Pitchfork this month featuring...

[epithet]

It's been obvious for example for TIME that Simon Reynolds really just wants to go back to the rave days and lately it's been blinding his judgement imho.

Since he started the 'nuum he's probaly the only one who can make it cyclic back to the rave days but I think he'd need a new drug to do it.

And if anything, 'bassline' for all it's 'speed garage' similarities would make a logical progression in the 'nuum except that it didn't originate in london so perhaps 'fidget' would make a better candidate

that proggy house stuff was closer to 'plodstep' which is basically watered down breaks...lee coombs, meat katie, dj hyper etc

Not quite sure what you're on about here. Razz

what i'm on about was some of the breaks guys softening their sound and getting labelled 'plodstep' to become more like proggy house to get played out a bit more by that scene meanwhile the tearout/bassline/breakstep guys just got harder. Proggy house was basically house with soft breakbeats interspersed among the standard 4 on the floor circe 2000.

[shonky]

And if anything, 'bassline' for all it's 'speed garage' similarities would make a logical progression in the 'nuum except that it didn't originate in london so perhaps 'fidget' would make a better candidate

I think the main difference with niche and speed garage is that niche doesn't seem to have the swung riddims so much, and some of the stuff that I heard a while back sounded like it had more of a hard house vibe to it, being faster and less syncopated.

Fidget is way more interesting than funky it has to be said, but then I think that's because they're not all from house backgrounds. A lot of it can sound like electro house though albeit quite a bit odder.

[Jubz]

A lot of it can sound like electro house though albeit quite a bit odder.

Nowt wrong with htat obviously. On that note are there any fidget mixes people could recommend, I have exhausted my current stash.

[your mum]

Fidget? Really? I think there should be a panel to approve genre names.

[shonky]

A lot of it can sound like electro house though albeit quite a bit odder.

Nowt wrong with htat obviously. On that note are there any fidget mixes people could recommend, I have exhausted my current stash.

The only one I've really seen was that Sinden one posted up in other music - quite a lot of more dancehall, b-more and other stuff in there too.

Probably worth chatting to Alex Bk-bk, he seems to know his tunes

[shonky]

Fidget? Really? I think there should be a panel to approve genre names.

Makes total sense when you hear it, kind of strange mashup thing that could drop anything in a tune - reminds me of Wrong Music when it was properly wrong rather than just IDM (shit term but gets the style across).

[epithet]

Probably worth chatting to Alex Bk-bk, he seems to know his tunes

What happened to him ? Wasn't he just another scene hopping scenester looking for the next electronica fix and decided the d wasn't it so he moved on

[shonky]

Probably worth chatting to Alex Bk-bk, he seems to know his tunes

What happened to him ? Wasn't he just another scene hopping scenester looking for the next electronica fix and decided the d wasn't it so he moved on

No, not really. He did support it for quite a while but lost interest with current trends as far as I know. Seems to have quite a varied taste in music and so found other more interesting stuff to get into that he could incorporate into his sets. Can't say I blame him really.

[ajantis_art]

i like skankin'

[epithet]

Probably worth chatting to Alex Bk-bk, he seems to know his tunes

What happened to him ? Wasn't he just another scene hopping scenester looking for the next electronica fix and decided the d wasn't it so he moved on

No, not really. He did support it for quite a while but lost interest with current trends as far as I know. Seems to have quite a varied taste in music and so found other more interesting stuff to get into that he could incorporate into his sets. Can't say I blame him really.

Everyone should have varied taste in music though don't you think ? Man cannot live by dubstep alone.

So do you really think dubstep painted it self into a dark corner, gone down the cul de sac that d'n'b did and now hasn't got enough room to turn around without incorporating breakstep ?

[slothrop]

So do you really think dubstep painted it self into a dark corner, gone down the cul de sac that d'n'b did and now hasn't got enough room to turn around without incorporating breakstep ?

It always seems a bit weird to talk about dubstep as if it was some sort of monolithic uniform thing acting with a single mind - when it's really a huge scene with hundreds of DJs, producers and promoters all doing different stuff, and hundreds of thousands of fans all listening to different stuff...

Talking about whether dubstep as a whole is good or rubbish or where it, as a whole, is going seems like it's missing the point a bit. I can see some people in the scene incorporating breakstep into what they do, some of them incorporating techno, some of them incorporating funky, some of them going harder and heavier, some going light and chilled. Maybe at some point someone will decide that they're far enough from the original scene that they're actually doing something else entirely and someone will come up with a new (and probably rubbish) name for it, just like happened when dubstep coalesced out of 2-step.

So yeah, I think it makes more sense to talk about who's doing interesting stuff incorporating breakstep than to ask whether dubstep as a whole needs to do it...

[ory]

what i'm on about was some of the breaks guys softening their sound and getting labelled 'plodstep' to become more like proggy house to get played out a bit more by that scene meanwhile the tearout/bassline/breakstep guys just got harder.

That I can see.

Proggy house was basically house with soft breakbeats interspersed among the standard 4 on the floor circe 2000.

This is where you lose me. When Sasha and Digweed (and similar DJs, but those two always seem to be leading the herd ) got tired of the "trance" label in the very late 90's, they turned around completely and started playing the most drawn out, dark, dull house imaginable... progressive house. (Not to be confused with the progressive house sound of the early 90's, which Sasha and Diggers also played.)

Sometimes they sprinkled some "soft breaks" tunes in their sets, but generally speaking breaks has nothing to do with the sound of progressive house. Maybe this is what you meant by "interspersed". If so, I'll stop now.

[shonky]

Everyone should have varied taste in music though don't you think ? Man cannot live by dubstep alone.

Indeed, that's a healthy way to look at it. I think the most boring music is generally that which is trying to be too genre-specific and excludes any influences outside of that scene, which leads on to...

So do you really think dubstep painted it self into a dark corner, gone down the cul de sac that d'n'b did and now hasn't got enough room to turn around without incorporating breakstep ?

Well look at what's getting released. Few 4/4 and 2 step bits but still mostly halfstep, which then seems to mostly be split between wobblers/bangers, dark techsteppers or deep minimalism - how many people are really creating much outside that, and of those how many are getting released or played out? So you can figure out your answer from that.

I also think that there's plenty of other influences that could be incorporated that could open things up a lot more, but it's down to producers to have the nerve to make it, dj's to support it, punters to enjoy it and ultimately buy it. The more people that make bass driven music rather than trying to make "dubstep" the better really.

[slothrop]

Well look at what's getting released. Few 4/4 and 2 step bits but still mostly halfstep, which then seems to mostly be split between wobblers/bangers, dark techsteppers or deep minimalism - how many people are really creating much outside that, and of those how many are getting released or played out? So you can figure out your answer from that.

The thing is, the fact that there are 758 generic wobble tunes coming out every week doesn't affect me if I don't buy them - it's not like anyone's forcing you to listen to them, and by reading recommendations on this forum or listening to mixes and shows by DJs I respect I can home in on the stuff I like pretty easily. Maybe it's now 5% good stuff where three or four years ago it was 50% good stuff, but I think there are actually more really good dubstep tunes coming out now than there were any sort of dubstep tunes three or four years ago.

If people who aren't me want to listen to stuff I don't like that's fine by me, I'll be at Futureproof or Platform 1 or DOTS or something...

[elgato]

Fidget is way more interesting than funky it has to be said, but then I think that's because they're not all from house backgrounds.

not sure this is quite right, the central guys who brought it through anyway (and imo still the most exciting producers in it)...Dave Taylor, Jesse Rose, Trevor Loveys...all came from deep house backgrounds. even Sinden's first 12" was a deep housey, jazzy, broken beat thing!

to be honest i've been really disappointed by the way that scene has developed since hitting the limelight though, i had very high hopes, but now (surprise surprise) it seems to have been flooded with imitators. still good things in there though i think, and elements of the style could definitely be very exciting if applied in new contexts.

[elgato]

I also think that there's plenty of other influences that could be incorporated that could open things up a lot more, but it's down to producers to have the nerve to make it, dj's to support it

mild self-promotion but fuck it!: if producers are doing exciting and different things from this scene, as a dj i am specifically looking for them and looking to support them

[eyetee designs]

This is all an absolute madness. breakstep and dubstep are 2 completely different styles of music, yes there are similaritys but they aint the same.

Breakstep got over looked by people in the dubstep scene because it dont sound any thing like dubstep, nor jungle for that matter. it sounds like slowed down DnB.

What Clukid and LD have done is incorporate the old skool jungle sounds into the modern dubstep format, which means it sound like dubstep but with a jungle twist. breakstep on the other hand is breakbeat with a drum and bass twist i personally dont understand where the dubstep influence is in breakstep besides the tempo.

I understand there have been people making what they thought was jungle sounding dubstep for a few years now but from what i have heard
its influenced by drum and bass not jungle.

What Cluekid and LD have done is something that hasnt been done before.

if anyone disagrees upload me a breakstep tune that sounds remotely similar to the legacy-cluekid and cotti or guerrila warfare-cluekid and ld.

[shonky]

Should be mentioned that Formula has been doing this sort of jungly dubstep stuff for some time too.

[ufo over easy]

oh my christ, it's 2005.. who built the time machine? 'fess up

[oddfellow]

To me 'dubstep' is just a convenient term for bass heavy music at a certain speed. I still see it as a very varied genre.