London grime producer Swindle follows up his incredible Planet Mu EP with another slab of funked-up grime, this time for a rapidly expanding Rwina Records. Swindle\\\'s return marks a slightly stripped-down sound: the funk is meaner, heavier, and nastier. \\\'Playground\\\' grooves on rainbow synths and leisurely, drawn-out melodies, as a boogie bassline carves memorable phrases in the ground below. All of this is shoved in an approachable halfstep template that means the track could just as easily slot into any dubstep set as the grime scene in which Swindle dominates. Did we mention there\\\'s a killer freestyling organ solo in the breakdown?
On the b-side, we\\\'re treated to a monstrous remix of SRC\\\'s Rwina anthem \\\'Goin Out,\\\' where that track\\\'s quick and vibrant skip is slowed right down to a trickling drawl. The brusque melodic motifs of the original are flattened out into irresistibly squiggling melodic tangents, and the whole thing is given a muscular makeover that turns the 8-bit funk into lifelike grime. The beats are beefed up -- Mario\\\'s emphatic \\\'ohs\\\' hit with every beat like he\\\'s in pain -- and the track\\\'s bubble and boil over uncontrollably, a volatile concoction that recklessly sends out unforgettable melodic hooks in all directions.The EP ends with the softer \\\'Who\\\'s Quicker\\\' -- which simultaneously speaks to old (and I mean old)-school grime with its barebones percussion breathy samples, but its heads-down meditative bassline speaks to the more reflective side of dubstep. With the Playground EP on Rwina, Swindle reveals what you already knew: that he\\\'s an immensely talented and versatile producer on the top of the grime scene, applying a wide-ranging set of appealing influences to a template that hits home for both grime and dubstep fans. That it comes on Rwina is no surprise: a great producer deserves an equally great label.