The future of DMZ?

[Stuuka]

Let's be honest everyone on this forum knows those three letters DMZ. - Whatever you want to call them the champions/pioneers/kings etc of 140/bass music/dubstep/bass weight etc.

Mala's material is still on form and always big, Coki's (just honest opinion) has been a mix bag as of recent.
The recent release of Lucifer/Ruff Lovin' and the release of Eyez VIP has left me in dismay.

We all know Loefah leading Swamp, the funky/future garage/120-135bpm.

Boddika, Joy O, Bashmore, French Fries, Addison Groove etc etc etc. All tearing up the scene, and it is obviously the future of 2012, something everyone can listen to. Not something that only the 'heads' can understand or something that you need to get to know to like. Music that girls can listen to and enjoy (haha i'm kidding).

I use to listen to Youngsta's show every week, haven't listened for a couple of months now. I still love my weight, dungeon sound is big but ya know I guess i lost interest when Thelem etc started coming up. (no hard feelings). It just hasn't felt the same as of recent and there aren't many "weight heads" in my social group anymore, it's all on a "funky-ting" now.

I love going to FWD and going mad when a mad coki track comes on but as of recent his releases a complete mixed bag.I'm gonna be dead honest some of it has been so awful i've had to turn it off. It's weird esp being such a big fan of Coki's material. What's happening?

I guess there's a huge transition in the music scene, but whats the future for artists like Mala and Coki? Do you think they're going to stay and live on in a scene which is slowly (don't kill me for saying this as it's opinion) but could be described as dying down. Or do you think they'll turn to lead this new 120-135 scene, that some of their material could work so well in. They are outstanding artists but what are you thinking? Do you think they'll ever switch things up a bit?

Whats the future for Youngsta's show? I guess his doesn't seem so questionable as he's been alternating between genres such as Drum and Bass and 140 for sometime!

What about some of the more dare i say "bro steppers" Hatcha/Ntype and their robot crew you think they'll live on the vibe and make the most of it in the US, as of their recent Sin City tour of the US?



It's all opinions here! So go for it!

I know i'd definitely likely to see the whole DMZ crew involved in this future garage/UK funky!

....But i'll always have a bit of love for 140!

[bobsabarker]

i'm thankful that they're still releasing stuff!! however, i think its crazy that we haven't gotten a loefah plate in who knows how long.

[DiegoSapiens]

i think mala and coki will start producing brostep and loefah will star releasing country music in swamp 81

[Mr Hyde]

i think mala and coki will start producing brostep and loefah will star releasing country music in swamp 81

coki isnt far off

[Stuuka]

Yeah but WHY release tracks such as Lucifer/Eyez VIP - yeah it's nice owning the vinyls etc, but VIPs i don't think should ever see a release! They are specials, make you go mad when they drop it at a DMZ birthday/Outlook!

Guy1: "faaaaaaaaack EYEZ incoming!"
Guy2: "NO! IT'S THE VIP! FUCCCCKKKK"

Yeah i look forward to a Loefah release, but why are DMZ releasing such dubplate classics? I forever believe tracks like Ruff Lovin should remain dubplates!
I can't remember where i saw it but i think i saw Coki talking of releasing Coki - Soundboy! I think that would be a huge error. That dubplate is for the "lighters in the air", so special to hear it out live played by DMZ. Definitely would lose a special part of the vibe if Flux Pavillion was playing it out.

Why have they gone mad as of recent on releases? No harm with these questions just wonder? Do they know that the scene is moving?That they need to sell these to make some good profit? (I'm not sure about that, but could be answer).

[baddis98]

the entire dmz back catalog consists of dubplate classics and special tunes. i don't get your point there.

[tragiclifestories]

Speaking as first and foremost a house-head, poking my dirty little nose into dubstep every couple of years or so, I've got to say that I'm more excited about dubstep than I have been since somebody first put on Rinse FM for me in 2005. ("What is this strange music?" I thought. "Surely this will never spawn a bastardised commercial changeling child." Whoops.) A big part of that is Deep Medi. Mala's managed to get some people together who seem to do the whole thing together - there's a lot of sub weight, some nice organic melodic stuff and a little bit of wobble without it going into mid-range paint-stripping silliness. So top work for him.

Not really been following Coki, but a quick beatport flick through doesn't reveal anything recent that would send me darting for the smokers' enclosure double quick. But I'm completely out of the dubplate loop and probably always will be.

Didn't know Loefah had gone to the garage/funky side of things either...need to keep up better.

[compa]

I've got to say that I'm more excited about dubstep than I have been since somebody first put on Rinse FM for me in 2005

[Phigure]

Didn't know Loefah had gone to the garage/funky side of things either...need to keep up better.

he didn't really, it's more this type of stuff:

[tragiclifestories]

he didn't really, it's more this type of stuff:

I can live with that.

[xlyr]

Coki's tunes are absolute shit now, with the exception of tunes like Celestial Dub and Ruff Lovin'. Loefah's pretty much run out of steam, but he's got some old dubs he should release. Mala's still on it it seems. I feel like DMZ is gonna run out of stuff to release since a lot of what's being made by that crew should stay dubplates

[dsprainman]

I think Coki's recent output has been great. The release on Tempa this year was big for me. Say what you want but Cokes has one of the most unique styles in dubstep. And the recent dubs of his (mapper riddim, ect.) prove he's still got it.

[Phigure]

Coki's tunes are absolute shit now, with the exception of tunes like Celestial Dub and Ruff Lovin'.

yeah i completely agree. his aggressive wobblers were sick as hell at first (earth a run red, spongebob, road rage, goblin) but it seems like he's incapable of making anything else nowadays. and now he's just taking that sound tastelessly overboard imo.

he's a fantastic producer but it seems like he's just sticking to that gimmicky sound... give us more red eyes (favorite coki tune ever) and haunteds!

Loefah's pretty much run out of steam, but he's got some old dubs he should release. Mala's still on it it seems. I feel like DMZ is gonna run out of stuff to release since a lot of what's being made by that crew should stay dubplates

I don't think he's run out of steam, he's just gotten over dubstep for the most part and moved on. he says he's still producing, just none of it seems to see the light of day. but yeah, too many loefah dubs that really are dying for a release.

and as for mala, he's never going to lose it. man is on 100% at all times

and i don't think dmz is gonna run out of stuff either since they're always producing new stuff... you've got so much great new(ish) mala like harvest, tombstone, tiger dance, enter dimensions, etc, etc. and you've got new coki for the people who like that

[Dub_freak]

I have a feeling Mala is only going to get better, tombstone and harvest are some of his best, cant wait to hear more new mala, never disappoints. Doing a great job running deep medi too.

[Hyacinth]

Loefah's feelings on the scene mirror mine. Still some great releases but I'm definitely excited at the arrival of guys like Hackman, FaltyDL, Deadboy, Jacques Greene, etc and the more dancefloor oriented tracks that still retain all those great feelings I got when first listening to 140bpm bass music.

Hindsight 20/20 I'd say no record seemed to indicate the direction musics heading now better then Untrue. Anybody get that vibe? I know its a dime a dozen sentiment but I doubt anybody from the DS scene will retain relevancy as long as the man himself.

[Cornbreadddd]

Personally I feel that the dungeon scene is quite an interesting field at the moment. Yeah, I admit, a lot of the tunes being pushed out of that region can sound very alike but it's guys like Commodo, Lurka, Sleeper, District, Killawatt, and a couple others that constantly bring originality to a slightly over-saturated sound that makes that facet of the genre so fascinating. Then you have guys like Biome and Thelem, whose resampling is very obvious, but they're still resampling their own tunes, so I suppose it can still be considered original, but not as forward thinking as others. (I fucking do love Biome and Thelem though)

Not to mention, you've got the new upcomers in the dungeon scene who truly look promising. Pheral's tunes are absolutely ridiculous and I hope that they can be one of the duos to bring some refreshment into the dungeon sound. Same with Catacombs, Knowledge, Perverse, and Percept.

However, this is what I feel the scene is lacking most at the moment. Soulful music. Heny G, Jazzy Jazzy, Valor, Silkie, Quest, L-Wiz. Those artist have brought so much to this genre in terms of melodic, soulful and jazzy 140 music. Heny G tunes like Christopher, Candy, Conqueror remix, make me feel like NO other music could. Those tunes are so sensual & visceral. Same with Quest's - Eden, Mohagany, Stand, Smooth Skin, and Silkies - Beauty is my all-time favorite 140 track, ever, and I doubt that will ever change.

All in all I feel that this genre is really lacking the jazzy soulful side of things and all the upcoming producers instead of being influenced by some jazz artist, or some rock artist, funk artist, metal artist, are just influenced by other dungeon 140 producers, so you end up with a lot of regurgitated ideas and tunes. I really hadn't been more excited for a release in forever as I was for Author's LP. A soulful beautiful release was long overdue. Also, Valor is an upcomer who is looking extremely promising, very soulful and beautiful.

I just feel that there is so much more originality, musicality, and honestly talent, in the more soulful productions. Don't get me wrong though, I will love the dungeon sound till the day I die. More soul jazz tunes please!!!

Probably got way off topic here, but owell, by the way, to the original poster: Yeah, Coki's releases have been fucking ATROCIOUS. There is literally NO bass on don't get it twisted, all I hear is screetching painful mid-range annoying ass screeches, literally no bass at all on that one. Also, I really haven't enjoyed a single release on Swamp81, I just can't get the rhythym of most of the tunes to grow on me. Not so into the funky stuff.

[Phigure]

Also, I really haven't enjoyed a single release on Swamp81, I just can't get the rhythym of most of the tunes to grow on me. Not so into the funky stuff.

swamp81 aint funky, wutchu talkin bout. even if you're not into the rest of the stuff, there's tons of solid dubstep out on swamp81 like one of us / six degrees, badman / distant, repercussions of a razor blade / new dawn, croydon house / elements, mean streets pt 1, retribution / get out of here, not to mention the one of us LP.

oh and i wouldn't say there's "literally no bass" on DGIT... take a look at a spectrogram of the tunes, you'll see that there's bass frequencies. it's just that there's also far too many midrange ones on top (imo)

[leyenda]

Probably got way off topic here, but owell, by the way, to the original poster: Yeah, Coki's releases have been fucking ATROCIOUS. There is literally NO bass on don't get it twisted, all I hear is screetching painful mid-range annoying ass screeches, literally no bass at all on that one. Also, I really haven't enjoyed a single release on Swamp81, I just can't get the rhythym of most of the tunes to grow on me. Not so into the funky stuff.

There is no way that Nando's is atrocious, tune is massive. Though admittedly that's not looking like it'll get released any time soon.

[prism]

I'm diggin the diversity generally cool about it but coki doesn't resonate with me enough to appreciate repeated split 12" releases.. so cheeky

[DiegoSapiens]

Coki's tunes are absolute shit now

he still producing quality stuff