Cotti - Sensi Dub.... oh dear...

[UFO over easy]

NUMBER ONE PROBLEM.
just sticking a stiff drum pattern and a wobbly bassline under something famous doesn't transform it to a dubstep anthem.

Well then it must be doing something else, because whether you like it or not, it is an anthem.

Seriously guys, I don't like it either, and anyone who knows me will confirm that this isn't the kind of style I like or play ever, but when was the last time any of you actually went out and got a feel for what people like dancing to?

As for dubstep slipping in 2007 - there might be more naff stuff coming out like this, but people like it so what are you going to do about it? Moan, or listen out for the stuff you do like? There's just as much good stuff coming out as there's ever been. Just recently - the Cyrus album, Martyn's record, D1's EP, Box of Dub, Headhunter, new Geiom, Skull Disco 006, Made Up Sound's Substance remix, Skream's Marc Ashken remixes, Deep Medi 004, RSD on Punch Drunk, Moving Ninja on Tectonic... there's LOADS.

 

[Martin Dust]

I would fucking love it if there was a grime record called that.

Yeah, lets sell out before start Jon by using Eagles samples of something

 

[Martin Dust]

these are producers who have always been good, surely the next wave should have tried to be more challenging and adventurous by default?

I'd add Benga to that list...

 

[john eden]

Well then it must be doing something else, because whether you like it or not, it is an anthem.

That is basically what this thread is about, innit.

but when was the last time any of you actually went out and got a feel for what people like dancing to?

Well I can only speak for myself but I went down to that there FWD a few weeks back for the first time and also the House Party thing. And undeniably people do like that Cotti tune.

But I don't and nor do I like most dubstep I hear. (I like stuff like "anti-war dub" and Paul Meme's mixes and even Blackdown's Bristol mix he did. I don't often feel the urge to play them tho.)

I just find it really weird that there is a genre music which seems to feature lots of things I normally get really into, but it just leaves me cold.

 

[owengriffiths]

Sorry for hijacking the thread, but seeming as this discussion is active I might as well say it here. Everyone is talking about wobble wobble genocide and how it's ruining the scene. Names like Shackleton & Burial have been mentioned as a good antidote to that. How about some other people (much as I love Shackleton he is quite well known). recently I've been trying to find tracks that arent obvous dance floor fodder, Dubstep that isnt so bassline focused. The TRG release is a good example. Does anyone else have some recomendations for, dare I say it, intelligent dubstep.

two twelves that are some of my favourites simply because they are so different:
Moldy- Black Forest/ Windmill Dub (criminally underrated)
Gravious- Monolith (on Hot flush, some very beautiful instrumentation)

 

[UFO over easy]

That is basically what this thread is about, innit.

Yeah I know, I was just responding to what I saw as some pretty serious arrogance.

 

[mms]

Well then it must be doing something else, because whether you like it or not, it is an anthem.

Seriously guys, I don't like it either, and anyone who knows me will confirm that this isn't the kind of style I like or play ever, but when was the last time any of you actually went out and got a feel for what people like dancing to?

saturday and again tonight too.

 

[Blackdown]

dare I say it, intelligent dubstep.

NO!!!!!!!!

 

[Blackdown]

when was the last time any of you actually went out and got a feel for what people like dancing to?

i'm always out and about...

 

[owengriffiths]

Nah, I dont mean intelligent as in...
fuck it, it was a poor choice of words. Its not as if I'm touting it as a subgenre that you'll see on the racks in Reckless records, beneath Arctic Circle breaks and the 'Tijuana Sound'

It's just that as Dubstep is predominantly about big basslines, it's nice to come across tunes that can stand up on their own quite well.

 

[UFO over easy]

i'm always out and about...

Obviously You weren't questioning it's anthem status though..

 

[Blackdown]

there's nothing unintelligent about a large bassline.

please don't use the term 'inteligent' in relation to dubstep, esp since there's so many jungle links in the roots of the sound, the term is just so negative and loaded (from mid 90s d&b/jungle).

 

[owengriffiths]

Youre right, big basslines aren't a stupid or guilty pleasure, and it's great that there's a genre that is built around them. But it can be restrictive if producers percieve that if they make a tune where the b line isnt the hook then it cant be accepted as Dubstep.

 

[UFO over easy]

But it can be restrictive if producers percieve that if they make a tune where the b line isnt the hook then it cant be accepted as Dubstep.

I can't imagine a producer that stupid.

 

[owengriffiths]

I can easily imagine listeners being that stupid

 

[Edward]

Youre right, big basslines aren't a stupid or guilty pleasure, and it's great that there's a genre that is built around them. But it can be restrictive if producers percieve that if they make a tune where the b line isnt the hook then it cant be accepted as Dubstep.

Can't it just be accepted as a good tune? Why is it important whether or not it is accepted as dubstep? Is it just a question of it being important cos it's the buzzword with some people at the moment?

(I know I am just stirring really but I am bitter about all the exciting musical possibilities that got ditched once underground garage got split into 2 step/grime/dubstep and everyone got their rulebooks out and started defining what was what.)

 

[ramadanman]

for anyone moaning about the current state of dubstep etc

check out our radio shows:

http://archive.subfm.com/index.php?o=2&s=2&p=1&q=ruffage

wide mix of stuff, mainly new, by a large range of producers - signed and unsigned

the good stuff is there, you just have to look for it......

 

[gek-opel]

Kode9, Burial, Mala, Appleblim, Shackleton, Pinch... these are the dubstep production guys exciting me most right now. Martyn has some nice bits too.

Exactly. There's just as much good stuff as in years previous, its just there's an immense amount more shoddy product too. Also the good stuff doesn't get played out enough, I reckon...

The problem with new producers is that outlined in a thread on dubstep forum- in order to be taken as a "dubstep producer" you have to make dark half step with a wobbled, riffing sub. Tho I reckon Burial at least ought to inspire a load more people to shift out of that mindset (which I think again comes down to what is being played out- which has made me literally start to fall asleep in the middle of the dancefloor in DMZ before cos a lot of it is just so turgid, and unnecessarily so given the reams of decent stuff out there...) Obviously an exception to this is Kode9 who always stuffs his sets with the producers who stretch the formula...

Ultimately it has nothing to do with "intelligence" per se whatsoever- but rather to do with the very idea of dubstep itself as a nicely rule free territory for exploring new ideas about dance music (with the only stipulations being 138-ish bpm and a sub bass foundation)... keeping it open is vital, and that's what all the artists Blackdown listed above do (there's not a lot else that links them actually- they certainly do not consist of a distinct aesthetic).
Obviously there are advantages to defining the territory: clearly commercial success and the ability to spread the sound worldwide. But keeping the balance between having a clear identity and keeping that open ended is what will determine the future vitality or otherwise of the genre.

 

[UFO over easy]

The problem with new producers is that outlined in a thread on dubstep forum- in order to be taken as a "dubstep producer" you have to make dark half step with a wobbled, riffing sub.

Only stupid people think that - ignore them.

I've been keeping a very close eye on basically all things dubstep for the past couple of years, and I can still see a LOT of things to be excited about - whether it's the two step revival, the minimal side of things, increased rhythmic diversity, kode 9, pinch or shackleton doing their thing, mala still pushing things forward and making crazy, amazing music... so I find it really difficult to understand why you guys are still consistantly unsatisfied. If you've been listening closely, you simply wouldn't be saying half this stuff. There are people making the sounds you're wanting to hear from reading your posts, you just haven't found them; which means you aren't listening, so I have no sympathy at all.

This post sums up everything that's annoying about internet music forums -

There's only 3 producers worth checking at the moment

Yeah right, you've obviously been keeping your ear to the ground.

 

[Martin Dust]

Yeah right, you've obviously been keeping your ear to the ground.

More than you think or would indeed credit me for and trust me, some of the shit I get sent is absolutely dire...but like you state there's some good stuff, it reminds me of the period in techno when prime/intergrale just pumped out crap...