Artist: Porter & Blain
Title: Surrounding Darkness / Thunkin Brother
Label: Source Of Gravity Records
By: Chloe Harris | 11 August 2003
Tracklist:

• A: Surrounding Darkness
• B: Thunkin Brother

Porter & Blain "Surrounding Darkness / Thunkin Brother"

The newest release for Source Of Gravity is becoming a staple in dj boxes all over the world. Steve Porter and good friend Aaryn Blaine are behind this monster. Steve is fast becoming a big player in the progressive scene with his remixes and his own productions, all while helping good friends. This is a delectable treat with heavy techy beats, trippy soundscapes, and funky grooves.

‘Surrounding Darkness’opens up with an eerie ambience. Piano sounds fall on top of a woman’s whisper. There is a hint of a Twin Peaks type themed intro, which flows right into some slow beats. There are spacey sounds, and trippy textures all wrapping around the beats. A nice growling bass starts in, which flows perfectly into some dancey 4/4. Rolling into a nice pulsing rhythm, as the drums start to build. High hats and toms, as well as some random sounds flow nicely together. The 4/4 rhythm stops up for the break, and we fall back into the mellow beats, and pulsing bassline. There’s a thick, heavy groove when it all comes back in with force. A ringing tone hides in the background, and we make our way to the end. A quality tune with Steve’s signature funkiness.

‘Thunkin Brother’ is a dark tune as well, but has so much bass and funk it’s perfect. We start in with heavy drums, hard hits, toms, high hats, and a low rolling bassline. Random metallic drum hits, comes along with piano sounds that float and delay off. There are cool background washing sounds, and a nice groovy ambience. Sounds twist off into a short break, which flows right into a nice break beat middle. We pick up into the 4/4 beats again, and away we go. This tune drives. And keeps driving till the end

Steve Porter seems to be constantly redefining his style. Heavy beats, groovy basslines, and trippy atmospheres are something he is known for, and now he’s bringing the funk harder then he ever has. Aaryn Blaine is a new comer to the scene and hopefully we will see more from him soon. This is by far one of the best releases on Source Of Gravity, and this is just the start of many good things to come.