Essential Sub Focus

Sub Focus is one curious case within the dance music scene. Since 2003, he's been pretty much seen at the forefront of whatever sound he's provided. When a drum & bass legend like Andy C is rinsing your tunes early on into your career, you're definitely doing something right. Under the Ram wing, he took the scene by storm, crafting a series of well-received original tracks and remixes (for everyone from The Prodigy to DJ Fresh) that have pushed the latest era of drum & bass into the stratosphere. You know that that means, though, right? Of course, he started to flex his muscles in the sounds of dubstep, turning on an entirely new crowd of dance music lovers, and getting bits signed to American mainstay imprints like Mad Decent and OWSLA. He's still affiliated with Ram, and continues to push the boundaries of dance music into the mainstream, while still maintaining his edge. Everything you loved about Sub Focus is still there, but he's pointing his darts in a number of different directions, but if you're just getting in tune to his sound off of his more recent material, here is a quick run through of tracks that you definitely need to be up on. This is the essential Sub Focus.

Label: Frequency
Year: 2003

Back before he started releasing music on the main Ram label, he Sub Focus spent his first few releases getting acquainted with the drum & bass public via their sister imprint, Frequency. That residency didn't last long at all, especially when you start out of the gate guns blazing with tracksl ike "Down The Drain." There's so much going on with that bassline, it's almost hard to concentrate on how amazing each piece is. Big body tune.

Label: Frequency
Year: 2004

"Acid Test" could arguably be when a number of drum & bass fans took notice of Sub Focus' material. Filled to the brim with undeniable energy, "Acid Test" hits hard, fast, and frequently. No room for air when this one drops, and DJs should be quick to wheel this one back when it drops.

Label: Ram Records
Year: 2005

It was a quick two years and Sub Focus was on the Ram main roster with a bomb like "X Ray." When you talk about drum & bass anthems of the last decade, you have to throw "X Ray" in there. With a slight rock edge to it, this one weaves its way into your core, and keeps crowds rocking. The forefront of the dnb scene was shaped and molded by tunes like this.

Label: Ram Records
Year: 2005

When it comes to Sub Focus, even his b-sides were amazeballs. "Frozen Solid" packed a punch, but "Juno" grabbed a hold and kept things pushing. Understated bass, some triumphant horns, and that slapping beat made for a unique take on the dancefloor grinder.

Label: Ram Records
Year: 2006

The summer of 2006 found Sub Focus' stock rising, and while we're not sure if the demand for his music and DJ prowess was the reasoning behind the "airplane" motif, but we'd like to think it would be. Memorable vocal, ferocious bass, and an infectious melody laid atop? Definite winner. Something you could build a number of solid blends with.

Label: Ram Records
Year: 2007

Following on, Sub Focus builds a radio serial into the intro of "Special Place," ala the kinds of movements DJ Fresh would throw into some of his post-Bad Company bits, and when "Special Place" would hit in the club? Murder. It's a fire-breathing dragon living in a world full of rottweilers. All grace, elegance, and consistent heat.

Label: Ram Records
Year: 2008

It came time for Sub Focus to put his strengths into an album, and one of the first glimpses from his self-titled release was "Timewarp," another insta-anthem that bullies you into submission. If there was ever a "sound" of the late 2000s' Ram imprint, tracks like "Timewarp" would fit the bill. Huge, obvious dancefloor destroyers that made a point to stand out as well as they weaved themselves in.

Label: Ram Records
Year: 2009

Built around a sample (or influence) from Daft Punk's "Robot Rock," Sub Focus goes further into the rock lane than we'd heard, giving us some stadium-built drum & bass for the ages, further shortening that gap between the dnb scene and the rest of the world. Huge tune here, without question.

Label: Ram Records
Year: 2010

One of the early examples of the growing soundscape that was Sub Focus' output, "Could This Be Real" found Sub Focus blending the sub-heavy dubstep bass sound with a more electro house rhythm, keeping things hitting nice and hard but giving us a taste of how he gets down outside of the drum & bass realm. A warning shot, if you will.

Label: Mad Decent

Year: 2010

We're not sure if Sub Focus would mind us using the "drumstep" term for this remix, but it fits that mode. With the worlds of drum & bass and dubstep blending like never before back in 2010, this was possibly one of the biggest examples of the 140BPM influence on dnb, and that's not just because Mad Decent released it. This one still touches heart strings and gets asses shaking when it drops.

Label: OWSLA
Year: 2012

When Sub Focus goes full dubstep, you have to love that guys like Skrillex take notice. For "Falling Down," which OWSLA ended up releasing in the US, Sub Focus kept everything that made his drum & bass anthemic and applied it to the dubstep scene... with emotionally-charged results.

Label: Ram Records
Year: 2012

Another drumstep bomb, but this time Sub Focus goes straight for the heart strings. Everything about this one has "unforgettable tune" written all over it, including huge vocals from Alpines. That next phase of Sub Focus is here, and the transformation from dnb darling to multi-faceted dance music producer is complete... rushing you over like a tidal wave, no less.

Label: Ram Records

Year: 2013

With his sophomore album Torus, Sub Focus truly showcases how far he's come, yet lets us know that he has a ways to go. "Endorphins" is that end result, giving the world a bounce and a vocal that pierces through the toughest of roughnecks, bringing their soft underbelly to the forefront. No matter the tempo, Sub Focus is on point, and instead of waiting for his fans to turn around and accept his changes, he just proves his worth with quality tunes from every direction.