Size isn’t everything. Shortstuff’s here and what he lacks in height he delivers in Goliath bass.
He is yet another welcome member to the fold of ever-expanding but quality dance artists who colour in the grey areas between the low hero hertz genres of dubstep, funky and crushed weird house.
Shortstuff, AKA Richard Attley, has been bobbing about with Brackles and Hyetal, splitting 12”s and uniting dance floors. From the off he dazzled us with ‘Glazed’ on Berkane Sol, then the freshly launched Pollen Records with ‘Broken Harp’, before Planet Mu sat up and noticed enough to offer him their impressive 241’s catalogue number with ‘No Hand Signals’ – a crammed and frenetic single laboured over with Geiom.
If you prefer the more spacious arrangements in modern bass then Shortstuff may be too much for you. But if you are after a hungry and relentlessly urgent vibe then stick your colours here, you’ll be richly rewarded.
Even ‘Don’t Stop’ on the often gentle Punch Drunk label out of Bristol is manic and hyped for a Friday. Its flip, however, brings us ‘Ice Cream’, a song which cools things slickly bringing some cosmic space into his talents.
One thing about the current raft of new talents is that the quality control remains truly high. New sounds and scenes will be set upon by imitators quickly and we’ve seen a scene smothered too quickly – however the strange and twisted beats growing out from Bristol, London and Glasgow are conscious enough to push, like bean stalks up and up, to find their own space and place. Shortstuff may soon be a giant in his field. We’ll relish the journey and the rise.
Shortstuff Essentials
‘A Rustling/Stuff’ (Ramp)
‘Don’t Sleep’ (Punch Drunk)
‘Glazed’ (Berkane Sol)
