Dubstep+Crunk+Electro+Broken Beat at once?

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2scoops

patchwork pirate
Word y'all.

Out of all the boards there seems to be a genuine appreciation of styles across genres here..

I like to play sets consiting of tough electro (proper, not "clash") dubstep, broken beat and crunky hip hop etc. For me, the dubstep rhythms fit perfectly with electro shit and broken/bruk tracks from the likes of Seiji, Afronaught etc.

Have been to FWD a few times, 3rd bass etc to get my dubstep fix. I check hip hop nights to get that fix (though more often than not its the same tunes as I was hearing and playing 10 years ago), and I'll try and reach Co-oP to hear broken beat. Now, I realise that you need pioneering nights such as FWD, in any scene, to champion individual styles of music but:

What I'm getting at I think is: Give me a night where I can go to hear diversity.

Where can you go and see 2Tall playing ditry hip hop, followed by Seiji dropping bruk step, followed by Youngsta ripping the roof off with his shit? Its all bassline music isn't it? Its all current, exciting stuff. It's all evolved from the same place.

Is it cause dance music is so splintered these days that if you put on a night combining the above mentioned styles people just wouldn't get it? Can you only play dubstep at Forward/3rd Bass? Can you only play Crunky deep south stuff at "commercial" hip hop jams? Would the grime/dubstep peeps hate if Youngsta or Hatcha dropped a Skream beat with a Houston crunk accapella on it at FWD?

Perhaps there are nights that I'm not aware of that do this. Have heard a few DJ mixes from the likes of Shadetek, DJ Ayres, Stacs of Stamina etc. that attempt to do this, but would it get love from the London peeps if you attempted to pull it all under one roof? Would the dubstep boys turn up alongside hip hop kids alongside broken beat followers? I doubt it. Surely people are open-minded enouigh these days to look further than their "scene" of choice? Maybe not..


Excuse the ramblings but it'd be good to hear your thoughts...
 
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DavidD

can't be stopped
I like it the way you describe it but I recently went to a club in Chicago where the underlying theme was like "trendy beatz from urban kidz" or something, baile funk - > Miami Bass - > baltimore club - > dirty south hip-hop...it was totally vibeless. I mean, part of it was the DJ just wasn't that great and he was ripping off the hollertronix motif wholesale, but you have to be careful not to upset the balance between making this shit sound good and being eclectic. (I do like eclecticism in theory, when it works; just not eclecticism for eclecticism's sake).
 
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2scoops

patchwork pirate
yes mate - totally agree. There's the temptation to go Hollertronix definitely and before you know it you become labelled with the the fashionista "I'm into everything thats trendy" tag. But I love it if I heard an Anthony Rother style electro thing @ FWD ya know what I mean? Realistically I know this ain't gonna happen but I s'pose you can always dream...what about a night where you get DJs from different scenes doing their thing alongside each other?
 
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captain easychord

Guest
gotta agree with david D, the whole eclectic thing can be so mini-hollertronix. i'm prefering mone-genre sets these days, or sets that mix genres but do it in a way that's connecting the dots, not just tacking off the cool beats du jour...
 
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atomly

atomiq one
DavidD said:
I like it the way you describe it but I recently went to a club in Chicago where the underlying theme was like "trendy beatz from urban kidz" or something, baile funk - > Miami Bass - > baltimore club - > dirty south hip-hop...it was totally vibeless. I mean, part of it was the DJ just wasn't that great and he was ripping off the hollertronix motif wholesale, but you have to be careful not to upset the balance between making this shit sound good and being eclectic. (I do like eclecticism in theory, when it works; just not eclecticism for eclecticism's sake).
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Haha... Sounds like you saw my old roommate DJing.
 
D

dogger

Sweet Virginia
2scoops said:
yes mate - totally agree. There's the temptation to go Hollertronix definitely and before you know it you become labelled with the the fashionista "I'm into everything thats trendy" tag. But I love it if I heard an Anthony Rother style electro thing @ FWD ya know what I mean? Realistically I know this ain't gonna happen but I s'pose you can always dream...what about a night where you get DJs from different scenes doing their thing alongside each other?
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this did happen, to an extent, at the rephlex rave at jacks the other week, when kode 9 and the mystikz played alongside dmx krew, luke vibert, cylob etc. it looked great on paper but in fact there wasn't much interaction between the different scenes: the elctro-heads crammed into one room to watch vibert and promptly left as soon as kode 9 started djing, leaving me and my mates to dance, almost alone, through his set. same story for mystikz.

was very disappointing, specially since kode 9's set was FAR better than what was going on next door....

but i totally agree with you, 2scoops, more interplay between the different scenes is needed. just not sure how u bring it about, other than by putting on more nights like that, until ppl get used to it....
 
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Gabba Flamenco Crossover

High Sierra Skullfuck
The garage that was coming out a few years ago i used to really enjoy mixing with old detroit and bleep house stuff. You had to work at it but you could get some incredib;le mixes going.

Dubstep now seems to be heading off more in its own little direction like DnB, in that it's hard to mix i with other things. Not that thats an impediment to just slamming the x-fader across but it's cool to layer stuff up.

Mind you now we have ableton and such like anything can be mashed into anything else.

Anyone here go to the werk parties? They have a thing where they mash up wonky minimal techno with electro & dubstep & strange ragga stuff & it works.
 
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DJ PIMP

Well-known member
Gabba Flamenco Crossover said:
Anyone here go to the werk parties? They have a thing where they mash up wonky minimal techno with electro & dubstep & strange ragga stuff & it works.
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Neurocrunk?

I find that eclectic shit can drop the proverbial bomb when done well, but everyone has to be pretty cut and not being genre nerds at the time for it to really go off. You know, it has to be a party otherwise its just people standing around jerking off to whatever they're into specifically.

It wasn't always segregated, rite guys?
 
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mms

sometimes
i don't get to dj much anymore but what i listen to seems to bleed naturally into what i play when i do - some things are meant for each other anyway, other times it's good to break the flow then build it up again in a differeny way - it doesn't have to be eclectic things just have to mirror/ contrast and extend feelings and ideas in other records, doesn't matter if they are from a different genre or era - if the track fits play it i reckon.

one otherthing i was speaking to jon from soul jazz who put on those 100% dynamite reggae/dancehall nights and he said that officer from dmz 004 is a big tune at their night, but the weight of the bass means it kills everything and nothing sounds quite good enough after ! The sheer power of technological improvements eh?


hollertronix seem to try very hard i dunno - just representing everything with no real reason - you know, mixing grime with the cure - that just to me seems to be trying to represent a kind of style mag thing - playing absolutley anything that goes together with no discrimination - not really leading anything, i mean at the end of the day - the person djing is there for a reason, its not to give the crowd exactly everything that they want thats for sure.
 
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DJL

i'm joking
bleep said:
I find that eclectic shit can drop the proverbial bomb when done well, but everyone has to be pretty cut and not being genre nerds at the time for it to really go off. You know, it has to be a party otherwise its just people standing around jerking off to whatever they're into specifically.

It wasn't always segregated, rite guys?
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My style is mixing up house, breakbeat, occasionally grime and other stuff and if you get it right then people don't realise what genre they are listening to. Helps to play at least two and preferably three hours or more for best results imo. I've also been to nights that start of with hip hop and then go into drum n bass that are good. 'Eclectic' has negative connotations which doesn't help but if you get people used to these kind of nights they can be good.
 
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tate

Brown Sugar
saw hollertronix last new year's eve and it was godawful. so i split to see klute, which wasn't all that either.
 
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captain easychord

Guest
Tate said:
saw hollertronix last new year's eve and it was godawful. so i split to see klute, which wasn't all that either.
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yeah i saw diplo earlier this year and the vibe wasn't all that, something about swtiching the music up every 12 minutes, didn't quite add up.
 
2

2scoops

patchwork pirate
dogger said:
this did happen, to an extent, at the rephlex rave at jacks the other week, when kode 9 and the mystikz played alongside dmx krew, luke vibert, cylob etc. it looked great on paper but in fact there wasn't much interaction between the different scenes: the elctro-heads crammed into one room to watch vibert and promptly left as soon as kode 9 started djing, leaving me and my mates to dance, almost alone, through his set. same story for mystikz.
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Yeah man - thats kinda what I mean. Its frustrating. But I agree the only way to change things is to keep mixing things up a little more.

Agree with Bleep on the point that you need peeps to be half cut and not genre nerds. But, the mixing up of styles and willingness to entertain a crowd, whoever that may be, is what makes a geat DJ. (I mean - how hard is it to beat match most forms of dance music anyway? You don't have to think about too much really do you?)

Personally I'd rather see a DJ try something different and fuck it up than play 2 hrs of the exact same style of music at the same tempo and mix it seamlessly. Went to a d'n'b night recently and was thoroughly bored after about half an hour. Made me realise why I hadn't bothered for the past 5 years.

I also agree if you go too far the other way it's possibly worse. The Diplo hollertronix thing is a bit naff, but I kinda admire the principles - party music. Why not take those principles and transfer to more homegrown UK sounds? You certainly don't have to be genre-nerd to get his sets - which I respect.

Its all very well getting the moody lads to stare at the floor for 2 hours nodding to the latest Loefah dubs but I'd rather DJ to and dance amongst a bunch of girls going nuts on the dancefloor any day! If yo have to drop a little well known vocal acapella or summit to get 'em there then so be it.

With the huge array of nights on offer perhaps we don't need nights that cross genres. But for me the Ninja Tune night is one of the best still - because of the music policy. Just good music.

I dunno pehaps I'm being a little too idealistic - and obviously not everyone shares my taste - you could throw funky house next to to hardcore next to speed garage and I don't think I'd make the effort to reach that but I think if more people took a chance and scenes came together a little more, without making it gimmicky, it would be better for the punter and for those battling to promote successfully in London...

Must admit I haven't checked out the Werk nights but will do so. Thanks for your comments. Jesus, I'm ranting. Apologies, I'll stop now.
 
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ThinKing

Well-known member
2scoops said:
What I'm getting at I think is: Give me a night where I can go to hear diversity.

Where can you go and see 2Tall playing ditry hip hop, followed by Seiji dropping bruk step, followed by Youngsta ripping the roof off with his shit? Its all bassline music isn't it? Its all current, exciting stuff. It's all evolved from the same place.
QUOTE]


I'm with you mate, I really like to play heavy broken mixed up with dubstep, electro, bit of breaks....

The nite you surely want to check is Reza's party called Tempo Tantrum - held down at the Telegraph I believe. I've never reached cos it clashses with a nite I'm resident at here in Bristol but the lineups are always very well programmed.

www.tempotantrum.co.uk
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2

2scoops

patchwork pirate
Thanks for that mate - I actually know the dude that runs the night so am definitely heading down to the next one...
 
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dsp13

GAMEBWOY
I hear ya 2spoons... I know there are people out there who are listening to 1 genre only but I always run the spectrum when I sit down to listen. It's why I started DJing... cos I didn't want to sit there listening to an album of the same stuff all the time. A lot of people throw around "eclecticism" like it's a dirty word and sure there are some people who do it badly but the whole post 90's one-genre seamless bpm matched concept of mixing has served to create a zillion stale parties.

Personally, my mixing is technically f*&king horrible but I refuse to let that stop me from playing a wide selection of big fat tunes in many styles and tempos any time someone is stupid enough to give me an opportunity and people usually dig it. Shit, when I started clubbing it was industrial,punk,indie rock and pop we would dance all nite to... no mixing, just one song then the next and one might be slow then the next really fast...

I find the most exciting dj sets are when things build up to a frenzy and break back down to sonic rubble constantly and incorporate different styles... Obviously many people feel the same or why do so many people flip out over dj/rupture etc. In my experience this sort of thing usually ends up happening at smaller events but it's getting better.

PS to all club dj's >>> fuck Beats Per Minute, think Bombs Per Mix.
 
T

Tyro

The Kandy Tangerine Man
dogger said:
this did happen, to an extent, at the rephlex rave at jacks the other week, when kode 9 and the mystikz played alongside dmx krew, luke vibert, cylob etc. it looked great on paper but in fact there wasn't much interaction between the different scenes: the elctro-heads crammed into one room to watch vibert and promptly left as soon as kode 9 started djing, leaving me and my mates to dance, almost alone, through his set. same story for mystikz.

was very disappointing, specially since kode 9's set was FAR better than what was going on next door....

but i totally agree with you, 2scoops, more interplay between the different scenes is needed. just not sure how u bring it about, other than by putting on more nights like that, until ppl get used to it....
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I've noticed this kind of thing at other nights.Some of the lack of interaction could be down to the DJ's though. Many play in a very distinct genre and focus on their own productions.This can lead to a 'gig' atmosphere where people have come along to hear a particular act.
 
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mms

sometimes
dogger said:
this did happen, to an extent, at the rephlex rave at jacks the other week, when kode 9 and the mystikz played alongside dmx krew, luke vibert, cylob etc. it looked great on paper but in fact there wasn't much interaction between the different scenes: the elctro-heads crammed into one room to watch vibert and promptly left as soon as kode 9 started djing, leaving me and my mates to dance, almost alone, through his set. same story for mystikz.

was very disappointing, specially since kode 9's set was FAR better than what was going on next door....

..
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me and my mates were there as well in that room- we went to go and see brooks (microhous guy who makes alot of track entirely out of prince samples ) at another rave and were rather messy by then but still attempted to dance .

there were also loads of people sitting back a bit in that room- it was like being in a cave and not noticing the hundreds of bats on the far wall .
dmx usually drops some grime in his mixes - infact one of his trax is on the plasticman mix on the rinz cd 6 box mega ace release thingy
 
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