End of Year Pitchfork

wilberforce · Post by **wilberforce** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 2:58 am

Great article - scene criticism is totally on the money

The balance and diversity in sets began to suffer under the "smash it" mentality, with deeper, riskier and emotional tracks often sidelined. Abandoning this risks reducing dubstep to just another faceless, functional dance genre, a fate it was opposed to from its inception. A few more years in this direction and dubstep will have led itself, eyes open, down the same cul de sac drum & bass did, rendering itself formulaic and irrelevant.

But - could have mentioned other genre cross-overs evolving this year
for instance:

Kode9 vs Flying Lotus Rinse show
Breakage playing at LA dubstep gigs
electronicexplorations.org
The Bay Area scene
Scorn 'Stealth'
remixes - Villalobos, Klaxons, Pole, Block Party, Antix etc...

Are these not key developments for the scene this year?

tempest · Post by **tempest** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 3:17 am

yep great read... and another 3 pages please

metalboxproducts · Post by **metalboxproducts** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 8:35 am

Shonky wrote:Ah I made a list

Ah you've mage a list

shonky · Post by **shonky** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 8:56 am

metalboxproducts wrote:
Shonky wrote:Ah I made a list
Ah you've mage a list

Is there an echo in here?

Post by **dubway** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 9:16 am

ThinKing wrote:What you've said in the last few paragraphs is important, and much needed.

paolo · Post by **paolo** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 10:25 am

mos dan wrote:biggles!!! agree with everything you said basically. goodz, trim, bbk, ny.. it was their year.

though, ahem, the line about young dot being "entirely underrated" is true of *everyone* but, ahem, us. ahem.

http://dot-alt.blogspot.com/2007/08/too ... -care.html

oh yeah, and the dubstep. you were right about that too lol hyperdub or stfu heh

Anyone got a link for dot rotten's mixtape? The ones on pitchfork and on there ^^ aren't working

tronman · Post by **tronman** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 10:53 am

young dot is the best grime producer out there to my ears, ever since bazooka came out he's been consistently creating mental tunes.

dj phonetic · Post by **dj phonetic** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 12:04 pm

dubway wrote:
ThinKing wrote:What you've said in the last few paragraphs is important, and much needed.

Agree, its what im the most afraid of..

shonky · Post by **shonky** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 12:49 pm

paolo wrote:
mos dan wrote:biggles!!! agree with everything you said basically. goodz, trim, bbk, ny.. it was their year.

though, ahem, the line about young dot being "entirely underrated" is true of *everyone* but, ahem, us. ahem.

http://dot-alt.blogspot.com/2007/08/too ... -care.html

oh yeah, and the dubstep. you were right about that too lol hyperdub or stfu heh
Anyone got a link for dot rotten's mixtape? The ones on pitchfork and on there ^^ aren't working

Yeah, I'd like to check this out too if anyone's got a link that works

rob_booth · Post by **rob_booth** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 12:50 pm

Those last paragraphs in the article ... the word "wobble," I'm glad you voiced it as its been a topic of conversation for a while now with friends.

No mention of Skream on the BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix - The home of house music on the airwaves.

Bloody good article

deamonds · Post by **deamonds** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 12:53 pm

proper nice read...

agree whole heartedly with the bottom paragraph.

joenicedj · Post by **joenicedj** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 4:28 pm

another brilliant article by Mr. Clark.

Spot on.

4linehaiku · Post by **4linehaiku** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 4:31 pm

paolo wrote:Anyone got a link for dot rotten's mixtape? The ones on pitchfork and on there ^^ aren't working

http://www.divshare.com/download/3047310-4ac

Off Dissensus.

prisoner · Post by **prisoner** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 4:35 pm

4linehaiku wrote:
paolo wrote:Anyone got a link for dot rotten's mixtape? The ones on pitchfork and on there ^^ aren't working
http://www.divshare.com/download/3047310-4ac

Off Dissensus.

thanks!

ed g · Post by **ed g** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 4:41 pm

Some DJs began to loose all sense of selection quality control...

This quantity over quality problem was symbolic of dubstep as a whole, with far too many people rushing to clone other producers, spend no time developing an original production sound nor understanding where the scene has come from or where it could safely go, while ensuring it remains creatively interesting and avoids previous genre's mistakes.

Anthem bashing was endemic, with sections of the scene competing in harder-than-thou production contests with mid range noisy post-metal wobble, deemed necessary in large clubbing venues. The upshot of this was an abandonment of many of the aspects that gave the genre such promise, namely the ability to take rhythmic and energy-level risks and for audiences to remain appreciative. The balance and diversity in sets began to suffer under the "smash it" mentality, with deeper, riskier and emotional tracks often sidelined. Abandoning this risks reducing dubstep to just another faceless, functional dance genre, a fate it was opposed to from its inception.

This last section is easily the most on-point thing I've read about the current state of Dubstep.

Overall it was a fantastic article, highlighting both the positive and negative sides of the 'scene' in 2007.

Big up Blackdown - a man who can see the wood for the trees.

End of Year Pitchfork

Who is online