gifts of time

@pessimist

For this week’s episode of CENTER BOOTH we welcome Pessimist: a Bristol mainstay, Ilian Tape affiliate and drum & bass innovator whose shadowy take on the genre often blurs the line with techno and dark ambient. Known for stark atmospherics, rolling percussion, broken beat wizardry and an uncompromising ear for an ominous mood, Pessimist has been a star attraction at cutting-edge events and clubs around the world for close to a decade, from Draaimolen to Club Night Club to Tresor to M.O.T.

His CENTER BOOTH set sinks its teeth in stealthily. The opening rolls in like fog — bass-heavy and understated — before giving way to tougher, militant steppers and half-time passages that shift the ground beneath your feet, slowing the body down without ever breaking the flow. There are no cheap tricks here, no fireworks or easy drops — instead the intensity builds little by little, drawing you deeper into a tunnel of bass and rhythm.

By the final stretch, the momentum softens into foggy ambience, a release that feels earned after the hour’s relentless grip. Minimalist and crushing, haunted and propulsive, it’s a set for locked-in heads and late-night spaces, where subtlety hits harder than spectacle, and the sound of an artist who understands not just how to move a floor, but how to reshape the room around him.

https://youtu.be/IYg8WavXpuA
https://www.lettonne.dance/

Pessimist – Center Booth ◎ S2E18

RIZ LA TEEF: Dubstep Vinyl Special - 12 October 2025

TRACKLIST 

Say3 - Boxxed
Berwick - record your MSG
Coffintexts - Tropichop
Darama + Kalbaisakhi - Who&#39;s Don
KAYGEE - ID
Mance - Open Your Mind
Pricklypearsound x EXE.Chop - ID
Trustee - watch dat
COIDO - Rollsplit
Dual Monitor - Rise Up
Exit Portal - ID
Fold + Cu.rve - Business
Hedchef - it is now safe to turn off your computer
Plus One - One Eye Shut
Claude B - Break Your Fence
Peeple - E20
Sobolik - Giant Pier
Natoxie x Bamby - BMW (no excuse. edit)
Sir Hiss - Pop Dat (instrumental)
Brux - Pull the Trigger
Mod Sens - Xpander
Overkissed - IS.3.0.A

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