Justin Broadrick aka Youpho, Tech Level 2

by Cosmo Lee

Of Justin Broadrick’s many identities – metal, ambient, industrial, hip-hop, to name a few – drum ‘n’ bass is particularly dear to me, since I was a dnb DJ for six years. (Godflesh was the only metal I listened to during that time.) Love and Hate in Dub and Broadrick’s Krackhead project warped dnb into strange shapes, but he also tried his hand at straightforward DJ 12″s in the late 90’s/early 00’s.

Locate feat. Youpho – Life
Tech Level 2 – Master
Greymachine – Vultures Descend

Broadrick’s main aliases for this were Youpho and Tech Level 2. Youpho, a collaboration with Oliver Waters, featured gritty techstep with distorted basslines. (If you’re unfamiliar with DJ 12″s, the long intros and outros are for mixing with other tracks.) It didn’t exactly set dancefloors alight, but in hindsight, it had a certain primitive charm. Tech Level 2 was Broadrick by himself, with output ranging from dubby rollers to Amen smashers. A direct line is evident from the hoover bassline in 2002’s “Master” to the one in “Vultures Descend,” a track from the upcoming record by Greymachine, essentially Jesu plus Aaron Turner of Isis. None of these tracks are particularly compelling – the Greymachine one is a mess – but, still, it’s fun to trace threads in Broadrick’s labyrinthine discography.