Appleblim

Appleblim, real name Laurie Osborne, first earned notice by creating and playing some of the most shadowy, intense sounds to emerge from Britain’s early dubstep movement, yet he has kept shaping inventive, bass-driven club material that fuses techno, ambient textures, garage, jungle, and further strands. Working alongside Shackleton, he operated the Skull Disco imprint from 2005 to 2008, after which he launched his own Apple Pips outlet. Frequent partnerships with Ramadanman, Peverelist, and Second Storey have marked his path, as have remixes for Harmonia & Eno, Bonobo, and Claude Debussy. Beyond steady appearances at the pivotal dubstep night FWD>>, he has played at Berghain, Fabric, and the Bunker.

Osborne’s early listening centered on folk and rock, and he performed for several years in the psychedelic/math rock outfit the Monsoon Bassoon during the late ’90s and early 2000s. Once he became a regular at FWD>>—the London event at Plastic People that helped launch dubstep—he took a post as press and label manager at Tempa, a cornerstone of the scene. He soon began handling warm-up slots there, mixing dub, ambient, and house into the developing dubstep palette while featuring new dubplates from Martyn, Pinch, and 2562.

In 2005 Appleblim and Shackleton started Skull Disco, whose output included some of the starkest, most lethal records the young style had produced. Though the label proved short-lived, every release earned praise and drew notice beyond dubstep circles. After it closed in 2008, Appleblim set up Apple Pips, which broadened into dub techno and house; he also issued his first mix CD, Dubstep Allstars, Vol. 6. Twelve-inches, most created with fellow producers, appeared on Aus Music and Berkane Sol, though a handful of solo cuts came out on Apple Pips and Tempa.

Under the ALSO alias, Appleblim and Second Storey delivered a trilogy of EPs on R&S that showcased some of their most exploratory material to date; these were gathered on the 2015 album ALSO. The pair returned to the label for the 2016 Gimme Six EP. In 2017 Appleblim began issuing limited white-label 12"s via Beatnik Boulevard. The next year he presented his debut full-length, Life in a Laser, on Sneaker Social Club—an ambitious, colorful set steeped in early jungle, hardcore, and IDM. A second LP, Ungoverned & Ungovernable, followed in 2020, shaped by and created in tandem with journalist and field recorder Ian Urbina.