Stumbled upon this article. It really discusses the big picture on the battle of sound, and the fight over dubstep's terminology.
"It's just people taking it to extremes," says Caspa. "Where they're going wrong is that it's just got no rhythm, and you can't move to it or understand it." Hmmm....
But whether you hate it or like it, I think it's worth the read.
I found a way to get piece of mind for years and left the hell alone, turn a deaf ear to the cellular phone
How is Caspa helping by playing whole sets of this no-rhythm sound then? Or is he just saying my wobble is better than your wobble, cause it's played out whoever is making it. I don't dislike him for doing it cause it's obvious supply and demand but still.. he's one of the people able to expose music to audiences. Yet as far as i know he plays mostly this unless someone wants to correct me.
infinity wrote:How is Caspa helping by playing whole sets of this no-rhythm sound then? Or is he just saying my wobble is better than your wobble, cause it's played out whoever is making it. I don't dislike him for doing it cause it's obvious supply and demand but still.. he's one of the people able to expose music to audiences. Yet as far as i know he plays mostly this unless someone wants to correct me.
His new stuff is pretty generic....but his song 'Back for the First Time' has a sick wob to it.
I found a way to get piece of mind for years and left the hell alone, turn a deaf ear to the cellular phone
Dubstep may be the closest British analog to American hip-hop (though drum'n'bass and grime traditionally have played that role), with its sonic upheaval, aggressive posturing, and intense debate about the music's origins and true nature.
Grime would be a more appropriate style to compare to hip-hop really...
The sum of this article = American dubstep is more commercial than that of the UK (with less emphasis on musical aspects)
I'd like to clear this up before it turns into a debate on here.
I had a 30 minute phone conversation with the writer of the article. We were talking about the size of the events, the number of festivals, clubs and parties dedicated to dubstep music. I feel guilty about the statement ""The scene in America is massive. It's way bigger than it is in the U.K." because it launched an all out war in the comments about the USA and the UK. I am only talking about the size of the audience and how it has grown to be the biggest by way of population.
I never meant to say that the music in the USA was somehow better - but of course none of that was in the article.
"There is a lot of tension in the music that carries a satisfactory darkness with it, but it's also lazy music. You don't have to dance hard to move with it. It was born with a reefer in it's gob."
― Pinch
There have been other forms of UK dance music that have achieved a modicum of success in the US (strong underground scenes and talented producers), but the bad reaction from the UK is that we’ve been doing this for over twenty years now, and it takes the most soul-less variation (and we’ve been through a lot of different genres that have spawned plenty of gash music) for Americans to really take an interest. The wobble-step is the closest (so far) that electronic producers have got to emulating heavy metal cock-rock - rhythmic variation is almost non-existent, and tonal variation, or more accurately ‘modulation’, is the basis for a music that is to dance music exactly what N-Dubz is to rap; how would Americans take an article trumpeting the UK as pushing rap music forwards and using Dappy’s UK chart success as evidence?
The wobble-bassline is like a very long and indulgent guitar wank, and to take a quote from a great American who knew a thing or two about music It don’t mean a thing if it aint got that swing. Caspa’s quote is about this. Another poast I read (on here I think) that I immediately agreed with is that for all of this post-dubstep going around at the moment, because it’s basically going towards a straight 4-4 house sound, it’s lost that swing that the first stuff that was being called dub-techno circa 2009 still had – a danceable tempo but retaining that dubstep shuffle and UK Bass ‘atmosphere’.
In short, even when the American mainstream/majority finally gets dance music, it doesn’t. It’s more like stadium rock (KISS/Whitesnake/Bon Jovi). There’s plenty of folks over there that do, but to boast about how big the scene over there is when they’re missing the point is just silly. And as far as the vitriolic us vs them comments that these debates always stir up... The Bridge? The Bridge Is Over? Beat Biter? Once America starts innovating instead of imitating, the scene as a whole will be healthier for the competition.
Getting really tired of these unresearched articles that make it seem like the whole scene is on the coasts! Not the case by a long measure! Theres about 12 more cities in North America that have helped build a network that makes touring possible! None of those cities or promoters got any love! None whatsoever! Its fucked because Spin has a big college audience, and the way it looks to them is that Dubstep only happens in NYC, LA & SF.
Please, all you journalists out there...do your fucking research!
