RUSKO plays Sound Academy May 8. See listing. Rating: NN
Poor Rusko sounds like he’s having a major identity crisis. I see why he’d feel guilty about his role in creating the frat-boy-friendly brostep offshoot of dubstep, but this definitely isn’t the way to atone for his crimes. With Songs, the producer alternates between hamfisted attempts to reconnect dupstep to its roots in the UK reggae sound system tradition and ridiculously cheesy helium-vocal Europop.
He seems stuck between self-consciously chasing mainstream pop crossover and some underground ideal, and pulls off neither. Maybe he’s spent too much of the last couple of years writing dubstep breakdowns for American R&B stars and lost touch with his own strengths. Even if you hate how his chainsaw bass lines and mosh-pit-friendly beats helped obliterate dubstep’s subtler aspects when it blew up in North America, at least he was good at those things.
Top track: Roll Da Beats (Old School Edition)
