Description:	12" on Planet Mu
	Format:	12" (vinyl)
	Genre(s):	Dubstep / Bass Music
	Label:	Planet Mu
	Price:	£5.79
	Availability:	In stock. Dispatched in 1 working day.

4
...according to our Brett on 04 March 2010.

Christ, I started this one up at the wrong speed too.. You never can tell these days. Starkey's stuff picked up a bit for me recently, with the completely alien-sounding 'Creature' from a few months back being one particular highlight, so let's see how this one does. The lead tune's got to be the most laid-back thing I've heard him do so far as he takes a step back from the electronic dementia in order to put Anneka's soulful vocals to the fore, pinging little lazers at her from some neighbouring planet before eventually looming a little larger in the cosmos. I never thought I'd hear him do a ballad! Slugabed's remix wonkys it right up with daftstep beats to give it a little dancefloor power. That leaves two more Starkey originals; 'Starting Gates' alternates between relatively restrained hip-hop beats with Zomby-style synths and lurching crunk craziness that has Ant reaching for a 'dentists drill' comparison, while 'Millenia' combines a Terror Danjah-like vibe with blaring synths that are making me feel like someone's got some kind of bazooka/church organ hybrid and they're firing neon signs into my face. A good way to feel.

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What their label says...

Philadelphian producer and genre cross-pollinator Starkey teases us before the release of his album ‘Ear Drums and Black Holes’ with this excellent single. Holes’ with this excellent single.

It follows his recent mind-blowing session on Radio One’s Mary Anne Hobbs show where he built a track during the show from scratch (with the help of Anneka and Reso) which ended up with other daytime Radio1 DJs scrambling to play it.

Well, here’s what happens when they have more than one hour to do a track; ‘Stars’ is a tender lullaby, dedicated to getting lost in the wonder of the cosmos. On vocals is Anneka Warburton, a singer whose crystal clear but very tender voice curls perfectly around Starkey’s graceful washes of synth and emotive effects. The song is the sort of experience that could happily last forever. The song gently builds, only to come down to earth softly in just over 3 minutes.

Slugabed does a remix, he’s an artist who’s on everyone’s lips right now and he gleefully shatters the song into fragments but keeps the melody just in shape, before bringing it all together in his unique style when the drums and bass drop, threshing the whole thing up.

The B-side features two exclusive tracks. ‘Starting Gates’ starts gently before dropping into a huge hoover rush of lumbering synths, off beat soul claps, and a gently building soulful melody before it drops again, giving you just enough time to recover from the first time around.

Millennia sounds like it’s influenced by the cosmic sounds of 70’s Germany as much as any dubstep, as it bends glacial melody lines around epic strings and fluttering electronics, gently building into tight synthfunk and dropping back to a vocoder-like bassline, before ending on deep 808 pads and restful oceanic noises.

TRACKLIST: A: STARS (FT. ANNEKA) STARS (SLUGABED DID A REMIX) B STARTING GATES MILLENNIA