Dubstep
 

there's been alot of pming going on today with dubstep albums, so here's a thread!
the scene is a good 4 years old now, and there are dubstep nights all over the world. where I used to live the dubstep raves are on a par with drum n bass these days, good thing. here's a doc that explains things:



I went to Bristol in 2003. I had a McDonalds and saw a red taxi. How boring was Bristol before dubstep? The Bristol dubstep scene seems to tie in pretty well with the trip-hop of the 90's. Ambient and trippy but with a unique twist.

There are a lot of musically interesting things happening in dubstep and it's a genre that is very expansive.

Talking of Trip-Hop. Do you think releases like Tricky's Maxinquaye and Massive Attack's Mezzanine are possibly the first dubstep albums? Although the sound is obviously different now, if you listen to those albums you can hear that dark ambience underpinning it all.

Another little tip is to search for Dubstep club mixes (which are usually legal) and you get to hear so much underground stuff and they are usually taken straight off the master desk so are good quality.

Kode 9 & the Apespace has a bigger Reggae vibe than people like Burial.

Also check out:

Kulture.
Ms.Haptic.

Definitely, there's something in the water down in Bristol. But I think dubstep relies alot more on the sub-levels for it's riddims that you don't get with trip hop.

That element doesn't comes across particularly well in the videos either, you need a decent soundsystem with the bass right up. The raves though, my god, you feel the melodies in your chest cavity more than you hear them...
Admittedly disconcerting at first but it's addictive. You can trace the whole thing back through London's Afro-Caribbean population, soundsystem culture, dancehall and reggae.

I think DMZ is a monthly thing now, my ex-flatmate and I were planning to go but never did... smoking spliffs on the dancefloor, hoods up and skanking were the order of the day. Smoking ban has obviously rubbished that though. Pah

Hey jackhammer, thanks for the Kode 9 & the Spaceape album man :)

I got into dubstep recently when I checked out Burial's selftitled, which was amazing. Love the dark, urban vibes from it, and the follow up Untrue was pretty boss as well (thanks again jackhammer ;)).

I just listened to Skream's selftitled a few days back and dug that as well. I was speaking to a guy at about Dubstep at a SKULLFLOWER gig of all things on Saturday nite, and he was recommending Benja and Kode 9. Also.....Kode 9 & the Spaceape are playing at the art scool near where I live, so that's a timely upload by yerself jackhammer. I'm gonna check that gig out.

I'm d/ling an album by Benja on soulseek just now as well.

I got hold of the Benja album today and will give it a listen later.

It makes me laugh that London has already moved off from Dubstep & Bassline and has now moved on to funky house. Anyone listened to any funky house?

Funky house has been around for ever! I have a few compilations knocking around. Cafe Del Mar's Chillhouse 2 disc sets are excellent.

Even Geeneous (the godfather of Grime) has jumped on the Funky House bandwagon, I find it odd because it just doesn't have that dark edge like Grime or Dubstep.

Yeah they are quite dissimilar in sound and the market that they cater for but that's London scensters for ya!

funky house, in the modern sense, does my head in, Rinse FM wiped out grime last september only to fill the gap with funky DJ's. It's just personal taste but I find it vapid, like pussified rave music.
Electro house, however, is fun and I'll upload a mix if anyone is interested.
Bassline is doing alot IMO, even if it's essentially UK garage with a new name. Seriously this could have been made in 1999>>>

Burial is king

There's not even a close 2nd.

interesting view considering it could be argued that Burial is really experimental electronica with a dubstep/garage influence, there isn't the bass drops or the urban vibe. The dubstep scene had been going a good couple of years before he came along, anyway

Could'nt have said it better myself. The dubstep link is tenuos (IMO) regarding Burial. They operate in a very ambient zone whereas Say Kode 9 has that classic Regga/Dub vibe permeating his tracks.

It feels like Burial's style of music seems almost more suited to the tag than the likes of Skream or Caspa and Rusko.
Heavy reverb with highly tweaked vocals seems more like 'Dub'step to me.

In some respects definitely but on the whole I feel Burial take a litle more influence from ambient electronica or at least it's presented that way. Maybe the link is not as tenuos as I thought. Maybe it's the next natural progression for that genre of music. HHmmm. You have got me thinking now.

Personally, I just think it'll all peak in a Trip-hop revival. :)

Are Portishead leading the way? I still cannot make up my mind about Third.

Hmm no, I think it'll be a few years yet and it wont be someone from the original movement. Some ignorant teen savant type will stumble upon it, probably.

Bumping this because I'm seeing Kode9 tonight. Dubstep producers don't really come to California very often, and when they do it's usually just to SF (much better scene up there, I can think of maybe one Dubstep night in LA). So it'll be my first time hearing Dubstep on a proper soundsystem. :) I'm excited.

^^You lucky ****er. You have to give us the lowdown when you come back! Back when I was living nearer London we kept meaning to go to DMZ (the world's first dubstep night, held monthly) in Brixton. OFCOURSE, we missed the ****ing boat because they illegalised indoor smoking in the UK last year... the subsonics were of course insane and the room was just skankers, hoods up, barely distinguishable in a mist of weed smoke. Heaven surely?

Aaah, I missed this! It's a long story, and I feel like such an idiot for doing so, but at least I'm moving to NYC in about a month so I'll at least get to finally see some decent DJs other than all the Electro House that gets played around here and the occasional big Techno DJs. Still pretty bummed about missing the head of one of my favorite labels atm, but I didn't have any drugs to begin with and indoor smoking was banned in LA ages ago anyway.

electro house is the scenester's choice indeed, but it's not a patch on the infuriatingly popular (at least in south UK) funky house *shudders*
anyhoo i don't think you'd need to be toasted to enjoy a dubstep night anyway, if the soundsystem is good. NYC will be mental.

Funky House is starting to gain some ground here in the US as well. Every big UK genre makes it to the US eventually, usually months after it's been driven into the ground over there, only to played incessantly by far worse DJs over here.

I think Funky House has done a few rounds over here. I remember a free disc with Ministry magazine well over 5-6 years ago. Depending on where you lived you would get funky house in the South and Hard House in the North. Talk about adhering to stereotypes! There was also a great German House compilation early on in Ministry's history but I have never been able to find it.

I'm warming to the funky house I must admit.

I do think the dubstep/funky house crossover tracks are just awful though.

is anybody keeping up with dubstep these days who could upload a mix? if not i recommend Sub FM

I second this, i want to see what all the hype is about.

actually just realised i have alot of 'step sets from last year hanging around. will up one later if it fits, usually about an hour long.

Would be very appreciated! :thumb:

I want to punch this DJ in the mouth.

yeah yeah Crazy D is a prick, i'm all for an MC when you're at a rave though (where their job is to get people moving), he shuts up as the set progresses though...

make sure your bass is right up, it's all in the sub-levels :D

He just did a Norwich call out, he's gone up in my estimation :cool:

Yeah my room is rumbling quite a bit! There was a brilliant bit at about 35 mins, nice vocals.

Been really getting into this stuff lately, although i'm guilty of abusing the mixes in favour of artists who have full LP's. I agree about Burial, I went into the genre expecting more of that but he really is unique within the genre (if he is really in the genre at all). I've found I like some of the really stripped down stuff like Cyrus [Random Trio], or realllllly bass heavy and guys like Vex'd, and Distance does this so much better than Burial.

Anyone heard that N-Type Allstars mix? Worth listening to?

I just want to point out that I have yet to hear a mix with Crazy D on it where I didn't wish he would just drop dead. Someone needs to seriously tell that guy that there is good music going on and people don't listen just to hear his voice. Seriously, mix ruiner.

I dunno N-Type is alright, not my personal fave... if you like it tech-y I guess. I recommend anything off the Soul Jazz imprint (Box of Dub) and the Rinse mixes, though I've not heard all of them yet, those ones tend to be combing dubstep with grime and funky (depending on the DJ).

As for annoying vocals I can tolerate it, it is dance music after all. The Kode 9 album (with Spaceape doing vocals on every track) I'm listening to now and that's more like psychedelic dub poetry/ trip-hop than MCing - really cool

Anyway does anyoen know if Pinch's album worth a cop?

I have not heard the Pinch album but Kode 9's album is good schizz especially 'Backward'.

That Pinch album seems to be polarising opinions but that in itself makes it worth a listen. Some people are calling it revolutionary. Personally I think it's great.

it is indeed the shiznuss, also that track that somehow uses the 54-year-old Seven Samurai theme and make a tune out of it..

i'll find the Pinch album, the Bristol scene has thrown up some amazing producers.

to whom it may concern there's a dubstep show on from now 'til 1am here: Rinse FM

it's Plastician