Burial

• Genre: Grime/Dubstep

About

The Banksy of dubstep, this anonymous musician was quoted in U.K. newspaper The Guardian as saying "only five people know I make tunes." One of those lucky few is the label manager at London's Hyperdub, who is responsible for distributing these brittle and bleak soundscapes to an increasingly enthusiastic audience. The first of these full-lengths -- Burial -- was a wake-up call to those who had previously considered dubstep to be simply U.K. garage for the dead. The follow-up, Untrue, was so universally praised that some were even moved to compare it to DJ Shadow's The Private Press or Tricky's early work. It will be interesting to see if Burial can stay um....underground much longer in the face of such adulation. That said, in an age of endlessly overexposed celebrities it's refreshing to find an artist whose work is his only backstory. Long may the anonymity last.

- Nicholas Baker