Whats your view about all things scene related???

[*grand*]

worst comes to worst the experimentalists get pushed out of the scene and there will be a new 'genre' or 'scene' that develops

I think this is going to happen sooner than we think.

how dowe stop that from happening.. (sub fm?)

Move to Amsterdam, we have no worries here.

indeed as an earlier post stated as things become a bit jacked up here not saying they are or arnt, somewhere else things are starting to takeof, and that fresh burst of energy, like the collapse of a star is witnessed in that community.. hold tigth amsterdam be there soon..So is that the only way then to keep that love alive, to go to greener pastures?

[*grand*]

"MNC affiliates, information about the technology is diffused, the uncertainty regarding the pros and
cons of the innovation is reduced, and the likelihood of imitation or adoption increases. In this
way, the entry of foreign affiliates may demonstrate the existence and profitability of new
products and processes, and encourage local firms to adopt some of them: these diffusion
processes may even be repeated every time innovations are transferred from the MNC parent
to the affiliate."

guess that has sorta answered my question as why more people are getting into it now when back in the day i was called a wanka...

continue on.

[masstronaut]

Move to Amsterdam, we have no worries here.

All about the Dutchstep right now.

[ajantis_art]

this thread feels slightly epic people! props to everyone, interesting points all round.

made me laugh watching this trailer for a dubstep doc on myspace, clip of a somewhat reflective, maybe worried hatcha saying "yeah the scene's grown fuckin' fast, man. everyone's booked up, and it wasnt like this last year". made me think a lot about our scene and what it might become.

the other day i was in the library uni and this slightly irritating guy was playing some benga tunes really loud out of his computer to the annoyance of everyone else. He was shouting off at a few of his mates about this new music he'd heard. i was thinking three things: 1. how i love benga's philosophy on drum patterns, 2. how i kindof prteffered it when i was the only one in my whole uni that knew about this thing dubstep, and 3. how that this lad is one of a shitload of people that are getting into it, wether we like it or not. I dont think anyone can really direct where this scene is going, i see it as organic, it's going to evolve how it wants to. I remember playing early old hot flush/scuba and dmz records over two years ago in my student union bar, and no-one had a fucking clue what it was or how to understand it, and the vast majority (decreasingly) still dont.

still though we've got such an amazing, varied range of music going on within this sphere we call dubstep- stuff from the hessle lot, whistla, dub ploice/sub soldiers, metalbox, hyperdub, tectonic, the finnish and the US gang. with an underground music that is drawing upon so many other forms, i dont see how it could have avoided becoming a lot more popular.

also, i dont want to seem like negging out but it does feel to me that the buzz has gone a little bit from the forum. saying that though, i never have a computer screen in front of me without the warming blue glow of the forum somewhere. I still feel as passionate about dubstep as i did when i first listened to horsepower way back, when i heard tayo playing it on kiss, crazy d's sing song, the bass poetry of anti war dub, mud getting 5 rewinds at dmz. In fact what i think is one of the best points of dubstep particularly is the people. We have so many great nights now going on, and still at every one you can bop up and just start chatting to people. i've met so many safe people over the years and always have such a good night. thats what i feel fucking enthusiastic about.

right i'm off to meet the bird. fajitas tonight.

[ajantis_art]

fuck that was a beast of a post

[*grand*]

not even going to quote shonky .... lol

but big up ajantis!

[masstronaut]

Face it 'dubstep' is screwed. The anti-step movement starts here, all aboard the next train, step right this way...

And remember, formula is for babys.

[badger]

well thats helpful

agree with the point about the scene/movement being organic. it'd be nice to think that we can push it in a particular direction but think that ultimately this is a bit naive. whatever we try and do to shape it, something else is going to come along and change things. at the end of the day all we can do is push or support whatever aspect of the dubstep sound we're personally into. negativity isnt really going to get us anywhere so lets just support what we like rather than dissing or trying to stop the scene going a particular direction

[incyde]

well thats helpful

agree with the point about the scene/movement being organic. it'd be nice to think that we can push it in a particular direction but think that ultimately this is a bit naive. whatever we try and do to shape it, something else is going to come along and change things. at the end of the day all we can do is push or support whatever aspect of the dubstep sound we're personally into. negativity isnt really going to get us anywhere so lets just support what we like rather than dissing or trying to stop the scene going a particular direction

yeah agree.


like others have said before in this thread:

support what you like, don't support what you don't like. that's essentially all any of us can control. the good stuff will float to the top, the rubbish will sink to the bottom. agree?

[masstronaut]

well thats helpful

agree with the point about the scene/movement being organic. it'd be nice to think that we can push it in a particular direction but think that ultimately this is a bit naive. whatever we try and do to shape it, something else is going to come along and change things. at the end of the day all we can do is push or support whatever aspect of the dubstep sound we're personally into. negativity isnt really going to get us anywhere so lets just support what we like rather than dissing or trying to stop the scene going a particular direction

Well then we're saying essentially the same thing. I think once something becomes labeled and codified it's really hard to keep it fresh and alive. You have to leave it to the late adopters and neophobes. There's more of 'em but they move really slowly and can't think for themselves. And sod 'scenes'.

There's no such thing as 'dubstep' really, just some really good music.

[incyde]

Just was having a chat with Bert on this topic.

17:04:54 incyde: people bitching about formulaity
17:05:01 incyde: ahem
17:05:02 incyde: hotflush
17:05:13 incyde: not to big up my own label or whatever
17:05:15 incyde: but come on
17:05:39 incyde: theres fresh stuff out there
17:05:42 Bert: Yeah man I don't what the fuck everyone is talking about
17:05:44 incyde: for thos who want it
17:05:53 Bert: I think the reality is these people jsut aren't fucking looking hard enough
17:06:06 Bert: Which is what I'm gonna post when i get a wee while to think about it
17:06:12 Bert: Am gonna post on Grands thread
17:06:16 incyde: yeah, i've been brooding over it for a while
17:06:21 incyde: thats what ive been reading this arvo
17:06:35 Bert: They aren't looking for alternative shows to Rinse, or alternative nights, or alternative DJ's, or alternative releases
17:07:10 incyde: yeah
17:07:19 Bert: They seem to be treating 'dubstep' as tempa/dubpolice/dmz/fwd/rinse
17:07:41 Bert: In which you could see their point to an extent, but even then its a harse summarisation
17:07:51 incyde: yeah
17:08:16 incyde: i dont get it

[masstronaut]

It's not because people aren't aware of the good stuff that they have a problem with formulaic, derivative tunes. It's quite the opposite. We know there's a load of good stuff out there but it's getting lost in the deluge of useless pap. As always. It's f***ing depressing to go to a night and only hear a handful of records that are doing anything remotely interesting or new, especially when you listen back to mixes done a year ago or to some of the more open eared and forward thinking DJs doing stuff on the margins.

I could say I just don't care, I'll buy and listen to what I like and move on elsewhere. It can be so good though.

Anyway, good thread, good on ya grand for opening up debateage.

[number10]

as long as there are people pushing new sounds and boundaries so that the sound does not get 'recylced' everything should be fine..
also club nights are about having fun and enjoying the music... leave the attitude at the door.
as for 'scene'.....

SEEEEEEN..

[blk plague]

I havent had a chance to read all the threads so what i say may have already been discussed. i feel that there is a great deal of progression in the "scene"-dont like that word either-regarding production of the music and popularity.

However, i feel that there is a bit of saturation on the UK side. I’m not dissing anything or anyone but you can go out damn near any night in london and find a dubstep rave, fwd is every friday along side dubstep being played at fabric at the weekend including rhythm factory, cargo, 93 feet east, herbal etc etc. whereas stateside, we don’t necessarily have that phenomenon. Though more nights are starting, things are more on a monthly/bi weekly schedule. Yes, pure filth in los angeles is a weekly but them man mix up the night with a bit of drum and bass or other dance music at times. I guess what I am saying is that I enjoy that sense of anticipation. For me the dance is extra when ive waited a few weeks for it. I don’t think im alone in that respect.

With that beings said, as far as djs go, I really rate the following:

Scuba
Joe Nice
Dave Q
Claw
Moldy
Antisocial Movement
Youngsta-standardly
Perverlist
Oneman
Braiden
Caspa
Vaccine
T!-Macabre Unit

These man (and gal) here are playing some different business. With respect to the music, its all dubstep. If you can play it in a dance or make people feel it on radio or studio mixes then its all good. I’m not a separatist. I really like the direction of:

Martyn
Antisocial
Tes la rock
L wiz
Kromestar/Droid/Ironsoul
Coki-changing lanes is badman!!
Vaccine
Scuba-hotflush in general
D1

More tunes are also coming out with extra pitchbend wobble bass. This is cool but moderation please.

That’s enough from me, im going to two dubstep raves tonight and waking up tomorrow to try the pitch modulation on my new keyboard

[incyde]

First let me say that this whole 'need' to call a musical movement 'dubstep' is an unfortunate necessity. But in reality what we're calling dubstep is really just a single point in the whole progression of UK-based underground music. It's constantly changing, evolving, and shifting. What people called dubstep in 2005 is way different from what people are calling it today. It's an expression of music culture as a whole.

See, I've always thought of dubstep as an "open genre" with very few requirements. Like Kode 9 said, it's got to have sub-bass (which is unfortunately something that SOME PRODUCERS ARE FORGETTING ABOUT, which is a SHAME, but that's another topic). There are other common elements, such as it's usually around 140-bpm, but lately we've been proven wrong again with tunes like

Distance - Feel Me

and Jazzsteppa - Two

for example.

We don't need to get caught up in what's "dubstep' and what's not because the name is bullshit anyway. It's given a name so that it's easy for people to identify it , and unfortunately, for CERTAIN companies to take advantage of by attempting to brand it commercially.

But at the end of the day it's just fucking music.

Like I said before, let those DJ's spin what they want, let those producers make what tunes they want, let those labels release what tunes they want, and let the rest of us choose what to support and what to not support. It's a living breathing movement surrounded and supported by THE PEOPLE.

It's inevitable for dubstep to change and evolve, Yes it's true that its not the same thing it was in 2006, 2005, or even earlier this year. It has trends that shape its sound and influence it, and all events will take their course as such.

[in regards to someone's previous post about how eventualy it will split into different genres, that's already starting to happen. Whistla no longer calls his music dubstep, it's now called stepcore. I think he should come on here and voice his feelings on the matter and why he's doing that]



In regards to formulaic dubstep, that's true to an extent. Always there are going to be imitators. And yes its unfortunate that the new people coming into the scene now are taking that to be dubstep, and are missing out on all the good stuff that's floating under the radar.


But NO ONE can say that dubstep is formulaic as a whole. Have you heard anything from the Hotflush label? Ranking Records? Geoim? South3rn? Sines? Jazzsteppa? Hessle Audio label? Martyn?? Skull Disco? Ever listened to React FM or Sub FM? Jesus christ.

The good stuff is out there, there's something out there for each and every one of us. Maybe the people bitching are too lazy to go and seek it out, so instead they would rather moan about it.

And if what you're looking for ISNT here, then why don't you learn how to make the beats, and share it with the world. That's exactly what I plan to do.



All in all though, dubstep is fine. I'm not worried. Because as long as I have producers sending me beats, and as long as there are quality labels putting out quality music, then I'm going to continue spinning the music that I love, to any of those who will listen, and hopefully dance.

Thank God for Sub FM. Bless up Whistla.

[incyde]

There's no such thing as 'dubstep' really, just some really good music.

AMEN

[steppa]

incyde and masstronaut speak truth, Amen to that brothers. Amen

[shonky]

It's not because people aren't aware of the good stuff that they have a problem with formulaic, derivative tunes. It's quite the opposite. We know there's a load of good stuff out there but it's getting lost in the deluge of useless pap. As always. It's f***ing depressing to go to a night and only hear a handful of records that are doing anything remotely interesting or new, especially when you listen back to mixes done a year ago or to some of the more open eared and forward thinking DJs doing stuff on the margins.

That's the one

I'm not damning the genre as a whole, there's plenty of up and comers (like those I mentioned in my original post (probably should add Untold to the list in all honesty - damn fine tunes), it's just that a lot of nights aren't as eclectic as they could be. The garage influence seems to have been annihilated from the sound which was what drew me to it in the first place. Halfstep mostly seems to have been adopted as the default template for the sound and to be honest, I don't find downtempo music that interesting in a club, regardless of how heavy the bass is. I was hoping it was a phase that was going to pass to be honest but doesn't seem likely given the majority of nights I've been out to later.

One of the better nights I went to in the last few months was at Dubpressure in September. Kion and Unlikely played mostly 4/4, bit of grime bit of techno and mixed it up really well and it was so damn good to hear Benny Ill on the Gramps rig to finish the evening. Thing was it was really danceable, loads of energy and seemed far removed from some nights I've been to where half the crowd seems to be standing around nodding their heads and there's not that 2 step twitch which gets me on the floor.

And Elgato was spot on, it's the balance of the evenings that seems really out of whack. Agree with Grand too, 2001-03 was without doubt the golden era to my mind. You can call it progression and damn this as nostalgia, but I know plenty of people that would be bored to death by most halfstep that will dance to that without giving a fuck what genre's flag it's flying.

I totally understand where Whistla's coming from on this, the stuff I buy and want to listen to is so far removed from what gets played at most evenings that it might as well be a totally different genre

[sk]

The most constant thing in life is change....

Dub Step is primal!

What I'm fascinated with is the fact that it seems Dub Step has a largely male following. (...Obviously girls like it too- I'm one!) but I look around at a gig and its like wheres she-wally!? ha ha Not that thats a bad thing in any way. But I ponder...

Do you think there is a reason for this? and if so what might it be?
Apart from the womb like envelopment in the sub-bass ???
Any ideas?

[chu]

I look around at a gig and its like wheres she-wally!? ha ha Not that thats a bad thing in any way.

please explain.