Breezeblock Dubstep Warz on Radio 1

[bassnation]

Dubstep allstars 2 was very similar to the rinse sets but it was/is a great way to hear the tunes loud in hi quality at home, you can't do that at 192kbps!

Anyway the vibe of the rinse sets is down to the tunes/mixing/MC Task/"shout out to the 813" etc etc which is hard to reproduce on a cd mix.

yeah, totally accept both your points.

 

[tate]

youngstas a strictly turntables and dubplates man.

well having followed youngsta and the dubstep scene for a while now about as closely as one can manage from upstate new york, I had definitely thought that this was the case - but thank you

 

[3underscore]

with the ascendancy of Ableton Live the upper case there is a bit ambiguous . . . see Deep Blue's Ableton Live mix for Knowledge mag last year etc etc, not that I doubt Youngsta's DJ skills for one second, was just curious about 3underscore's meaning

Yeah - sorry. He did it using decks. At least from the conversations we've had on the matter I get that he did.

 

[Paul Hotflush]

that's probably the problem at the moment- as 'dubstep' coalesces into a genre proper, the djs don't have huge numbers of tunes to choose from- last night a fair amount of the music (half?-at least) was stuff i first heard 6 months ago

This isn't true at all. In fact there's a ridiculous amount of material on various producers' hard drives, but it gets held back due to the lack of releases. If more tunes came out, you'd see more dubs. But the fact that all the DJs (apart from Hatcha) played their own tunes should give you a clue as to how many tunes there are waiting. I could play three hour-long sets of different kinds of unreleased dubstep with the tunes in my box.

 

[Grievous Angel]

This isn't true at all. In fact there's a ridiculous amount of material on various producers' hard drives, but it gets held back due to the lack of releases. If more tunes came out, you'd see more dubs.

I think that's true, and I'd love to help these guys get unreleased tunes out, been knocking on some doors but no deal yet...

Any more reports from Saturday's DMZ?

 

[matt b]

This isn't true at all. In fact there's a ridiculous amount of material on various producers' hard drives, but it gets held back due to the lack of releases. If more tunes came out, you'd see more dubs. But the fact that all the DJs (apart from Hatcha) played their own tunes should give you a clue as to how many tunes there are waiting. I could play three hour-long sets of different kinds of unreleased dubstep with the tunes in my box.

i don't doubt that they have written loads of stuff, but they aren't released- so i don't see any disagreement between what i said and what you are saying.
for example, requestline has been around a good 6 months plus, and was played again on breezeblock on monday...

 

[Logos]

The remixes of requestline were.

 

[Paul Hotflush]

I think that's true, and I'd love to help these guys get unreleased tunes out, been knocking on some doors but no deal yet...

How do you mean? If you're thinking of starting a label I'll be happy to help you out any way I can.

 

[wonk_vitesse]

enjoyed this , especially the DJs talking about their beats. I can't see how Mary Ann Hobbs is helping, she comes across terribly like some irritating PR woman. Trying to ride this 'breaking scene.'

I always chuckle as most of the newish acts she's had on have been through ResonanceFM's doors sometime previously. Our 'live' new music agenda in terms of quantity is comparable with BBC1 & Extra put together, all done on a shoe string budget.

 

[Poet for Hire]

enjoyed this , especially the DJs talking about their beats. I can't see how Mary Ann Hobbs is helping, she comes across terribly like some irritating PR woman. Trying to ride this 'breaking scene.'

I always chuckle as most of the newish acts she's had on have been through ResonanceFM's doors sometime previously. Our 'live' new music agenda in terms of quantity is comparable with BBC1 & Extra put together, all done on a shoe string budget.

She does come across a bit much, but I actually think she is genuinely into this sound, has been a regular attender of DMZ and Fwd over the last few months. To her credit, I think unless you want the scene to remain small, then she is obviously helping expose the music to a vastly broader, less musically educated and diverse audience than Resonance. Comparing Resonance to Radio 1seems a somewhat ludicrous move. . .I prefer Resonance everytime, but you've hardly got Breezeblock's reach, have you.

 

[wonk_vitesse]

She does come across a bit much, but I actually think she is genuinely into this sound, has been a regular attender of DMZ and Fwd over the last few months. To her credit, I think unless you want the scene to remain small, then she is obviously helping expose the music to a vastly broader, less musically educated and diverse audience than Resonance. Comparing Resonance to Radio 1seems a somewhat ludicrous move. . .I prefer Resonance everytime, but you've hardly got Breezeblock's reach, have you.

i don't doubt her enthusiasm and it's great that's been exposed on a national forum, it's just her on air persona is like some marks & spenser advert yes it's silly to compare with resonance, our 'reach' is small in terms of being a local station/small audience but the actual no. of 'live' acts in any one week is comparable. Many of these are then available for podcast too. Unlike the beeb.

 

[boomnoise]

isn't it the very nature of being a radio dj, that you are loved by many and get on the nerves of an equal number of others?

i for one find it diffiuclt to stomach MAH at times but her enthusiam is real and she is taking things forward for dubstep.

 

[ripley]

Just listening to it yesterday. I enjoyed it quite a bit, in a snapshots of sound kind of way. (except for MAH -count me in the "gettin' on my nerves" crew, although it seems like she's doing a service to the music)

I'm also frustrated at the amount of unreleased tunes floating around, though. AS was said above - by the time (if ever) I get them they've been played out a lot already by the few who do have access.

 

[boomnoise]

the dubstep release schedule should hot up this year and with more solid distribution if that's any consolidation but it is frustrating how many large tracks take months to materialise.

the problem being that dubstep is growing faster than it can supply its new converts with records - there needs to be more releases without a doubt but that said, some of the appeal in dubstep tracks perhaps results from how unobtainable they are but djing dubstep without dubs means relying on a frustratingly small pool of 12"s

 

[SIZZLE]

re: the lack of 12" outlets for dubstep material

I have a label called Shadetek Records with access to very high standard cutting and mastering facilities. We cut and master at Dubplates and Mastering in Berlin with Rashad, who is a serious engineer. D&M is the former studio of Rhythm & Sound and was built and established by them, you dubsteppers who know your history should know what that means about the level of quality involved. Producers with tunes backed up holler at me, I can offer excellent mastering and loud cuts with solid international distro for 12"s.

holler at shadetek at wearechangeagent dot c o m

 

[Logos]

the dubstep release schedule should hot up this year and with more solid distribution if that's any consolidation but it is frustrating how many large tracks take months to materialise.

the problem being that dubstep is growing faster than it can supply its new converts with records - there needs to be more releases without a doubt but that said, some of the appeal in dubstep tracks perhaps results from how unobtainable they are but djing dubstep without dubs means relying on a frustratingly small pool of 12"s

Very true. Small scene in terms of producers + ultra dubplate culture and you are going to get that...but its also what motivates people to produce, any DJ wanting to be taken seriously long term will have to make their own stuff or establish strong links with up and coming producers. Its both sides of the London pirate radio dubplate tradition that this music stands as the latest mutation.

 

[Blackdown]

i can totally understand how dubplate culture is frustrating to those who rely on 12" releases to DJ with, but i genuinely think it's healthy for the scene. this means that the djs playing the music have unprecedented control to push forward new ideas. if the djs were relying on 12"s bought in shops there's a much slower turnover of ideas. this way with dubs the sound can evolve on a daily basis as the dj goes home to his studio turns on his equipment, makes a new beat and the road tests it at his next gig.

 

[Blackdown]

re: the lack of 12" outlets for dubstep material

I have a label called Shadetek Records with access to very high standard cutting and mastering facilities. We cut and master at Dubplates and Mastering in Berlin with Rashad, who is a serious engineer. D&M is the former studio of Rhythm & Sound and was built and established by them, you dubsteppers who know your history should know what that means about the level of quality involved. Producers with tunes backed up holler at me, I can offer excellent mastering and loud cuts with solid international distro for 12"s.

D&M cut and mastered our first 12" and seemed to do a great job.

 

[ripley]

i can totally understand how dubplate culture is frustrating to those who rely on 12" releases to DJ with, but i genuinely think it's healthy for the scene. this means that the djs playing the music have unprecedented control to push forward new ideas. if the djs were relying on 12"s bought in shops there's a much slower turnover of ideas. this way with dubs the sound can evolve on a daily basis as the dj goes home to his studio turns on his equipment, makes a new beat and the road tests it at his next gig.

this is interesting.. I hadn't thought of it like that.

I think by dj in this context you mean the dj who also produces?
do you think djs who don't produce but only play records released by other people contribute anything to the scene (besides being publicity for the artists they play)?

What about the idea that some new ideas come from combining records bought in shops with other records bought in shops, in front of an audience? do ideas only come from the studio? Some of my best musical ideas come from the dancefloor.

What you're describing seems to me to treat the dj performance a passive/receptive experience for an audience.. and kind of a one-way, display experience for a dj.

what do you think?

 

[man and machine]

i discovered dubstep a few months ago and since then i've bought the dubstep allstars 2 mix, downloaded a few sets and checked out the last two dmz's.

and although i've come across all the djs who played somewhere along the line the show was by far the best almighty dubstep crash course i could have asked for.

and i particularly liked mah's gushing praises i'm from south africa, which isn't exactly the hub for musical innovation, so i've never seen anything like this, ever. i get the feeling i'm at the epicentre of something really special here. and mah kinda echo's the buzz i've been getting from the scene