Burial

dubstep

Burial is the moniker of William Bevan, a reclusive South Londoner who has become one of the most acclaimed, influential, and enigmatic electronic musicians of the early 21st century, thanks to his groundbreaking music as well as his reluctance to reveal any information about himself. Inspired by the anonymity of British club music, particularly garage, jungle, and hardcore, his tracks blend fractured breakbeats with mysterious, pitch-shifted voices and loads of vinyl crackle, rainfall, and submerged video game sound effects, creating gloomy, dystopian soundscapes evoking lonely nights spent wandering around an empty, desolate city. While his self-titled 2006 debut (one of the first notable dubstep full-lengths) received wide acclaim from the underground music press, the astonishing 2007 follow-up Untrue proved to be a major artistic breakthrough. Not only was it one of the most widely praised albums of the year, but its influence endured throughout the following decade, with countless producers emulating its vocal manipulations and dramatic, rain-soaked atmospherics. Collaborations with Four Tet, Thom Yorke, and Massive Attack followed, as well as several EPs which ranged from abstract, cinematic suites (2012's Kindred, 2013's Rival Dealer) to more club-friendly singles (2017's Rodent). While Burial continued to refrain from making public appearances or releasing a third album, he collaborated with Kode9 to mix Fabriclive100, the final volume of the long-running mix CD serie...