Cato: Funky Steppa EP [ INNAR009 ]

Who’s Cato? You’ll soon be hearing much more from this polished up & comer and his touted swift rise up the ranks. Backed by dubstep’s pioneers, already receiving the stamp of approval from scene stalwarts Hatcha, Cotti, Plastician and Ntype to name a few and with regular radio play on BBC Radio 1, BBC 1Xtra, Kiss FM and Rinse FM, Cato is about to take over. An early musical precedence centred around melody formed the backbone for Cato’s current output and it’s no wonder he cites Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Grime, Funk, Soul and Hip Hop as his original household inspirations. At the same time we caught wind of Cato’s musical prowess, so did Sin City’s Hatcha who snapped up his seminal ‘Who’s Cato?’ for his ‘100% Pure Dubstep Vol. 2′ compilation, that was swiftly followed with a vocal rendition of the track renamed ‘Spotlight’ featuring Lucy Randell and an accompanying music video currently in production. Funky Steppa EP is Cato’s eclectic and prismatic calling card and a notable addition to the Inna Riddim vaults.

‘Funky Steppa’ combines a cinematic expansiveness with enough gnarly bass and crunchy beats to energise anyone with a pulse. Plenty of dramatic switch-ups make this a great one to double-drop in the mix; it’s no mere DJ tool, though, but a finely-crafted tune that stands strong in its own right. Descending piano triplets setup the mood, and a melody line emphasising the down-beat carries the tune from a hulking halfstep to the driving rhythm that provides the core of this track.

On the most restrained track of the EP, ‘Abstract Thoughts’, Cato’s characteristically clipped snares are accompanied by reverb-soaked brushed hats. A series of minor key trills, perforated by a noise gate, evoke the rarified serenity of Oriental instrumentation; then the lead synth comes in, and we go from Far East to the west: a purple funk line reminiscent of Bristol.

‘Make it Grimey’ is upfront, raw and in your face. The buzzing lead thrashes back and forth like a dropped fire hose blasting out jets of sound. A spliced vocal snippet declares that ‘whatever I play, it’s got to be…grimey’ and that’s Cato’s watchword for this track: even in the quieter moments, stripped back to off-beat bass stabs and a halfstep, delayed snares echoing in the expanse, there’s a menace lurking in the horror-movie pads, and when that compulsive buzz returns for the second drop, its potency is doubled by a contrasting, detuned twin. It’s controlled chaos, and Cato delivers on his promise: grimey as the grit on your granddad’s grizzly bits.

‘Dizzy Cow’ is the joker of the pack, it’s theoretically a 4×4 tune, but there’s nothing predictable about it: swung hard with a swagger, compulsively syncopated and augmented with plenty of off-kilter percussion, it’s the kind of tune to play if you can’t make up your mind between party-starting and daringly original—because it’s both. In this case, polyrhythmic audacity doesn’t mean goatee-stroking appreciation while leaning against the bar; it means getting up and dancing on it. Rhythmic excess of the most playful and anarchic kind.