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what do you guys think about the direction popular house is moving in, what with the whole future house thing going on?
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Jul 20, 2016 22:29
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the gently caress is 'future house'
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Jul 21, 2016 17:35
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Nwabudike Morgan posted:what do you guys think about the direction popular house is moving in, what with the whole future house thing going on? 
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Jul 21, 2016 17:52
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I just assume this is some sort of EDM festival term and thus have nothing to contribute.
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Jul 21, 2016 19:19
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Radio Spiricom posted:
this has been bothering me for months - did this sample something? Prince Will has like an 8 bar version or something on a Rinse show he did but I'm not sure if its an early version or if Shox was a rework.
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Jul 21, 2016 19:46
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this was the exact reaction i was expecting
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Jul 21, 2016 21:29
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JamesKPolk posted:this has been bothering me for months - did this sample something? Prince Will has like an 8 bar version or something on a Rinse show he did but I'm not sure if its an early version or if Shox was a rework. It's Flocka - O Lets Do It https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TP84QdaAHZU
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Jul 21, 2016 23:52
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Nwabudike Morgan posted:this was the exact reaction i was expecting That's nice and all I suppose, though is there something about 'popular' house and this future House we should be thinking about? Hell I'd just like to know what future House is supposed to be. Does it have anything whatsoever to do with the cool underground club-based House stuff we do like? Or like Mike_V said is it just some crap new EDM term? Is it just another attempt at a rebrand by folks who're too lazy/not talented enough to break into an already existing scene and hope to just put a shiny new sticker on something to appear new, cool and the front runners of it? I always just figured with the case with things like that complextro rubbish and all those kind of scenes that were floating about years ago. On another more relevant topic, since we're now on a new page, in a few hours I should be putting up something that's only taken half a decade to get round to doing.
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Jul 22, 2016 18:37
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28 Gun Bad Boy posted:That's nice and all I suppose, though is there something about 'popular' house and this future House we should be thinking about? Hell I'd just like to know what future House is supposed to be. Does it have anything whatsoever to do with the cool underground club-based House stuff we do like? its likely 100% as you described, a meaningless new term being pushed mostly at raves and festivals. but that's the problem for me and why I came to the thread, cause the lack of meaning makes it harder for me to find more tunes with a similar sound. that's where I hoped you guys could help, could drop a few links or artist names if you like and I would love to be corrected on the real genres
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Jul 22, 2016 18:58
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Nwabudike Morgan posted:its likely 100% as you described, a meaningless new term being pushed mostly at raves and festivals. but that's the problem for me and why I came to the thread, cause the lack of meaning makes it harder for me to find more tunes with a similar sound. that's where I hoped you guys could help, could drop a few links or artist names if you like and I would love to be corrected on the real genres Yeah okay I get it now. I just don't think anyone here is that familiar with that kind of scene, hence the reaction. I mean a lot of us could tell you a power of stuff on, like I said, more underground, club-based House. That's what we like, versus any of the big festival 'EDM' thing. There's actually a House/Electro thread that deals more with that kind of end of the scene, so they might have a better grasp on things like that. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3238075
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Jul 22, 2016 19:18
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28 Gun Bad Boy posted:Yeah okay I get it now. I just don't think anyone here is that familiar with that kind of scene, hence the reaction. I mean a lot of us could tell you a power of stuff on, like I said, more underground, club-based House. That's what we like, versus any of the big festival 'EDM' thing. I'm afraid they might just actually throw me out the door there
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Jul 22, 2016 20:18
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Mike_V posted:It's Flocka - O Lets Do It Oh word, I was thinking Shox though - here's a rip of the track from the Prince Will show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCZ5gse2cxk
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Jul 22, 2016 21:26
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What's five years between friends eh?. Yes it's back, the UK Bass History Guide. This time we following on from UK Garage and look at one of it's offspring, Dubstep! The usual disclaimer here. This post is just an attempt to show people at what came before and is not meant to be 100% accurate nor unbiased. But it should be solid enough for people to get a good grasp on the scene.   Timescale: 2004-Present Key labels: Tempa, DMZ, Tectonic, Hyperdub, Hot Flush, Dub Police, Deep Medi It’s been five years since we last had a look at the Hardcore Continuum, but now we’re back. This time we look at one of the descendants of UK Garage – Dubstep. During the late 90s and early 00s, 2-Step Garage was king, going to far as to constantly hitting high in the charts and attracting the attention of major labels. While there was the glossy, champagne and Moschino side of Garage, there was also the darker side. I delved into a bit in the last UK Bass History segment, with the likes of El-B, Zed Bias, Darqwan and many more introducing a darker, mainly instrumental, more bass heavy sound to the scene. It’s from this darker, dubby 2-Step sound that Dubstep would spawn out of. One of the sources for the name Dubstep in fact comes from that, the Dub version of 2-Step tunes. Though originally starting as simply Garage b-sides, Dubstep would quickly mutate and develop its own unique sound signature, a very stripped down, bass heavy, atmospheric vibe that utilised the lack of sounds just as much as the sounds themselves. The key to Dubstep is two things, the tempo and the sub-bass. The tempo is around 140bpm, and as for the sub-bass… well the more the better! That was it really. At least initially. Later the sound would be tagged as being half-step and with that famous wobbly bass, but really if you ask me 140bpm with a prominent sub-bass is enough to class it as Dubstep in my mind. I think it’s important to remember the general dance scene at the time to understand why Dubstep ended up placing so much emphasis on space. You had UK Garage that had crashed and burned when it fell out of fashion, the slick, high gloss surface it had coated itself with during its brief moment in the sun was the perfect accelerant, while Drum & Bass had fell into an ultrafast, narrow bandwidth, mid-range rut. Dubstep revelled in its apparent slowness, its deepness and its empty space. In retrospect it was almost a hard reset of dance music that at the time was very much needed. Dubstep really first gained national UK attention at the end of 2005 and beginning of 2006. The real catalyst was Mary-Anne Hobbs Dubstep Wars radio show on BBC Radio 1, which presented all the original Dubstep artists to the entire country. For a year or two Dubstep was near untouchable as it quickly exploded worldwide, helped by the fact it was probably the first genre to have come into being with a fully formed internet ready to back it up. But as quickly as it rose, it quickly fell again. The release of Caspa & Rusko’s Fabric mix in 2007 was really what brought the masses in. Drawn in by it’s tight, fast paced jump-up sound, a lot of people assumed that was all Dubstep was and before long the scene was flooded by bland, by the numbers tunes. It also attracted a different sort of crowd, rather than your typical dance music fan, Dubstep seemed to gain an influx of people from the more rocky/metal end of the spectrum. New blood and new angles are always fantastic, but I have to say the majority came in and treated it like it was heavy metal. I remember being in one dance and being shoved to the side as a bunch of skinny guys with no shirts on tried to do some weird mosh pit thing to the music. One of the many things that left me soul-stricken and made me question a lot within the Dubstep scene. Eventually all that would lead to the likes of Skrillex, Datsik, Exercision and a whole host of other artists that excelled at the mid-range blow out. The big stadium/festival thing. Being very biased all that bored the life out of me. Like I said before, total by the numbers tosh made for the lowest common denominator. Plus it played a big part in spawning the modern ‘EDM’ scene in the States, for which they shall all suffer in hell. Yes that’s all unusually vitriolic of me. Normally I try to see at least some good in things, but you see, Dubstep was mine. I was heavily involved in the scene. Ever hear those stories of early dances, whether rave or Jungle or Garage or whatever and their being seven people and a dog there? Well I was one of those people here in the early days of Dubstep here in Glasgow. I (badly) attempted to make Dubstep. I bought every record I could get my hand on. I went to every dance there was, not just locally but I made trips down to the likes of London and Leeds. So to see things end up so differently to what it once was, to what we thought it could become, was a real sore one to me. I’ve limited the selections from the years 2000 to 2008, as that’s when I feel Dubstep really popped worldwide, and it was when the scene was at it's most creative, before it started to fragment and each strand would go their own separate ways. The jump-up stuff still exists as its own thing. It and the ‘deeper’ sound are really the only ones that still call themselves Dubstep. Meanwhile – despite what I said when I first created this thread – the term ‘Bass’ as mutated out of Dubstep as a kind of catchall for bass-heavy dance music. Other ideas have slipped into House & Techno too, twisting them about and giving them a new lease of life. Really when you look back at it Dubstep was such an influential scene in many ways. Anyway I’ll stop boring you all with my old man and those bloody kids today routine, let’s just get onto the good bit! One word of advice though, don't listen to this on laptop speakers, or those tiny iPod earpieces. Get a decent set of headphones or some actual speakers. Maybe a subwoofer if you're lucky. And to avoid the argument I've had in the past, no I'm not saying you need really good, top of the line JBL's or Adam's or whatever. I just mean anything as long as it can move some volume which the tiny speaker on your laptop or earbuds simply can't do. Hell half the time I'm listening to poo poo on an old set of Logitech 4.1 computer speakers, anything like that'll do! Youtube Playlist Horsepower Productions ”When You Hold Me” (Tempa, 2000) It’s Garage Jim, but not as we know it! Horsepower burst onto the Garage scene at the turn of the millennium with this mutated slice of UKG. After years producing Techno and Jungle, and having a studio next door to No U Turn, producers Benny Ill, Nasis and Lev Jnr (among other collaborators) turned their hands at UK Garage. But like any radical science experiment it didn’t exactly go the way things should’ve. The beats are twisted, the soundscape dubbed out in a way even the B-Sides to those great UKG singles even dared to be, samples of films and gunshots fill the sonic streets of the tune. This was patient zero. The originator of Dubstep. Artwork “Red” (Big Apple Records, 2002) Artwork aka one half of top shelf Garage duo DnD created this EP while working at the now legendary Big Apple record store in Croydon, the place that would be the incubator of Dubstep. Starting off the from dubby instrumental b-sides that were hallmarks of his work with DnD, Red gets infected with the powerful ideas of Horsepower. A prototype version of that warping bassline that would become synonomous with Dubstep oozes out of the slinky drumline, while woodblock hits gives the tune almost a Latin twist. Incidently this tune would also be a bit of a crossover hit with that West London sound of Broken Beat (catch it on the Bugz in the Attic Fabriclive mix) DJ Shorty “Lorn Mowa” (Road, 2002) Out on Tempa Records sister label Road, Lorn Mowa was an early example of the tougher sound that Garage had developed into. While the beats were tough enough for a Grime tune, the tune plays with space a bit more than what a Grime beat typically might do, which a middle section that slows the pace and drags things out before hitting you with that buzzsaw of a bassline. Plasticman “Pump Up The Jam” (Soulja, 2003) Plasticman (now known as Plastician) was one of those few DJs who played Dubstep tunes in his Grime sets. Or was it Grime in his Dubstep sets? Hitting hard like your typical Grime track, this tunes has moody pads that build up in the background as well as that heavy bassline. Definitely one foot in both camps kind of deal. On yet another Tempa sister label Soulja. DJ Hatcha ”Dub Express” (Tempa, 2003) Staying in Croydon, now legendary Dubstep DJ Hatcha turns his hand at production once again, spitting out this ace single of Tempa – the label that was quickly becoming the mainstay of the Dubstep sound. Appropriately named the track chugs along like an old steam train. Punchy, hard hitting drums bounce about a tune that has all these odd, dubbed out sounds that suddenly appear out of the darkness before fading away, like a kind of brilliant, bright signal flare that penetrates the blackness of the trenches on the Western front, lighting up the messed up landscape before everyone’s eyes. Benga & Skream “The Judgement” (Big Apple Records, 2003) Another tune from Big Apple and from Croydon. This time juniors Benga and Skream step up to the plate with this incredible piece. This is one of those early tunes were you can definitely draw a line in the sand and say ‘this ain’t Garage’. Sure the beats have that Garage steppy feel, but as a continuation of the Horsepower virus something’s just off with them – though in a good way! The warping, bassline now becomes one of the central features of the song and not just well… the bassline! It creates a smoked out trance which is only added to by the atmospheric, tribalistic vocal. Toasty “Knowledge” (Hot Flush, 2004) The breakbeat end of Dubstep is sadly forgotten about nowadays. Maybe because at times it could veer a bit towards that horrible Nu-Skool Breaks movement that was also going on at the time. Tunes like this however, are definitely reason enough why the breakbeat end of Dubstep shouldn’t ever be forgotten about. An instant party starter, the powerful, pounding drums create an almost hypnotic state to those on the dancefloor, while the vocal sample gives an almost euphoric feeling, straight out of the best Hardcore or UKG tune. Vex'd “Lion” (Subtext, 2004) Released on Tectonic's sister label Subtext, the duo that was Vex'd put out some absolute storming tracks. Again swaying more to the breakbeat end of Dubstep, Vex'd would cut their own unique path through that particular sound. The drums here are broken and sharp, and their synths scratch out like a needle jumping across a record. The ghostly after-image of Hardcore and Jungle haunts the sonic architecture of this song. Especially so in the – truthfully superior - VIP version found on their absolutely classic debut album Degenerate. Is that a cheeky DJ SS sample I hear there? I think it is. Kode9 ”Sign of the Dub” (Hyperdub, 2004) The first release on Kode9’s Hypderdub Recordings, this weird, twisted, minimal dubby version of Prince’s Sign of the Times which featured the now sadly departed Space Ape on the vocals, was a revelation at the time. Moving at a glacial pace, the tune ripped away any kind of real percussion, instead relying on its pure Dub-sonic pressure to keep the track in motion. This utilisation of space would become a key hallmark for the early Dubstep sound. Moving Ninja ”Murky” (Tectonic, 2005) I’m positive Moving Ninja were yet another early international adopter of Dubstep, having originally been based out in Australia I believe. Anyway their first releases – and Tectonics second – was a wonderful EP and this cut was the highlight. Constantly flipping like a coin from conga-infused, Indo/Tribal/never-get-out-of-the-boat vibes to dense, murky (pun intended) deepness it definitely stuck out at the time, though sadly I don’t think it got (or gets) quite the kudos it deserved. Search & Destroy ”Espionage” (Destructive Recordings, 2005) Definitely one of the absolute dons of the Breakier side of the scene, Search & Destroy dropped this bomb of a single in 2005, one of the last of the proper breakbeat tunes before the half-step revolution would become the dominant species. The Think break pounces like a tiger out of a moody, claustrophobic, sweaty rainforest of a track that’s just laden with grim atmosphere. Burial “South London Boroughs” (Hyperdub, 2005) The first release by the artist who would be the first to break out of the Dubstep scene, gaining international acclaim especially when his debut LP dropped the year after this EP. In hindsight I don’t think anyone could really properly comprehend Burial at the time. Just as the half-step/kinda minimal thing was becoming the dominant form of Dubstep at the time, Burial came along with a dense, atmospheric sound that while obviously heavily indebted to Garage he - just like Horsepower - twisted and shaped it to his own vision. It was never something that I remember being played out much ever, I think simply because, as I mentioned, rhythmically as well as sonically is was just so different to what was being thrown at the dancefloors. But because it wasn’t played out much doesn’t mean it wasn’t influential. Oh definitely not. You only had to look at the waves of Burial imitators that would crop up in the years to come to prove that. Loefah “Goat Stare” (DMZ, 2005) Really what can you say about this tune? Loefah - one third of DMZ – was one of the ringleaders of the original Dubstep scene, helping pioneer the half-step sound that would become one of the signature marks of Dubstep. Lead off with a sample from the classic films Scanners, Goat Stare shows Loefahs intricate care in crafting beats, creating a subtle yet super heavy tribalistic drumline that propels the track forward like some ancient sea monster fifty fathoms down. The influence of Dub Reggae can clearly be seen with the swirl of reverb that envelopes half the track, while the sub-bass is so heavy it will almost pin you in place. I pity anyway who’s never had the experience listening to this (and most other OG Dubstep) on a proper sound system. Like that scene in Scanners it’ll blow your mind. Digital Mystikz ”Anti-War Dub” (DMZ, 2006) “We don’t want no war tonight” sings Spen G on this monumental Dubstep classic. It was like a rallying call to the original Dubstep fans. We’re not fighting with no one. D&B or whatever can do their ting, we’re doing ours. Creating our on scene with our own rules. A simply electrifying tune. Really this is one of those tunes I will ask to be buried with. I really can’t describe it so I’m not even going to bother. I will talk about Digital Mystikz though. Made up of 2/3rds of DMZ – Mala and Coki – Digital Mystikz gave the nascent scene a real kick up the arse just when it really needed it when they came along around about 2003/04. Taking a lot of influence from that British strain of Dub, DMZ carved out their own path, and the rest of the world would quickly fall in line (sadly not often for the best). The early plates they released simply were under the Digital Mystikz name, but you could easily spot the difference in the two producers work. It was almost a Ying-Yang situation. Mala was the subtle, patient, contemplative one while Coki was the balls out, in yer face, tear out one. But the pair were in perfect balance. Together they pointed the two directions that Dubstep would ultimately (and sadly) end up in today. Either wild, boring tear out or dark, boring deep tunes. Looking back I almost feel it was a shame that they dropped the Digital Mystikz moniker and started using their own names. On reflection it seemed like it was a marker point in what would become the end of the original Dubstep world. Pinch “Qawalli” (Planet Mu, 2006) Pinch was the leading light of the Bristol end of Dubstep, which had its own particular take on Dubstep. In the case of Qawalli Pinch infuses Dubstep was a Middle Eastern take (hence the track title I suppose). Like a vast desert, this track hides plenty going on under the apparent emptiness as chords and synth stabs shimmer in and out of the track like mirages. Really a perfect example of the idea of space being a key part of the original Dubstep sound, a needed refresher as electronic music was shockingly busy sounding at the time, where you had the likes of D&B just getting faster and more narrow band as the years went on while you had the likes of that whole French Ed Banger type of sound which was just very day glo and busy. Dance music at the time badly had to be reminded that less was more and tracks like this did that. Distance "Taipan” (Boka Records, 2006) Distance was one of the first wave of second generation Dubstep artists, and Boka was one of the first wave of second generation Dubstep labels. A perfect match in some ways! Dubstep was almost fully into half-step land now, so we see how real talent can comprehend that difficult idea and produce something with such movement. An industrial wasteland of a track, heavy metal beats clatter over a molten slag pit of sub-bass. Distance would go to be a leading light in the darker, ‘deeper’ Dubstep sound, and after hearing early tracks like this it’s no wonder why. Ramadanman “Response” (Bare Dubs, 2006) Ramadanman would drop the crap name a few years after making this tune, switching to Pearson Sound which most of you will probably know. Response would be one of his first tunes after released on vinyl, ending up on one half of a 10” released by Bare Files sadly short lived record label offshoot Bare Dubs. Even at this early stage you can tell Ramadanman was approaching things from a slightly different angle, in some ways bringing in almost a Techno influence in how he presented his sounds, something that would just become more and more apparent as his career went on. The label this appeared on is also interesting. Well the man behind the label anyway. Deapoh was just a young guy who ran a server that hosted a website called Bare Files, which hosted recordings of pirate radio shows from London. Mostly from Rinse FM which was the station for Dubstep at the time, but plenty of recordings from other stations too! This was one of the main reasons why Dubstep ended up going global so quickly. Unlike previous scenes which came along before the internet was really a thing, the world wide web really give Dubstep an early international audience, and Bare Files let the world hear new hows, and new dubs that would traditionally have never left London (or even have left a certain part of London). Really the effects of Bare Files is routinely understated nowadays. Sadly the site met it’s end when Rinse/Tempa, getting a bit big in the head decided to buy into Bare Files, after getting rejected they threw a bit of a hissy fit and demanded they not host any Rinse content. Personally I would have told the pirate radio station to gently caress off an come back when they speak to the DTI, but Deapoh relented and without its main attraction and probably pretty bummed at the whole deal, Bare Files simply wound down. Truthfully I remember the whole thing leaving a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. Maybe one of the first times I started to doubt this scene we had built. DQ1 “Wear the Crown” (Tectonic, 2006) The return of original Breakbeat Garage don Darqwan. Here he adopts his DQ1 alias for the first time, a release that was part of the mighty Tectonic Plates series. A handful of releases that came about around about early to mid-2006, all on 10” vinyl, and all featuring a pair of artists per release. An ultra heavyweight stormer of a track, it threatens at times to veer off back into straight Breakbeat territory but Darqwan’s experience keeps it under leash. Dub sirens blaze away while bleeps fire wickedly across the bow of the track, forcing it to fit in with the general 2006 Dubstep sonic. Armour Iron Man” (Tectonic, 2006) Another cut on Tectonic’s Tectonic Plate series, Armour was Roly Porter who, at the time, was better known as one half of Vex’d. It’s a tune that wouldn’t seem out of place in their oeuvre. Following a slow build up, the percussion pounds away and the bass booms out like the stampings at a steel works, making a mockery of many actual so-called ‘Industrial’ tunes. Heaven! Mala ”Changes” (Deep Medi, 2006) Still doing the DMZ thing Mala created his own Deep Medi Musik to release singles that matched his own vibe. Sometimes other artists and sometimes his own work. Changes is obviously the latter. To this day I still rank this as one of Mala’s best tunes. A haunting vocal line goes on like some weird hosed up choir, while like all those great half-step tunes the drums, while minimal in some ways, are an example of quality over quantity. Each hit driving the tune forward. This track is also very special to me as Mala was the first Dubstep artist proper to play in Glasgow in summer 2006. Local promotors (who would later create the Fortified Audio label) would rent out an old milk factory on Oswald St here in town for the dance. Very few people actually showed up, but I was one of them. Bucky punch served on entry, smoking allowed and no closing hours meant Mala and the fantastic MC Sgt Pokes played a monumental set that I swear went on until about 5:30am. Changes was one of the stand out tracks I remember. I don’t even think it was actually out yet, strictly dubplate. After the dance I remember walking out the door to the venue, into a sunny Sunday morning and it was like I had had an epiphany. Mind blown. Kromestar ”Surgery” (Deep Medi, 2006) Speaking of Deep Medi, Mala actually started the label off with a bang with this release by Kromestar. That Aliens motion sensor pulse that runs through the tune is really what makes it. The bleep teases you for half the tune as you're just waiting for it to spring to life as it detects movement that emanates from the deep dark bassline. Geiom ”Feel So Bad” (Berkane Sol, 2006) After several years making IDM under his own name Kamal Joory adopted the Geiom name and took up the Dubstep reigns. Releasing on his own Berkane Sol label, Feel So Bad was one of Geiom's first releases. Featuring vocals by MC Terrible Shock, Geiom weaved together a fantastic package of super deep sub-bass, ultra-reverbed snares and lush, warm pads to create a wonderful slice of vocal Dubstep. Full and proper vocals in Dubstep while not unheard of (see Anti-War Dub) was a rarity and this tune helped at a different flavour into the Dubstep mix at the time. Scuba ”Harpoon” (Scuba/Hotflush Recordings, 2006) I don't think Paul Rose aka Scuba likes to admit it nowadays, but once upon a time yes he did get his start making Dubstep tunes, and yes Hot Flush was a Dubstep label. Harpoon was actually his third release as an artist in his own right, as well as the third release on his Scuba sub-label which was set up originally to release his own work. A deep sea dive of a tune, the bass bubbles away under a synth line that drifts about on the tunes sonic currents. Funnily enough I seem to remember Scuba's initial tunes taking a while to leave the shelves, which I found weird at the time a they were really solid tunes. Gravious ”Wormsign” (Hotflush Recordings, 2006) This gets included because Gravious was the first Glaswegian Dubstep producer to get a track on wax (well excluding Kode9 I suppose, but well he lives in London so that doesn’t count). Released on the Hot Flush sub-label Scuba, Wormsign is an absolute roller of a tune. This tune definitely rode its own path at the time, with glacial synthlines that drift over a disassembled breakbeat rhythm. Having a lot of ‘gloss’ in tunes was just something that was the done thing in Glasgow. This tune had it, as well as all the early Rustie, HudMo etc tunes. I guess it must’ve came from the likes of Techno/Electro which obivously was really popular in Glasgow at the time. Skream ”Blipstream” (Tempa, 2006) Have you ever heard how people listened ot certain artists or bands and decided “I could do that!”? You know the ones I mean, like your Velvet Undergrounds or Sex Pistols. Well to me Skream was that Dubstep artist. At first glance his tunes seem ridiculously simple at times, all wub-wubs and apparently simple half-time drums (just like the Sex Pistols were all three chords). But his real genius was being able to take what seemed like a simple concept at first and taking it to a higher level, a chord change there, a shift in mood there. Simple creativity that your average copyist just simply wouldn’t have. The period from about 2005 to 2007 was really Skream’s heyday. He was releasing a slew of great tracks as well as had his amazing slot on RinseFM. As far as I’m concerned one of his highest points was the release of his Skreamizm Volume 2 double pack, form which this tune is sourced. This release had it all, one of the quintessential Dubstep tunes. MRK1 ”Grit” (Planet Mu, 2006) MRK1 or Mark one gained fame as the producer/DJ to Mancunian Grime act Virus Syndicate. After early releases on a handful of different labels, Mark one (and Virus Syndicate ofr that matter) both found their way onto Planet Mu records. Originally an IDM label, Planet Mu seemed to find their cool in the early days of Dubstep, signing up a slew of releases from the mid-00s onwards of which this track was one. Appearing as a 12” single off his second album Copyright Laws, Grit hits hard on the dancefloor with half-stepped breaks and tough bass. Caspa "Cockney Violin" (Dub Police, 2006) Caspa formed Dub Police as an imprint of his Storming Productions label, moving the sound from the latters more breakbeat-based thing to strictly Dubstep. Cockney Violin was probably the first hit on the label as well as being Caspa’s breakout tune. Oriental strings flow hauntingly over a solid bedrock of heavyweight bass and drums. Like all good Dubstep tunes at the time I remember this floating about dancefloors and airwaves as a dub months before it made it into the hands of the people. I might as well jump in here about the white elephant in the room – Caspa & Rusko’s Fabriclive mix. Pretty much jump-up to the max, that Fabriclive mix showed off one particular side of Dubstep that sadly many would jump on the bandwagon and think that was the only side of Dubstep. From there they would twist and mutate the sound in a boring, by the numbers direction. So sad. From someone who at the time absolutely adored Dubstep, to watch it being twisted and forced into one pigeonhole was heartbreaking for myself. I pretty much walked away from the scene in disgust. And I wasn’t the only one, it seemed like everyone made a break from the scene around that time, with all the original artists changed tact, and going off and doing their own thing. It’s interesting that as the years went by we’ve heard more stories come out from ten years ago. Lauren Martin’s massive interview with the original Dubstep pioneers was one extremely interesting and informative piece. Can you imagine if Loefah or Mala or Skream or whoever had actually said yes to Fabric, what would the scene be like now? Maybe it wouldn’t have blown up as big as it did, but creatively it’s a wonder. But if ifs and ands…. Rusko "SNES Dub" (Dub Police, 2006) Rusko and Caspa may have a lot to answer for, though you have to give them their due the first couple of releases on Dub Police were stormers. Rusko’s SNES Dub especially was massive. Filtering Skream-esque vibes through a prism of 8-Bit sounds and UK Dub/Steppas influence, SNES Dub is a melodic, high energy belter that used to set dancefloors a light a got everyone moving. In hindsight though you can see the rot starting from herel. The light, super sugary sounds were too easily adapted to folk on laptops with no idea about dance music or how it properly works. Strip out the bass (which you couldn’t hear on a laptop or iPod headphones anyway), jack up the mids and highs and you can see where that horrible version of Dubstep came from. Shackleton "Blood On My Hands" (Skull Disco, 2006) What to say about Shackleton and the Skull Disco gang. Unique is all I can say. Even the artwork on the record sleeves was unique in the scene, their hand drawn bizarre skeletal art was a total clash with the generic discobags and simple label design of the time (only Tempa really did much in the way of artwork, and they were a complete 180 from Skull Disco, utilising a cool, clean, crisp design aesthetic). Blood on my Hands is probably the track that really broke Shackleton. Psychedelic, hypnotic percussion runs through the entire length of the tune, keeping you in a near trance for the entire track with the deep sub-bass envelopes you and drags you down, deep down into its crushing interior. Just to round off this trip poetry drips over the track, cascading down its seismic heights in a manner that could take the place of Marlon Brando’s speech in Apocalypse Now. Coki “Red Eye” (Big Apple Records, 2007) A brief and sadly final resurrection of Big Apple Records. Here Coki is on the buttons, showing what is probably a perfect example of the kind of thing you’d probably call jump-up nowadays. However back then there wasn’t this big massive divide, tracks like this would fit in just fine beside a Mala or Pinch track or whoever. This is the kind of tune later bandwagon jumpers would try to make but just utterly fail. The twisted, wobbly bassline which would become a Coki trademark creates a melody in itself as the deceptively simple, yet intricate shuffling drums force your feet onto the dancefloor. Like I said, tunes like this people would try and copy but like all copyists very few were ever actually able to recreate the true soul of this track. Yes it’s a heavy banger. Yes it’s seems a simple, easy thing to copy at first glance but there’s an amazing well of deepness ingrained in the tune that unless you hear it pumping out a proper set of speakers, you just cannot understand. Folk listening off a crappy laptop just plain didn’t get it! Deep down they didn’t understand it’s true soul! The closet I can think of is say, a Rothko painting. Sure you can look at a 2 inch square black and white picture of it in a book and go “oh I get it”, but until you actually see the real thing hanging on a wall, to be able to see all the intent and subtlety in it, you really don’t get it. Juju “Punks” (Narco.Hz, 2007) One of the frist American artists in the Dubstep scene, Juju’s Punks was an absolute anthem when it came out. An example of jump-up done right! Starting out as a Drum & Bass artist, Juju would be one of the few folk from that scene who got Dubstep (or at least got it so early on). His tracks always had his own spin on Dubstep. He never slavenly tried to copy London lock stock and barrel, instead he seemed to inject his own west coast American influence into the sound, creating a kind of funky, California meets Jamaica meets UK vibe. Cotti "I Don't Give A Dub" (White Label, 2007) While I could say Cotti was another one of those second wave of Dubstep artists, in truth he’d been around a bit longer having had his start in the Grime scene. A spiritual follow up to his other classic Sensi Dub (a joint production with frequent collaborator Cluekid), Cotti once again raids the Reggae Dancehall bin for a vocal, this time picking up line by Beenie Man. Here Cotti manages to weave in Beenie Man’s vocal like a surfer rides a wave, effortlessly letting the vocal ride perfectly on top of the towering wave of sub-bass. Done gracefully, it’s not a case of simply bolting on a Reggae vocal on top of a pre-made tune like a lot of people would later attempt. Fun note: Everyone who was everyone seemed to play this tune out. Skream, Mala, Loefah, N-Type, the whole lot. Matty G ”50,000 Watts” (Argon Records, 2007) Matty G and the Argon label were another pair of early American Dubstep adopters. The label itself – like a lot of American heads at the time – switched from an early focus on D&B to Dubstep, bypassing the Garage thing which never really took off in the States (with a few noticable exceptions). 50,000 Watts was a tune which followed the time honoured tradition of making the rounds on dubplate before it hit the record store shelves with a massive bang, building up a hype that you never seem to get much nowadays. Loefah did a remix on the flip, which while killer too, was never quite as good as this original mix. Nightwalker ”Magic Beans” (Boka Records, 2007) Now this is a tune that never ever seems to get mentioned at all. I was going to say nowadays but it totally was forgotten about when it came out. A classic late 2006/early 2007 lurching halfstepper, the bassline is an aggressive number that – along with snare hits – gives the tune a lot of movement that some stuff from that period just never had. This is also an important tune in a way for me. This came out near the start of '07, where I would pretty much buy every single Dubstep single that came out. I mean there was so few being released at the time (this was pre-internet digital download Beatport thing) you could do so. But coming out on the same label at the same time as this was a single by The Others, and that was one of the first Dubstep tunes I never got the fuss about. It just seemed like a cheap knock off of what was around then. I remember literally having to choose between the two, I'm sure you can guess what I picked and what every other Dubstep fan on the planet seemed to pick. The first seeds of doubt in this scene I was so involved in, and in my own minuscle, non-influential way, had helped to build, had come about. Benga “The Lead” (Southside Dubstars, 2007) Benga seemed to be one of the least prolific of the original Dubstep artists. Well I take that back, one of the least prolific in terms of his tracks being released on 12” vinyl. His dubplates were mashing up dancefloors left right and centre for years. But starting from 2006 that all changed when all of a sudden there was a plethora of releases by him, including one of the first Dubstep ‘albums’ in the form of his Newstep CD. This release came about late 2006/early 2007 and came out on UK Garage label Southside Recordings Dubstep imprint. A tune I played constantly at the time, a track that’s loaded with a dark, dread atmosphere. Vaccine ”Wishful Thinking” (Scuba/Hotflush Recordings, 2007) This tune always hit me, from the moment I first heard it. It's a brilliant, warm, breezy tune that really stood out from the crowd when it first came out. If it wasn't for the sharp drum beat that anchors the tune to the earth, this tune would just float up and away into the cloud. An interesting experiment in mixing together Dubstep and Ambient/Chill Out. And it works! L-Wiz “Fruit Shop” (Bare Dubs, 2007) Another example of Dubsteps early global reach, L-Wiz was a duo hailing from Sweden who over the past year or two prior to this release had a handful of singles out on leading Dubstep label Dub Police. Here though they make a brief switch to the short lived Bare Dubs outfit with this fantastic and playful track. Something badly needed at the time as Dubstep was sadly seeing itself latched onto by a crowd who didn’t quite understand you can’t just have straight hardcore wobble dark action. Its skanking piano and cool jazz guitar gives this track a real airiness and positive feel. Like so many tracks it’s one of those ones that just seems forgotten about nowadays. Martyn “Broken” (Revolve:R, 2007) Martyn was one of the first of the Drum & Bass heads to see where the winds were blowing and switch tracks to making Dubstep. Though I will never call him a bandwagon jumper, unlike some of the later heads who’d jump over once Dubstep had already achieved critical (and a small degree of commercial) success. I’m looking at you Chase & Status and Black Sun Empire. Anyway, released on D&B label Soul:R’s Revole:R sublabel in early 2007, Martyn helped bring in a more Techno influence into Dubstep, further mixing in that Dub Techno/Basic Channel thing that the likes of DMZ had been playing about with. Soaked in Dub dynamics, Broken features crystalline washes of synths, warped vocals and a deep bass. Reso “Toasted” (Pitch Black, 2007) This was Reso’s first proper release, out on the short-lived Pitch Black label. Here Reso is another one who introduces a more Techno element into the sound, with a more skittering, glitchy, in some ways almost ambient take on Dubstep. A chopped up breakbeat rides enough a laid back synths line that sparkles through a haze of Dub-sonics. Reso would be one of the few Dubstep artists to go against the grain, eventually moving uptempo into Drum & Bass. Off the top of my head I can’t really think of any Dubstep artists that’ve done that. Sure you have the likes of Sully who’re on a 150-160bpm Jungle tip at the moment, but Reso went all the way into the 170+ bpm, proper D&B even had a single on Hospital Records. Just unusual! D1 "Mind + Soul" (Tempa, 2007) D1 was a fantastic second gen Dubstep producer, quickly being picked up by Soulja Records before being promoted up to the premier division Tempa label. After a couple of 12” singles he came out with this wonderful double pack on the label. Breezy strings and keys float over a pitched up vocal that wouldn’t be out of a place in an old Hardcore or Garage tune, while the bassline could easily find itself a home on a Progressive house track. This was another one that was floating about for ages before actually being released, and it was such a welcome change of pace. It’s brightness and warmth a nice tonic to an increasing dark sound. D1 sadly seems to have fallen off the face of the Earth over the past few years which a real shame. I’m sure he was intending to put out an album too, though I can’t remember if that was going to be on Tempa or Dub Police. Benga & Coki ”Night” (Tempa, 2007) Probably the biggest Dubstep tune ever on it's release, Night was a real pivotal moment in the Dubstep scene. The first song that made it into the charts (even if it was the low 90s), Night got the push no other Dubstep tunes really had before. Original 12”, remix 12”, CD Single, even a music video was made for it! Every DJ wanted a copy of this tune, whether they played in the darker, dubbier end of things or the more jump-up side, this tune did it for everybody – even the UK Funky lot who latched onto Geeneus's awesome remix. It also gets bonus points for being one of those tunes everybody seems to sing the bassline to in a club. I managed to grab one of the promos of this from Dubplate.net when they first surfaced, then I seem to remember it being delayed for another month or two before the actual release hit. My face was like the cat got the cream for that short space of time. Nobody could touch me. Luke Envoy "M.U.G.E.N." (Wonderland, 2008) A heavy duty track released on Grime producer Wonder’s sadly shortlived Wonderland label. Dub-inspired production allows sounds and vocals to phase in and out the track which at its core features some supremely punchy drums and rumbling, jaggy bass pressure. For some reason I seem to think this tune had actually been doing the rounds of dubplate for a hell of a long time. Way before its eventual release in 2008. Zomby ”Spliff Dub (Rustie Remix)” (Hyperdub, 2008) Zomby – and Rustie for that matter – was an artist that came about with that second wave of Dubstep artists. However unlike a lot of them he brought his own take to the sound. Rather than just having your typical wobble bass and half-step drum pattern, Zomby broke up the sound and lit it with bright multi-coloured neon light, creating a nervous, electrifying feel to a lot of his early tunes. Picture a demonically possessed Sinclair Spectrum. It was something that went down a treat here in Glasgow, where the likes of Rustie, Hudson Mohawke and the rest of that whole LuckyMe/Numbers lot had independently came onto a very similar sounding path. Luckily for us all the jokingly labelled Aqua-Crunk never made it into your average music journalists vocabulary so that word vanished into the ether. 2562 “Techno Dread” (Tectonic, 2008) Continuing where Martyn’s Broken left off, 2562 (aka A Made Up Sound aka Dave Huismans to his mum) was another artist that really helped bring a more overt Techno influence into Dubstep. An influence which as the years went on would become more and more prevalent, helping give rise to the modern ‘Bass’ scene. Techno Dread features broken percussion that lies somewhere between Garage and Techno, while a pulsing bassline could easily be lifted off your favourite Basic Channel or Maurizio 12”. Silkie "Hooby" (Deep Medi, 2008) As part of Antisocial – a small group of producers also including the likes of Quest and Heny G among others – Silkie had earned his stripes with a handful of releases in the mid-00s. His worked must’ve impressed Mala, as he was snapped up to his Deep Medi imprint, with this release being his first of two in 2008 for the label. Skanking chords give way to a sharp but evaporating synth line that has hints of Source Direct about it. A swinging, techy drumbeat underpins this all to keep your feet moving on the dancefloor. Joker "80s" (Kapsize, 2008) While not Joker’s first release, it was his first on Kapsize, which was his own label in connection with Multiverse (the umbrella “corporation” of the likes of Tectonic and Subtext). I always liken this to a British G-Funk tune. Okay a G-Funk tune doped up on cheap speed, rolling in the pishing rain in a clapped out Vauxhall Nova rather than sun-drenched LA in a Caddy. On this track 8-bit synths cut a shining, dayglow melody through a wall of bass and 808 rhythm. Joker and some of the people who were making tunes in a similar kind of vain would gain the Purple tag because people love to label tiny deviations. See Wonky. Dusk & Blackdown “Kuri Pataka (The Firecracker Girl)” (Keysound Recordings, 2008) Martin Clark aka Blackdown is another one of those slightly forgotten about legends in the scene. Originally he was a journalist in the Garage scene, writing about the new darker wave of UK Garage that was developing at the turn of the millennium. Being there at the ground level gave him great access as he watched UKG evolve into the two scenes there are today, Grime – which his Run The Road compilations still remain the best Grime comps ever in my opinion – and Dubstep. He was also the first to write about them in an international publication (well website) having a column on Pitchfork at a time when that site generally only dealt with more traditional Rock based stuff. So his influence cannot be understated in that sense. However I also feel he is undervalued in terms of his musical contributions to Dubstep. He, along with musical partner Dusk, started Keysound Recordings in 2005, intitially to release their own work, though nowadays it contains a fantastic roster of artists. Anyway come 2008 Dusk & Blackdown had assembled what is a classic album – Margins Music. It’s an album that is London, taking bits and pieces from many of the sights and sounds you’ll find in the city. With this track they look east toward Asia as they incorporate Indian singing and rhythms into their work. Starting off with Teij’s Punjabi (I think, apologies if it’s not) vocals that end up working up to an incredible howl while an Indian drumbeats thuds underneath. The tune quickly snaps in Farrah’s heavenly whose vocals breeze over the beats before being swept up into a magnificent orchestral storm that’ll beat the best that you find in any Indian movie. Additional & Recommended Listening: I'll say start with Tempa records classic Dubstep Allstars series. Currently it stretches to 13 volumes, it's probably the definitive Dubstep mix series of all time. Hell at one time that was by default, there simply wasn't anything else out there! Tectonic also has their Tectonic Plates series which handily collect what's coming out on that label at the time. The original one came out in 2006 and collected all the original 10” plates onto one CD, plus some other releases on the label as well as including a nice mix CD too! Oh and that 10” series has just been collected and pressed onto 2x12” so if you missed the boat first time round now's your chance! The other CDs in the series are from 2009+, but are a great way to see how the Dubstep sound has progressed. Hyperdub's 5 Years of Hyperdub comp is also a classic, and like above is a great look at a point in time where the Dubstep scene was splintering and all these influences and differences were really coming to the fore. Hotflush's Back and 4th comp from 2011 also shows the same, while their earlier pace and Time compiles a nice collection of their releases from about 2005 to 2007. And yes I might as well say it, Caspa & Rusko's Fabriclive mix (FabricLive.Mix 37 to be precise). Just to see it in action. Just don't turn into a total bro please! I'd also say try the relevant Rinse mix compilation series (well I'd say try them all, not just the relevant but whatever! Geeneus kicked off the series with a nice Dubstep/Grime/Funky disc, while Skream did an absolutely fantastic mix for the second which is an total must have. Other Dubstep alumni who've done a Rinse mix CD include N-Type (no.9) and Youngsta (no.14). While Oneman (no.11) and Ben UFO (no.16) did some cracking mixes that really point the way to the modern Bass scene. Finally Mary-Anne Hobbs compiled three compilations that came out on Planet Mu. Warrior Dubz, Evangeline and Wild Angel. All are worth picking up.
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Jul 22, 2016 23:15
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And my apologies for the big,massive, unwieldy block of text there. I really tried to narrow it down to like, 25-30 tracks tops. I honestly did. It was just way too hard this time. Total fail.
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Jul 22, 2016 23:19
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Went to a Dub Police show a few years ago and Caspa played all trap, was kind of a bummer
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Jul 23, 2016 03:11
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28 Gun Bad Boy posted:What's five years between friends eh?. Massive. Working my way through but from the first third or so: why do we hear so much about El-B drums and never Horsepower drums? Blaming Blackdown. & That Search and Destroy track is HUGE (thats yours right? thank you for the upload).
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Jul 23, 2016 04:41
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JamesKPolk posted:Massive. To this day I still think Horsepower as a production unit are massively, massively underrated by folk, nevermind just their drums. Drumwise I always thought HP took the whole swing thing to a whole other level. Tarzan would have problems! Hell nevermind just the drums, all those early Horsepower tracks the whole tune just seem to swing about like crazy. I always figured part of the reason they were a bit underappreciated was because they missed out on the whole Dubstep explosion thing. From To The Rescue it took until what? 2009 to make a comeback with drat It, so they missed out on it blowing up big time. Whereas El-B came back right in time. I'm sure that EP on Heavy Artillery came out before he re-activated Ghost. Anyway they were both 2007 so right at the height of the explosion. I remember seeing Benny Ill play just as he was making a comeback. A double bill with him and Peverelist I think it was. One of my felt so gutted nights out. Benny played first and I think there was like me and 3 others right on the dancefloor quick sharp. Nobody else seemed interested which just absolutely boggled my mind! I mean I'm sure he started his set with Stone Cold for fucks sake!! If that can't get you going there's no hope. Oh and yeah I uploaded the S&D track. It's an absolute belter that I had kinda forgotten about until I dragged out all my Dubstep 12"s for ideas for the guide. Actually if you're savvy you'll spot by the upload date. I had actually intended the post to go up in June, for the five year anniversary of the thread. Then as what happens with these kind of things computer died, Euros were on etc. So it let me stick in one or two other things in the meantime. Luckily unlike with the UKG or Broken Beat posts I didn't have to upload much, think just S&D and the original version of Lion and that was it.
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Jul 23, 2016 08:14
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28 Gun Bad Boy posted:What's five years between friends eh?. Nice m8. Been out of that scene for a while, what're the best Youngsta-type labels now. Osiris UK type stuff.
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Jul 24, 2016 03:14
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Mike_V posted:Nice m8. Been out of that scene for a while, what're the best Youngsta-type labels now. Osiris UK type stuff. Yeah man to be honest I'm the same. The kind of 'deeper' Dubstep doesn't do it for me much. A lot of the time I hear stuff and I just think, "oh, Mala/Coki/Skream/Distance/Whoever did that ten years ago". But I might just be being really unfair that. On saying that there's still one or two things I can dig every now and then. Amit's label Amar has been putting out some cool pieces, though a lot of the releases are D&B so you need to check first. Uprise Audio is cool as well, being Seven's label who you might remember was on the likes of Aquatic Lab and Black Box a few years ago. There's also Innamind Recordings which I like too. Plus obviously all your old standbys are still kicking about I think. I think a couple of the folks itt keep up to date with it a bit more, so hopefully someone will be able to help out more.
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Jul 24, 2016 23:02
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Good, comprehensive chapter. Helpful in that I'd actually been trying to remember the first time I'd heard of dubstep, and it must have been some time around late '07 because I torrented a pack of vinyl rips that included the D1 track featured above. Had Skream and Benga and Mala and the like but it wasn't a perfect overview. My favorite of the lot was an old Bass Clef track, I think he's been underrated for more or less the entire time I've known him. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b9JbooH8ao He had a tape split with Ekoplekz a few years back that was excellent but not particularly step-y. I guess it gets to where I came from on it - I grew up in a little rural American town without so much as a used CD shop, so my intro to electronic music was, like, the Trainspotting soundtrack (which was great). No dances meant it was all headphone listening, and so IDM it was. Around '06 / '07 I got tired of trying to daisy chain artists I liked to other artists (the internet's taste was not discriminating when it came to IDM, most of it is dross in one form or another) so I started hunting label compilations and it was like hitting ten birds with the stone I'd been throwing at one. Since I was already an IDM head I went straight for Planet Mu and their 200 compilation. Had a lot of heavyweights on it - Darqwan and Pinch and Benga and Distance are all represented, plus some more Mu one-foot-in-the-prog types, namely Ital Tek and Boxcutter, the former of whom still puts out good stuff with regularity. I was hooked by the Vex'd remix of Distance's "Fallen", which has lost 0 punch since it came out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvANW7mliBQ Somehow I never got so into Vex'd, maybe if I had come around to greyscale techno a few years earlier I would appreciate their none-more-black aesthetic, but I was pleased as punch when they featured a Downward Spiral deep cut on one of their DJ mixes. Another standout track (and one of the many weird one-off outliers on Planet Mu) was from Parson, out of Houston. Throwing the ketamine-soaked dubstep sound in a pot with Screw music seems like a no-brainer but Parson was seemingly the only one to do it with panache. He seemed to drop off the face of the Earth after it, I think he hung out at SXSW for a few years but he was associated with "drumstep" and Run DMT and all that youtube-driven cashgrab noise once bass blew up stateside. Not cool enough for the Mu, clearly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEeQqPWaSgc Planet Mu's kind of a magpie, always trying to be a tastemaker and batting about .500 in that regard (Wins: breakcore [which I hated], dubstep, footwork. Losses: electro-folk, lo-fi house, whatever avant garde stuff they're playing with now), but there's no denying Mike Paradinas' eye, he's made a lot of careers. So many producers get their foot in the door with a one-off single or LP on the label and you forget about it, to the point that there are labels that apparently exist solely to pick up what Paradinas puts down (looking at you, Ninja Tune). But all the best Vex'd stuff was on the Mu imprint, Jamie Vex'd is still there under the Kuedo moniker. They even rode the post-dubstep "bass" wave for awhile. Mike's not averse to picking up an imitator for a quick buck. And I'll always have a soft spot for a label man who openly regrets featuring Machinedrum. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0zZPv97YPA I never actually ventured much farther than Planet Mu even when my awareness of the scene was at its peak. By the time I came around to "dungeon" stuff it was already on the wane and I never cottoned to either Mala or Burial, which I guess makes me an outlier. By the time Pinch was making house trax and Boddika hosed off from Instra:Mental to make boring electro I knew the scene was well and truly done. More recently I've been noticing that the Instra:Mental / Autonomic sound has been having a bit of a renaissance, mainly because so many of its samey, prolific mainstays (Vaccine, ASC) have gone quiet, regressed back to straightforward DnB, or gone ambient, and so Exit records in particular has been picking up on the Om Unit side of that sound, which seems to be flourishing via acts like Fracture and Sam Binga. Truer to jungle, you might say, and still identifiable in that vein, but when they feature toasters it fits in pretty well with a more general bass-y feel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOkHf2Vpx_E
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Jul 25, 2016 19:25
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I'm reminded now of the actual dubstep compilation that Planet Mu put out, 10 Tons Heavy which I got around the time of its release. Featured a full DJ mix from Benga and Hatcha on the flip. Hatcha was one of those names I kept hearing but never bothered to actually track down. "Qawwali" was licensed to appear on the singles side, that's where I first heard it. One guy I'd nearly forgotten about was Milanese, who iirc was another producer for Virus Syndicate that Paradinas scooped up alongside MRK1. People still ask about "Caramel Cognac" when I play it, it's aged exceptionally well. Seemingly another guy who made an appearance on the Mu and then disappeared. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0KTKlCQTjE In retrospect it's hard to say what exactly delineated tedious American dubstep from UK jump-up stuff. Awareness and recognition of lineage, maybe. Or as 28GBB suggested years ago, it was a "master for the medium" thing and the yanks just punched the mids up to make the most of laptop speakers. Personally I think it's because so many US producers came to the music as a way to make hip hop production louder. And so much hip hop, lacking strong caribbean roots, just doesn't swing like garage, and so the music just lays flat on the ear, all frosting and no cake. Doesn't help that the style was approached as a very simple template, of course. Or the endless, worthless pop remixes fighting for youtube dominance. Or the absence of radio to pull it all together. But it's not the Americans' fault, really. All things die except House. House always finds its way back to the dancefloor. And thank god. Basic Chunnel fucked around with this message at 19:40 on Jul 25, 2016 |
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Jul 25, 2016 19:38
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Basic Chunnel posted:I'm reminded now of the actual dubstep compilation that Planet Mu put out, 10 Tons Heavy which I got around the time of its release. Featured a full DJ mix from Benga and Hatcha on the flip. Hatcha was one of those names I kept hearing but never bothered to actually track down. "Qawwali" was licensed to appear on the singles side, that's where I first heard it. One guy I'd nearly forgotten about was Milanese, who iirc was another producer for Virus Syndicate that Paradinas scooped up alongside MRK1. People still ask about "Caramel Cognac" when I play it, it's aged exceptionally well. Seemingly another guy who made an appearance on the Mu and then disappeared. Thanks for all the words. I've always liked hearing how different folk got into the music in different ways! Milanese is a name I've not heard in ages. He was a good producer and one of my regrets is having to bail on him years ago. Probably closer to ten years ago now I think about it, I'd imagine it would've been roughly when he had his album out. I ended up seeing Kavinsky the night before - and to make myself seem cool he'd either just released or was just about to release his first EP. Long before Drive - and the sound there was absolutely appalling, super earpiercing highs. No joke literal pain, could barely hear out my ear for a few days, still damaged I think. Anyway for once I did the sensible thing and rested my ears for the next few days. At least the wee crackers in the skin tight lycra at the dance meant at least my eyes weren't in pain. Bass Clef was cool.I remember meeting him and Ramadanman in the que for DMZ 2nd birthday bash. And yeah I still contend the rise of the internet, and ipods and laptops had a lot to do with things. That's why I made the caveat there that folk should really listen to Dubstep on something that can just move the air. Not a super expensive thing or high quality thing. Anything, you just need to shift the physical. I mean I've heard Jungle D&B, Garage, Techno, House and proper Dub Reggae on real quality sound systems, but to this day I still haven't felt anything that can get my bones rattling, hell my soul rattling than any of those OG Dubstep records. They just knew how to work the bass. I remember when Mala and Skream first came to town, the first Dubstep guys to come here, it was the Fortified crew who'd put them on and they did the opening. Both of those guys (on different nights mind you) were hanging about before they went on, and both of them just listened to how the warm up guys were doing, then just reached over to the mixer, moved a few knobs about and just sculpted the bass to levels that just weren't there before! Just incredible. Anyway I try not to really blame America as such, as from the start (well 2nd wave start I should say) you had a lot of cool Americans involved in things like Moldy, Mundo and obviously the likes of Vaccine. I actually had a Mundo track on my guide, but it was shaved off after the last failed attempt to slim it down! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlSbQGwIXgY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29v3tz40n2s Planet Mu was a label I never actually paid attention to much before they started picking up the Dubstep stuff. The breakcore thing I had zero interest in, so that probably disuaded me. Though thinking about it now reminded me of that awesome Darqwan tune on PM. Maximum Reespek. I tune I absolutely adored when it came out! Though it never seemed to get the love it deserved for some reason.
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Jul 25, 2016 21:32
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28 Gun Bad Boy posted:What's five years between friends eh?. Great stuff. I really think you should write for an music site or something. Factmag or some similar vibes. You really have a knack for it. When I get some time I'd love to do a 2010 and beyond post on a similar tip. I just need to pull out all my records and layout the vibes that transitioned the 140 powerhouse to the fragmented scene we have today.
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Jul 28, 2016 03:20
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Adding my thanks, you have a gift for historical evolution that makes sense of the stuff I had that I couldn't connect with "mainstream" dubstep before. And that article about the scene was fascinating in that the limited technology was deliberately used as a gatekeeper for the scene as well as a limitation to hone the sound. I really like the breakbeat side of dubstep, thick and juicy like Toasty or wide and spacey like Darqwan, and was a bit shocked that I already had Horsepower Productions and Vex'd stuff in my collection but had no context for them. Now I do  So, given that it's been neglected seems like a fun thing to explore musically myself!
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Jul 28, 2016 20:27
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b0red posted:Great stuff. I really think you should write for an music site or something. Factmag or some similar vibes. You really have a knack for it. Thanks man. I know folk have mentioned it in the past, though I wouldn't even know where to start with any of that. And I just don't think my writings all that decent either! You've got folk who went to uni or whatever to learn to write and do it properly, I just tend to write how I feel or what I think, nothing fancy! I doubt I could keep up with any real writer. And I'd totally be up for seeing that! I'd love to think I might inspire folk to delve in a talk about things some more. It'd definitely be an interesting period of time. Like even when you go back to start of this thread and compare the scene is very different. Even more so when you go back to the old Dubstep thread which was pretty ropey to be fair, and, with a few exceptions, many of the heads there didn't really seem to dive into much beyond the more superficial (current house thread reminds me of it actually). But very interesting look at a very different time to be fair. ewe2 posted:Adding my thanks, you have a gift for historical evolution that makes sense of the stuff I had that I couldn't connect with "mainstream" dubstep before. And that article about the scene was fascinating in that the limited technology was deliberately used as a gatekeeper for the scene as well as a limitation to hone the sound. I really like the breakbeat side of dubstep, thick and juicy like Toasty or wide and spacey like Darqwan, and was a bit shocked that I already had Horsepower Productions and Vex'd stuff in my collection but had no context for them. Now I do Yeah the whole breakbeat side just seemed to be pushed away at the time, which I found a bit sad as I did like it. But I remember that entire year of 2006 seemed pretty much solidly half-step, with a few exceptions. Nothing else got a look in. I also don't know if people tended to lump it in with that horrible nu-break scene or whatever it was called back then. The whole Rennie Pilgrim, latter Aquasky, Deekline Ed Solo thing. But to me the tracks I mentioned were always like breakbeat Garage tracks. They had that Garage foundation, that Garage beat. A totally different sound to the break scene. To me you can tell the difference between the two a mile away, as apart from using a breakbeat sonically they were just so different. At least I think so I suppose that Vice article I linked to that Lauren Martin wrote also kinda explains how that side of things faded away, as the original guys do talk a bit about that side of things.
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Jul 28, 2016 22:11
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28 Gun Bad Boy posted:Yeah the whole breakbeat side just seemed to be pushed away at the time, which I found a bit sad as I did like it. But I remember that entire year of 2006 seemed pretty much solidly half-step, with a few exceptions. Nothing else got a look in. I also don't know if people tended to lump it in with that horrible nu-break scene or whatever it was called back then. The whole Rennie Pilgrim, latter Aquasky, Deekline Ed Solo thing. But to me the tracks I mentioned were always like breakbeat Garage tracks. They had that Garage foundation, that Garage beat. A totally different sound to the break scene. To me you can tell the difference between the two a mile away, as apart from using a breakbeat sonically they were just so different. At least I think so Breakbeat seemed to have gone in different directions around the time you mentioned, with Deekline & Ed Solo pushing a lot of bootlegs, Rennie Pilgrim's Thursday Club label maybe being a bit housier or progressive, and then Aquasky was pushing a lot of the tear-out stuff on their Passenger label. I remember The Breakfastaz being the big artist, labels like Funkateck, Cyberfunk, Hardcore Beats, and their splinter labels. One of my favorite label was Guerrilla Tactics (https://www.discogs.com/label/35375-Guerrilla-Tactics), with Sam Binga releasing as Pablo Beatz (he was also releasing as Baobinga on Hardcore Beats, et al.), Chase & Status as Loopdigga, Mortlock was one of the Vicious Circle guys. It was very drum'n'bassy. I'm surprised I didn't get into early dubstep because of that label, it was a couple years later my roommate loaning me the Storming Productions 'Built For Boundaries' mix, then downloading Rinse FM sets. Anyways, I could post some links of the breaks stuff I liked, if it is of interest & might lend to the sonic narrative here. Also, re: Reso, after his first album for Civil Music, he was writing more & more dnb, and ultimately signed exclusive to Hospital Records, putting out an EP or two, a couple tracks on compilations, and then he put out an LP last year. Not the stereotypical "Hospital" sound, although it had melodic moments. Enei is another who went dubstep to dnb, he was part of Giant, releases on H.E.N.C.H., and then signed exclusive to Critical Music. And I'm not sure if it meant anything, but a few months ago F (one of my favorites, he was on 7EVEN Recordings) uploaded a dnb mix on Soundcloud, been a few years since he stopped releasing music. I miss his style of tunes.
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Jul 28, 2016 22:50
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SUBFRIES posted:Breakbeat seemed to have gone in different directions around the time you mentioned, with Deekline & Ed Solo pushing a lot of bootlegs, Rennie Pilgrim's Thursday Club label maybe being a bit housier or progressive, and then Aquasky was pushing a lot of the tear-out stuff on their Passenger label. I remember The Breakfastaz being the big artist, labels like Funkateck, Cyberfunk, Hardcore Beats, and their splinter labels. One of my favorite label was Guerrilla Tactics (https://www.discogs.com/label/35375-Guerrilla-Tactics), with Sam Binga releasing as Pablo Beatz (he was also releasing as Baobinga on Hardcore Beats, et al.), Chase & Status as Loopdigga, Mortlock was one of the Vicious Circle guys. It was very drum'n'bassy. I'm surprised I didn't get into early dubstep because of that label, it was a couple years later my roommate loaning me the Storming Productions 'Built For Boundaries' mix, then downloading Rinse FM sets. Anyways, I could post some links of the breaks stuff I liked, if it is of interest & might lend to the sonic narrative here. Yeah I remember all those artists and labels. I think in the UK that nu-breaks thing just became very studenty and just very dull. I suppose it didn't help that you have such a variety here to choose from you can be kind of picky, whereas I suppose in the States it was a bit more thin on the ground so things that get passed up here end up gaining a bit of traction there. I don't know. One of the very few of that stuff I did like was 30Hz, who was in around that whole Bristol thing. Vertical Sound was part of that whole Multiverse publishing thing. He also mixed that Vex'd tune I put up. Chase and Status actually got their break (pardon the pun) doing that more breakbeat Garage sound and had some of their first releases on Bingo and Vehicle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEJmd9f08Ec https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi_smGAR_jU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcOKnAUeXlY Speaking of Bingo it's worth mentioning as well how important Zinc and those early Bingo tracks were to the scene. Those three Bingo Beats CDs really helped us really get into the sound when they came out. First was mixed by Zinc himself, second by Zed Bias while the third was Slimzee and very early Grime flavoured. Definitely pick them up if you can. And it's nice to see F make some kind of appearence. I really liked his stuff and the album he put out was great.
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Jul 29, 2016 18:43
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So how about that new Kano and the new Submotion Orchestra album? Diggin both.
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Aug 19, 2016 17:43
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Hotlanta https://soundcloud.com/hotmomusa/sets/distal-bushido-rave-ep also loving this novelist tune https://soundcloud.com/novelist/novelist-girls-around-the-world b0red fucked around with this message at 20:12 on Aug 19, 2016 |
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Aug 19, 2016 20:08
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air- posted:So how about that new Kano and the new Submotion Orchestra album? Diggin both. Yeah I've been liking both albums since they came out a few months ago. It's still a bit weird seeing Damon Albarn on a Grime album but whatever! I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised, it's a 'pop' album I guess. Like I mentioned before a lot of good Grime stuff coming out recently. I know Doogz has an album on Tru Thoughts soon. Though I have to admit I never listened to that Trim album, I don't know if it's the James Blake connection or what. The Submotion album just shows how much of a roll Counter Records/Ninja seem to be on. Albums by Maribou State and Andreya Triana were my highlights from the Counter stable over the past year or so. Some other stuff I've picked up over the past month or two: Speaking of Maribou State, their label Dama Dama has a new single out by fellow co-founder Pedestrian. The a-side is a jam. A psychedelic loopy breakbeat workout https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbIRH-DwQN4 On Sonar Kollektiv is Marlow's new LP In The Backroom. A nicely laid out album which switches from brooding sax numbers to high energy pounding acid burnt House to spacey spoken word numbers (the always amazing Ursula Rucker even features on a track). Definitely one to at least try out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ5-FoeWTns DJRum finishes off his trio of releases on 2nd Drop with the release of Space Race. Ramping up the speed to D&B territory, the a-side is an intergalactic warp speed voyage that I can't help but think would've sounded good on a bizarro world version of Hospital Records that didn't get crap. I just keep getting that turn of the millienium Hospital vibe from it, and I just don't know why. The flipside drapes a lovely vocal over a tune that drifts between choppy, energetic Junglistic action and moments of utter serenity. Lush! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CABxnCtUbj4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5o4gnp6tRB8 Once again Rhythm Section is on point with an EP by Prequel entitled Freedom Jazz Dance. Conscious spoken word jazz-tinged tracks (buy it on bandcamp and you'll even get lyrics on the mp3!) that bring to mind the likes of Scott-Heron. Funky rear end bassline driven synth tracks. Uptempo Latin-influenced House tracks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCCuMHepKlk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSoRMvGfe6o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lxvEf6Kx8c Finally on Whities comes Minor Science. What's there to say? Just hit play to see for yourself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOOHZeFLQVE I can hear the credit cards coming out the wallet now.
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Aug 19, 2016 22:51
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28 Gun Bad Boy posted:DJRum finishes off his trio of releases on 2nd Drop with the release of Space Race. Ramping up the speed to D&B territory, the a-side is an intergalactic warp speed voyage that I can't help but think would've sounded good on a bizarro world version of Hospital Records that didn't get crap. I just keep getting that turn of the millienium Hospital vibe from it, and I just don't know why. The flipside drapes a lovely vocal over a tune that drifts between choppy, energetic Junglistic action and moments of utter serenity. Lush! Really happy with how that DJRum 3 EP thing turned out this summer. Some of the best releases in the last few months. Rhythm Section continues to put out really great jazzy dance stuff. Chaos in the CBD has a new one coming out as well http://www.redeyerecords.co.uk/vinyl/77234-rs014-chaos-in-the-cbd-invisible-spectrum That Minor Science release is amazing, had to bag it. b0red fucked around with this message at 00:31 on Aug 23, 2016 |
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Aug 23, 2016 00:26
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqnVLxZDEDA
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Sep 2, 2016 04:05
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We want to contribute to the Grime! Show called Certified Bangers where we review all the shady rear end grimey poo poo that we all enjoy and love. Got Futuristic and Vince Staples as Certified Bangers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG5b-4tdvfM
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Sep 6, 2016 06:53
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What in the gently caress do those two have to do with grime?
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Sep 6, 2016 17:17
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realchoppaextra posted:We want to contribute to the Grime! Show called Certified Bangers where we review all the shady rear end grimey poo poo that we all enjoy and love. Got Futuristic and Vince Staples as Certified Bangers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG5b-4tdvfM lmao you play the tune on your lovely portable speaker and don't even dub it over in post editting. lazy, bad song picks, nothing to do with this thread. on an actual banger tip, mistress edit off rabit's halcyon veil https://soundcloud.com/halcyon-veil/wet-wet b0red fucked around with this message at 18:00 on Sep 6, 2016 |
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Sep 6, 2016 17:56
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Skepta's album Konnichiwa just won the Mercury Prize. Is it just me or was this album pretty meh? I think I only listened once. It kinda seems like the industry is trying to boost Grime but they are totally late-comers. And it's a novelty in America, nothing sustained.
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Sep 16, 2016 16:29
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The album is not good and Skepta has only had a couple tracks that even sniff pre-Microphone Champion stuff, but anything that wins an award like that isn't going to be particularly great.
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Sep 16, 2016 17:34
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Probably worth remembering that Boy In Da Corner did win the Mercury Prize nearly fifteen years ago. But apart from that with some other exceptions the Mercury award is always very disappointing, with the non-winning nominated albums always being much better than the actual winner (from this year I'd have picked the Jamie Woon album). I mean the albums an improvement of what he had done post-Mic Champ but yeah nothing majorly exciting. Actually I'd have put the new Kano album in front of it. Again it's very poppy in a way, some bits are a bit meh but stronger overall than Konnichiwa.
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Sep 16, 2016 19:35
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I quite like Konnichiwa, but I also like Made in the Manor as well. I really like the manic beat going on in grime, which is why I'm sad that Durrty Goodz has gone to making straight rap  I have to admit I'm not very familiar with Microphone Champion (I listened to most of it for the first time tonight) but seriously what the gently caress is up with that song "Disguise"?
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Sep 22, 2016 14:55
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| # ? Apr 24, 2024 15:03 |
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It's a reminder how quick social movements can happen.
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Sep 22, 2016 16:29
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