Rusko Exclaims OMG!

To say that Rusko isn't the hardest working man in dubstep would be an understatement and as if to prove the point he's named his debut album, OMG! Quite honestly, the title is absolutely perfect because this record is so much more than justa dubstep album. Cramming speed garage, house, hip hop, and enough bass rattling moments to test the speakers of anything less than 100,000 watts, OMG! is diverse, deep, and an extremely danceable record. Rusko has truly proven himself to be a worthy artist and this guy offers so much more than a bog standard dance record; he's imaginative, creative, and seems like he loves listening to tunes as much as he enjoys creating them.

Sounding at times like MJ Cole meets Diplo, Rusko clearly gets the idea that good songs, revovle around sequencing enough hooks, and in the case of dubstep, enough earth crushing basslines to destroy the world. The songs seem to be constructed around each bassline and layers upon layers of sounds, squiggles, and wobbles are then worked in to make the tunes here sound so thick that they physically weigh a ton. This is some heavy stuff in the best way possible and it's quite potentially the most punishing record you'll hear all year long. And yet despite that or because of it, OMG! is a fantastically upbeat record that literally is all over the place, and as much as that's it's strength it's also it's one weakness. OMG! literally heads off in twenty different directions and really wants to be everything to everyone. Some might see this as this records downfall but it's lack of a cohesive direction allows the record to spread it's wings and touch upon some of dubstep's greatest influences; see dub, garage, drum n' bass, and house. It might lack overall cohesion and sound like a bunch of potential singles crammed together rather than a consistent album, but when the songs are this good and this jittery it more than makes up for it.

From the slow twisted wobbly opener, "Woo Boost," the to 1999 wanna-be Tuff Jam quaker, "Hold On," OMG! never loses sight of the dance floor. In fact, OMG! is so upbeat and so high-energy that it will wear you down and wear you out. It's as if Rusko seems to be tapping into an unlimited power supply which allows him to create songs that wobble with such an epic nature they might actually be an alternative power source. Brilliant, bombastic, diverse, and powerful, Rusko has created a classic, essential, must have, legendary dubstep album that's one of my favorites of 2010.