Dubstep InTheMix Article :D

[Mattye]

Just really started getting into Dubstep. Quite an interesting read.

Have a read and add your own oppinions.

http://www.inthemix.com.au/features/489 ... ure?page=1

[Mattye]

My oppinion.

Its obvious that dubstep like most other house/dance genres will eventually meet its end in the mainstream. With what is "cool" getting metophoricaly rapped on the radios and in the clubs, and so quickly becoming old music.

It will just be up to the diehards and us djs to keep it allive. I know i will be.

[Cupe]

A few years ago, ‘Do you like dubstep?’ is not a question you’d expect to hear from Ed Banger boss Busy P. From the basements of South London to the mainstage at Australia’s national Parklife festival in 2010, it’s been a rapid (and contentious) trajectory. So where is dubstep at right now? How is it faring down under? And with its ever-widening fan-club on both sides of the DJ booth, can all growth be seen as good? For our final Year In Review feature, we’ve pulled together opinions of those in the know about dance music’s biggest talking point in 2010.

For Chris Pfeiffer, the man behind Adelaide’s weekly dubstep night Subsects, it’s no surprise the sound has spread like wildfire. “It’s heartbeat music; it’s perfect,” he says. “It would also have a lot to do with the fact that dubstep is more of a medium than a genre. It’s an artist’s palette. There’s very few rules to follow. There’s obviously those who are just jumping on the bandwagon, but good on ‘em. They’re helping to evolve the sound and push it in different directions.”

So-called ‘bandwagon jumping’ is a recurring theme in dance music, but nowhere has it been more fiercely debated than in dubstep. Philadelphia bass-lover Diplo is a natural convert to the sound, and in a recent interview with inthemix he raged against the perception that it’s sacred territory. “People want control, but that’s not what dubstep is about. Dubstep is bigger than just these nerdy white dudes sitting at home in Liverpool talking about how the wobbles used to be bigger in 2009. This is about dudes making music all over the world. For me, the dubstep scene is a real motivator and inspiration.”

When Diplo’s label Mad Decent presented their own dubstep primer earlier this year with the Blow Your Head compilation he was prepared for the response from some circles, with Diplo saying that “people hate it because they want that scene for themselves.” In North America, Diplo says, dubstep has now usurped the popularity throne from the brash electro sounds of Justice and company. “You can’t even listen to electro-house now that dubstep is here, it’s for fucking babies now. Playing a Justice record in a club now would like playing a fucking nursery rhyme compared to the dubstep that’s going on. They love it because it’s so hardcore and it’s angry and American kids love to attach themselves to something represents them. It’s dirty, it’s underground, it’s futuristic, it’s techno; dubstep’s such a huge opener for a lot of kids’ minds.”

Closer to home, a more ‘underground’ take on dubstep has been the focus of parties like Void in Sydney, White Rhino in Brisbane and Too Much in Melbourne for several years. It hasn’t always been an easy sell, either. “Ask anyone who promotes underground music in this city; it’s fucking tough,” says White Rhino’s Richard Buck. “We’ve lost money on 60 maybe 70 percent of the events we’ve done. Other crews are in the same boat, if not worse.”

In Adelaide, a shift has begun, says Subsects’ Chris Pfeiffer. “The parties are getting bigger and bigger and with that more intense,” he enthuses. “I haven’t seen anything like this since the early ‘90s and the days of raves. The festivals aren’t cutting it for a lot of people anymore and they’re coming back to the clubs, and it seems dubstep is the sound that’s drawing them back.”

One thing that’s certain is that with all its growth and mutations, the term ‘dubstep’ is becoming less definitive. To some people it can mean the mainstage-filling wobble of Rusko while to others it’s the deeper strains of Scuba or Shackleton. Or something else entirely.

“The term ‘dubstep’ now references the half-step wobble sound, which is something we have never really championed,” says Buck. “You’ve got artists like Shackleton, Mount Kimbie, Rustie, James Blake, Rammadanman, Untold and FaltyDL taking the idea of ‘heavy bass’ and navigating it through unchartered territory, with none of them sounding anything like each other. Yet through their emphasis on bass, they are all still loosely connected.”

For Damien Abicic, whose Void night has been consumed in bass music since 2007, ‘dubstep’ as a tag has attracted some unwanted attention. “As can be expected, many artists, DJs and promoters have chosen to capatalise financially on the artistic and cultural value the sound has produced,” he argues. “Those artists with genuine ambitions and motivations have taken that same value and used it new ways.”

triple j’s Saturday night dance figure-head and club-hopping DJ in her own right Nina Las Vegas backs up those claims forecasting the tipping point for the overblown side of the dubstep coin.

“I think the genre will pass…purely because it’s already getting abused by bedroom producers,” she offered. “Some of the worst remixes I’ve hear this year have been featured with an ‘in brackets’ Dubstep Remix to the right. I think what makes the sound so identifiable is what will ultimately lead us to move on from it.”

“One thing that is incredible about it is that there are so many different sounds encapsulated within it, but it’s still called dubstep,” says Pfeiffer of the divergent strains of the scene. “It hasn’t spawned any sub-genres in the 10 or so years since its inception. That in itself is just amazing. There’s still a lot of great producers making the original minimal style, and then there are those that are taking it to the next level, but both still have the same critical elements that make it what it is. And as far as diluting the scene; no way! Its connecting people from everywhere, bringing people together worldwide, young and old, and doing what music is supposed to do, make us feel good.”

The sentiment is echoed by UK-bred, Australian-based bass fiend Mark Pritchard, whose many projects include Harmonic 313, Afrika Hi-Tech and Global Communication with Tom Middleton. He believes that acts like dubstep ‘supergroup’ Magnetic Man sharing top billing at mega-festivals can only be a good thing. ” Skream, Benga and Artwork took their Magnetic Man project to the mainstream and it was great to see them crossover,” he says. “Some purists moaned, but fuck them. Let people make the music they want to make; those guys are still more than capable of underground killers and will continue to do those I’m sure.”

Moaning was a sure-bet when Onelove, a local club brand with its roots in electro, announced its plans for the Dubstep Invasion compilation. Sydney stalwart Kid Kenobi, who mixed the second disc, spoke to ITM. “I knew a lot of ‘purists’ would shoot down the comp via the old cliche of a so-called ‘big’ label commercialising ‘the scene’,” he says. “But seriously, thank fuck in 2011 we finally have a good local comp that is not filled with the best of commercial dance and electro. The Australian scene is suffering under the weight of commercial clubs and music. Why would anyone want to shoot down one of the first commercially available compilations of underground music to come out in ages?”

For such a fire-starting scene, it’s no surprise that this round-table of sorts offered up so many disparate takes on dubstep at the end of its biggest year yet. So where to from here? Our crystal ball seems far too foggy on that one but we’ll march into 2011 with eyes glued to the movement to see if it evolves and fractures further or if it burns out like White Rhino’s Richard Buck forewarns. “[Dubstep’s popularity] has a shelf life of about one-to-two years max and then “dubstep” will become a dirty word just like “breaks” and “electro house” did, and they will all move on to the next hype. The most important thing for us is to focus on the artists that are musically pushing things forward and exploring new and exciting territory within the context of dance music, and that’s all you really can do.”

[Cupe]

Just post the article and credit the author in your post

[Jaz]

yeh saw this about a week back, was gonna post it, ended up not bothering 2

i think its just a writer who has been bored and wants views on a touchy subject, i meen if you right Dubstep is dead, anyone that likes Dub is gonna rage at you lol

[eggssell]

Diplo is a natural convert to the sound, and in a recent interview with inthemix he raged against the perception that it’s sacred territory. “People want control, but that’s not what dubstep is about. Dubstep is bigger than just these nerdy white dudes sitting at home in Liverpool talking about how the wobbles used to be bigger in 2009. This is about dudes making music all over the world.

^this.

its the one thing i hate about music scene and even worse now that i have emersed myself in the dj scene. the whole dj's are a bunch of elite jedis, and that music sucks if more than just your immediate circle listen to it.

i mean we harp on people that listen to crappy music, then when too many people listen to good music, we harp on them. its like what the fuck are people meant to listen to!

music is like food its a taste thing. people like what they like. the number of people that listen to it is irrelevant to how good the music is.

the fact that people take some type of music and use it in ads isnt the death of that genre, it just means its now recognisable and serves a purpose for the marketing people. i mean i hate the use of rapping in ads where its totally irrelvant as much as the next person, but it just means its a shitty ad and the fact that the target market may liekly listen to rap.

yip too much hating and too much elitism.

and people get so hung up whether a genre is passe or not. well guess what in 85 they said hip hop was a fad that would die along with nintendo game watches. then in the mid 90's common declared hip hop dead. then in the noughties nas declared hip hop dead. fuck that there has been good hip hop all the way thru just like im sure there will always be good dubstep sounding tunes. just because home and away wont be using it in the diner anymore doesnt mean the genre is dead. as debated in many other threads the sound has been bubbling since the late 90's.

[JonnyB]

Diplo is a natural convert to the sound, and in a recent interview with inthemix he raged against the perception that it’s sacred territory. “People want control, but that’s not what dubstep is about. Dubstep is bigger than just these nerdy white dudes sitting at home in Liverpool talking about how the wobbles used to be bigger in 2009. This is about dudes making music all over the world.

^this.

its the one thing i hate about music scene and even worse now that i have emersed myself in the dj scene. the whole dj's are a bunch of elite jedis, and that music sucks if more than just your immediate circle listen to it.

i mean we harp on people that listen to crappy music, then when too many people listen to good music, we harp on them. its like what the fuck are people meant to listen to!

music is like food its a taste thing. people like what they like. the number of people that listen to it is irrelevant to how good the music is.

the fact that people take some type of music and use it in ads isnt the death of that genre, it just means its now recognisable and serves a purpose for the marketing people. i mean i hate the use of rapping in ads where its totally irrelvant as much as the next person, but it just means its a shitty ad and the fact that the target market may liekly listen to rap.

yip too much hating and too much elitism.

and people get so hung up whether a genre is passe or not. well guess what in 85 they said hip hop was a fad that would die along with nintendo game watches. then in the mid 90's common declared hip hop dead. then in the noughties nas declared hip hop dead. fuck that there has been good hip hop all the way thru just like im sure there will always be good dubstep sounding tunes. just because home and away wont be using it in the diner anymore doesnt mean the genre is dead. as debated in many other threads the sound has been bubbling since the late 90's.

This.... + fucking rep man

[Hobberz]

+rep eggsell

Couldn't of said it better myself mate

[Mattye]

Thanks cupe.

Here here eggsell.

It is crap but its the way "pop culture works". Small attention spans

[BeatLeSS]

Thats how mainstream anything works. Consume for a few years then move on to the next thing.. It's generational fools, as we get older our tastes move on. Younger crowds like different things and then that becomes the norm.

How the fuck did you think computers/tech became some popular, it was new, the younger generations loved it, the older generation was like "Meh, it's new, we like what we're used to already".

[/rant]

Dubstep is huge, no doubt about it, and along it's way it's going to pick up some massive fans that will always enjoy it. Each to their own or GTFO basically.

That being said, what is the next step in music? Lazy ten'er says glitch.

[ChevChelios]

That being said, what is the next step in music? Lazy ten'er says glitch.

I vote for a jungle revival!

[JonnyB]

yeah the future of msuic will be the past i recon. just look at the come back disco made. slowly 1 by 1 past genre's will come back with new influences or something?

[eggssell]

nu metal

[ChevChelios]

yeah the future of msuic will be the past i recon. just look at the come back disco made. slowly 1 by 1 past genre's will come back with new influences or something?

yepyep, garage is coming back strong.

[eggssell]

oh and new jack is finally coming back w the three godfathers bobby, johnny & ralph doing a world tour