The latest Offaudio release coincides with the newest version of the website; Offaudio 5.0
I’ve got the scoop on this one! Before the launch tomorrow (it’s out now), this is the only place where you’ll be able to hear this release. I’ll add a download link tomorrow after the release. (Done, check the player.)
Dessben, ruler and overlord of the dark techno force that is Offaudio. I found the label through research for my own label Prowess Records, trying to find out how other net-labels operate. I listened to over 20 gigs of music while looking for deeper meaning behind the Creative Common licenses. Offaudio delivered, and I’ve been following their releases ever since.
These tracks are released under: 
Download here: Offaudio – Dessben – Doss Por Cuatro
Tech-step is the name of the style Dessben chose for his latest EP. I would have called it off-beat techno, something I haven’t heard in a long time. But, the influences from dub-step are obviously present and sets the EP apart from most ‘off-beat techno’ I played before. The dark brooding sound of filtered saws and looming deep basslines to drag you further into the experience combined with sound-effects and breaks remind me of Leftfield, experimental producers from the UK who combined techno, dub, and breaks into their own sound.
Though I’m not a dub-step enthusiast, I, for one, welcome this new tech-step sound into the evolutional gene-pool that is electronic music and it’s plethora of sub-genres. Where D’n’B listeners looked back for new inspiration and found it in dub-reggae, this, to me, feels like taking the concept and looking back to the break-beat oriented sound of Electro-funk from Detroid. It’s more like the former rather than the latter, but it gives an industrial feel which I haven’t heard in techno for quite a while. I’m loving the rhythmic beats and basslines and with 8 tracks on the EP, I feel spoiled. Gimme moar!
And if an exclusive review wasn’t enough, Dessben was so kind to give me a first look at the new design of the Offaudio website. Version 5.0 of the site is going to be unveiled to the public tomorrow (along with the new release) and it’s looking slick. Very clean, useful and still good to look at.
