DUBSTEP- breaking news, gossip, slander, lies etc

[Grievous Angel]

anyone know what the track that comes in at 53:10 is? total darkside.

There's a track listing on dubstep forum... and indeed on barefiles, I think...

Yes, blackdown has been saying Mala has next level rhythmic invention for, well. 18 months at least!

I really don't think he's doing "half step" per se at all any more... and I wonder if he's remixing some of his house stuff for the 4x4 bits?

 

[nomos]

Thats Mala - Hunter
Sick tune

Ahhhh, so that's Hunter. And what's the word on a release?

 

[gek-opel]

I find Crazy D to be the perfect host, he's pleasant/amusing. He's not exciting tho...OK, that track which comes in at 35:46 on the Kiss mix, is that the reverb snare tune people were going on about- it almost sounds like autechre play-dubstep. Like.

 

[elgato]

Ahhhh, so that's Hunter. And what's the word on a release?

dmz are being tight lipped as ever as to forthcoming releases. my guess is a loefah plate next, then another mala, given that coki has forthcoming on tempa and big apple...

but mala has far too many older tunes which need releasing. realistically though, learn, bury the bwoy, new life baby paris, hunter and lean forward are most likely i reckon, but as to which two... anyone's guess it'll be a travesty if too many of these escape, there are so many others even older too which seem like they've gone now, but thats their choice i guess

i wonder if there are any further soul jazz deals in the pipeline :slanted: i'd be interested to know how many of the first two they sold...

 

[gek-opel]

The release thing is ridiculous now.... given how a boundary pushing new mala track turns up now on a weekly basis, and they seem to put out only a handful of tracks a yr!

 

[mms]

The release thing is ridiculous now.... given how a boundary pushing new mala track turns up now on a weekly basis, and they seem to put out only a handful of tracks a yr!

give em a break tho as they d.i.y. it.
and i bet they've got jobs as 1,500 12"s don't pay the bills.

 

[gek-opel]

Undeniably so, and maximum respect for the DIY nature of the whole enterprise. Imagine how frustrating it must be for them tho? At least this means an element of dubsteppery is purely fleeting, those dubplates that never make it out, preserved for the masses on a flickering mp3 only...

 

[mms]

At least this means an element of dubsteppery is purely fleeting, those dubplates that never make it out, preserved for the masses on a flickering mp3 only...

or live sonic stimulation, something felt in the legs and throat and echoeing thru the brain, an hour after leaving the place.

 

[Logos]

At least this means an element of dubsteppery is purely fleeting, those dubplates that never make it out, preserved for the masses on a flickering mp3 only...

Wouldn't have it any other way...that fleeting dubplate shadow, always one step ahead, was really important in jungle for me.

 

[gek-opel]

Gives an added incentive to be there/here, rather than just thinking: "Hmm, I'll wait for the box set in 5 yrs. "

 

[the undisputed truth]

Without being 'there' in the thick of a chest rattling DMZ live set in full effect perhaps I am missing out on something. Frequentially I have no doubt I am missing out on 'something' even if it is just my internal organs rattling from pure bass weight and causing borderline system collapse. Musically though i often don't see what the fuss is all about with a DMZ or Loefah release from a non audiophile perspective.

There is so little there as to barely qualify as music. For instance in running the night bus over the city cycle highlights how much could be there and possibly should be there such that the average non musical listener would not even realise the potential if city cycle were taken at face value.

There is also the question of extraneous perception of the artist colouring ones reaction to the work in question...ie if Mala were'nt a hot, young, black, dreadlocked and clearly gifted rasta inspired producer DJ from London would people still feel the same about one of his tunes if taken out of context from his continuing development.

Take 'city cycle' for instance. What if it was some white and nerdy old fart from Texas who built it. Would you stil think it hot piss ???

 

[UFO over easy]

Take 'city cycle' for instance. What if it was some white and nerdy old fart from Texas who built it. Would you stil think it hot piss ???

You could level that argument at any music ever written.

"OK sure this bob dylan tune is kinda cool I guess, he's clearly a talented chap.. but it's just so damn simple. What if Dashboard Confessional had written it by mistake? Wouldn't be nearly so great would it?"

Context is important, it doesn't make any sense to deny that.

 

[DJ PIMP]

yep, context, but dubstep is still such a micro/london thing after 5 or so years.

maybe dubstep isn't interested in conquering the world, but why else would it get out of bed in the morning?

in order to become a global phenom, jungle had to divorce itself from practically everything that made it jungle. even its name.

 

[the undisputed truth]

What if Dashboard Confessional had written it by mistake? Wouldn't be nearly so great would it?"

who ?

So are you saying that your reaction to a tune is coloured by a perception of the artist and the tunes rarely stand on their own merits or not ? I'll give a tune a good listen and decide if i like it or not regardless of who made it and what i 'know' of them. Knowing who made it to start with will obviously influence my decision to want to listen to it in the first place yet I won't often compare it to their previous works. It either moves me or it doesn't.

Is it inevitable that DMZ will fall off and put out a run of substandard tunes much as people are saying of Aphex Twin ? Will that be of their own making through becoming formulaic or will they be supplanted by the next bright young proponent of the next big thing with the fickle taste of the hipsters movin on ?

Don't know. All i know is what i like and to be honest I'm not really feeling city cycle.

 

[Grievous Angel]

Undeniably so, and maximum respect for the DIY nature of the whole enterprise. Imagine how frustrating it must be for them tho? At least this means an element of dubsteppery is purely fleeting, those dubplates that never make it out, preserved for the masses on a flickering mp3 only...

You're right, and while this is fairly obvious, I don't think it is that frustrating, at least economically, they make a lot more money from playing than from records. In that regard it doesn't really matter that a lot of their stuff won't get a release, especially since it builds the audience for seeing them live.

But from a music fan's perspective, here's an even more delicious layer of frustration - Mala has some great (or at least really interesting) tunes that he hasn't even cut...

 

[captain easychord]

Without being 'there' in the thick of a chest rattling DMZ live set in full effect perhaps I am missing out on something. Frequentially I have no doubt I am missing out on 'something' even if it is just my internal organs rattling from pure bass weight and causing borderline system collapse. Musically though i often don't see what the fuss is all about with a DMZ or Loefah release from a non audiophile perspective.

There is so little there as to barely qualify as music. For instance in running the night bus over the city cycle highlights how much could be there and possibly should be there such that the average non musical listener would not even realise the potential if city cycle were taken at face value.

There is also the question of extraneous perception of the artist colouring ones reaction to the work in question...ie if Mala were'nt a hot, young, black, dreadlocked and clearly gifted rasta inspired producer DJ from London would people still feel the same about one of his tunes if taken out of context from his continuing development.

Take 'city cycle' for instance. What if it was some white and nerdy old fart from Texas who built it. Would you stil think it hot piss ???

frequentially?

 

[the undisputed truth]

oh shit did i just invent a word, nice

frequentially - relating to the frequency of sound waves in music

 

[elgato]

I'll give a tune a good listen and decide if i like it or not regardless of who made it and what i 'know' of them. Knowing who made it to start with will obviously influence my decision to want to listen to it in the first place yet I won't often compare it to their previous works. It either moves me or it doesn't.

i reckon you're kidding yourself. consciously you might feel that, but it seems highly unlikely to me that you can be entirely unaffected by your perception of the artist, unless you have never previously heard their work/of them.

as to the case in hand...if i'd heard that track dropped in the middle of an n-type set, or a set from an unknown on dubstepforum i have little doubt that it wouldve jumped out of the speakers. and as for others of his, even more so

also its a small point but im pretty sure he's of persian origin not black, although ive always wondered if my wondering is correct...

All i know is what i like and to be honest I'm not really feeling city cycle.

can't argue with that. but how do you mean there is so little for it to qualify as music? are you adopting quite a strict classicist definition of music? or is it something more abstract?

city cycle isnt the best track ive heard from mala, far from it, but what it is is stunningly original. it is inspiring in that it is so barefacedly unafraid to do something completely different from the zeitgeist developing around it. and for me, in electronic dance music, a lot of value comes from originality and pushing boundaries. furthermore, i personally find mala's tracks deeply musical, but thats more a subjective matter.

For instance in running the night bus over the city cycle highlights how much could be there and possibly should be there such that the average non musical listener would not even realise the potential if city cycle were taken at face value.

could you explain this further?

 

[bassnation]

Gives an added incentive to be there/here, rather than just thinking: "Hmm, I'll wait for the box set in 5 yrs. "

sure, but what artist really thinks "i'd like less people to listen to my music"?

exclusivity doesn't benefit a scene in the long run, but certainly boosts the careers of djs that are in on the monopoly - at least thats the way it worked in jungle. i don't think thats the reason with dmz et al, but its still frustrating not being able to get this great music.

 

[the undisputed truth]

I check out a bit of new stuff on myspace and I have no idea who they are so I just determine whether I like their tunes on their own merits or not. Some i do some i don't. I likewise do the same with whoever i listen to. It doesn't matter who they are and whether I've liked their stuff previously. If I don't like the tune I don't 'force' myself to like it just because I may have liked their other tunes and if it is a group i don't generally like for whatever reason eg drug addled, indy, wasteman in the press with shit attitude and massive ego, I'm not going to hold that against them if i like a tune of theirs.

Really Mala is arabic ? now that is interesting.

With regards to the musicality of DMZ tunes they just seem so stripped back that it's more the interplay of frequencies, the smattering of samples and application of filters that define their sound as opposed to anything of a musical nature with chords, melodies and trad formal structure.

Here is Burial's 'night bus' running alongside the 'city cycle' snippet.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=B0GAGRVS

Listen to it then go back to listening to 'city cycle' on its own. Now imagine hearing the 'night cycle' before having heard 'city cycle' and you'd think there was something missing if you then heard 'city cycle' without the 'night bus' running over it . Like wise with 'night bus'. You can fill in any beat you like if it matches. The fact that there isn't the extra musicality of 'night bus' in the original 'city cycle' shows how much more there could be but if you were'nt of a musical mind you would never think that there could be more to start with. You would just accept it at face value. I think the extra musicality adds value to city cycle and in a lot of dubstep you can do a lot of stuff like this 'in the mix'. To do that though you need to have excellent beatmatching skills, really know your tunes and your chords so they don't clang when you mash them together. As though the sum of the parts is greater than the whole. That to me is why i like a lot of dubstep. It's even better when you can match up an accapella to a tune.