Hyph Mngo

Coming out of the trend set last year by DJs swapping a couple of letters in a famous person’s name and taking it as their moniker, Peter O’Grady (aka Joy Orbison), equipped with his tune Hyph Mngo (released on 14th September on Hot Flush), is already making a massive dent on the dubstep scene. It’s not rare these days for a track to get blogged to high heaven – no matter how sketchy it might be – but recognition from the likes of Simon Reynolds and Martin “Blackdown” Clark suggest that this tune has shelf life. Minus the wobbling basslines, Hyph Mngo’s sound is perched somewhere between two-step garage and the sort of mainstay house grooves found on Strictly Rhythm during the nineties. Last year, where Garage Nation “take two” left out the soul, dubstep forgot the sunshine – but this tune has both in equal measure. Despite having both feet in the past, it still sounds fresh – in a similar way to how Skream or Mowlgi sounded on first listen. Jam packed with two-chord organ euphoria and a cut-up female vocal hook, this tune has too much kick to be merely shelved as dubstep. Unlike many of its peers, Hyph Mngo doesn’t shuffle and it is not oppressive – it’s hand in the air, body-popping stuff. It is the way FWD. Believe the “Hyph”! (9)