freckles)

6. Field Of Emotion

7. I Love The Way

8. Listenin' To The Records On My Wall

9. Wibbler

10. Metamorphosis

11. Finally (Feat. La Roux)

12. Reflections (Feat Dbridge & Instra:mental)

13. A Song For Lenny

14. The Epic Last Song

Bonus

1. Give You Everything (Feat. Freckles)

2. Do U Know

3. Amity Step

4. Organic

5. Stand Up

6. WTF

9/10

If you haven't picked this up yet, do so immediately. Like every other producer, there are some people out there who don't particularly like Skream, but the popularity of "Midnight Request Line" can't be ignored and the guy's output is huge. "Skream!" isn't a perfect album by any means, but that and Skream's Rinse CD played a huge part in selling me on dubstep as a genre. Not to mention, his show with Benga is one of the best things on Rinse and pretty funny as well...

Anyways, unlike the other originators of dubstep who find themselves labeled "brostep" these days (Rusko, Caspa, etc.), Skream seems to have attracted the "popstep" or simply "mainstream" label with both his latest album and his Magnetic Man project w/ Benga and Artwork. That's not too far off the mark, actually, but for the first time (and it was long due) dubstep can be called "catchy" and there's nothing wrong with that. Some of the backing vocals and melodies are so well done, in fact, that the more old-school Skream tracks like Widdler and Metamorphosis seem almost bare in comparison. On the flip-side, the collaborations with huge artists don't seem to bode well for the future of dubstep. Katy B and Freckles, fine. But Murs and La Roux...?

Despite his place as one of the founders of dubstep, Skream's latest album is probably best categorized as Electronic music, and left at that. It might not appeal to everyone, but hey--to each his own. Personally, this is one of the best-produced albums I've heard all year, even if the vocals are a little much.