Whats your view about all things scene related???
- fullyrecordingz
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- mandy moon
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- dubluke
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i personally think that like ashley said dubstep still has a certain way to go before finding the right balance of sound and production or whatever, and i really feel that those who say its getting stale already are quite in the wrong.
one thing i can't understand is people who don't understand why its getting slightly less underground, i can totally sympathise with their worries that it will become a less pure sound if dubstep goes mainstream or whatever, but ultimately there isn't a huge amount we can do. all music develops in this way, starting off as small and underground before eventually progressing onto bigger things, its just how scenes evovle. for example i'm sure what counts as the most popular music (probably rock/pop) today started off as a small underground scene not unlike dubstep, before eventually evolving into a bigger thing.
i'm not saying thats what i want to happen, as to be honest i prefer my nights to be full of the proper heads who properly love it rather than people who have a vague affinity to the music cos they heard some on radio and probably won't understand the music or have a particularly good time
i personally love dubstep because of its huge variety of influences, its ridiculous bass and emphasis on a decent soundsystem over everything else (a view i've always been a fan of), and another important factor for me is the friendly people and good vibes - perfect example is grand the guy who made this thread, other day he put us on guestlist cos he knew i was skint even though i hadn't ever met/spoken to him, then ran into him at FWD and had a good laff, i feel i could easily go to a dubstep night without even bringing any mates beforehand and could leave having met three or four new people, all of whom i can guarantee would be bare safe, and for me the good vibes are real important.
and most of all i look forward to being able to act like an old junglist and say to kids at DMZ five years from now "oh yeah you know you shoulda been coming here 10 years ago, it was IMMENSE!! its all about old school"

one thing i can't understand is people who don't understand why its getting slightly less underground, i can totally sympathise with their worries that it will become a less pure sound if dubstep goes mainstream or whatever, but ultimately there isn't a huge amount we can do. all music develops in this way, starting off as small and underground before eventually progressing onto bigger things, its just how scenes evovle. for example i'm sure what counts as the most popular music (probably rock/pop) today started off as a small underground scene not unlike dubstep, before eventually evolving into a bigger thing.
i'm not saying thats what i want to happen, as to be honest i prefer my nights to be full of the proper heads who properly love it rather than people who have a vague affinity to the music cos they heard some on radio and probably won't understand the music or have a particularly good time
i personally love dubstep because of its huge variety of influences, its ridiculous bass and emphasis on a decent soundsystem over everything else (a view i've always been a fan of), and another important factor for me is the friendly people and good vibes - perfect example is grand the guy who made this thread, other day he put us on guestlist cos he knew i was skint even though i hadn't ever met/spoken to him, then ran into him at FWD and had a good laff, i feel i could easily go to a dubstep night without even bringing any mates beforehand and could leave having met three or four new people, all of whom i can guarantee would be bare safe, and for me the good vibes are real important.
and most of all i look forward to being able to act like an old junglist and say to kids at DMZ five years from now "oh yeah you know you shoulda been coming here 10 years ago, it was IMMENSE!! its all about old school"
"ketchup sounds for ketchup people"gwa wrote:apparently i fell into the fridge and shouted really loudly 'RIGHT, IM OFF TO GO FUCK THE SHIT OUT OF ME LASS NOW MUM, SHUT YER DOOR'
i think the wealth of talent and new tunes coming out in the dubstep is imo unequaled by any other genre of dance music. If you look at the producers, djs and promoters. There is genuine passion there and drive that you dont get anymore across any other scene or genre of music.
What really attracts me or anyone to dubstep now, imo is that it is a movement, and not a scene. A scene is something that is stagnent, But a movement is something that is constantly evolving and the levels are just being moved higher and higher, every week producers are pushing the genre forward at a speed that (as ive said before) no other music is going at, this can only be a good thing and i think that this constant progression wont be stopping anytime soon by my watch.
Big up to all steppers out there old and new.
What really attracts me or anyone to dubstep now, imo is that it is a movement, and not a scene. A scene is something that is stagnent, But a movement is something that is constantly evolving and the levels are just being moved higher and higher, every week producers are pushing the genre forward at a speed that (as ive said before) no other music is going at, this can only be a good thing and i think that this constant progression wont be stopping anytime soon by my watch.
Big up to all steppers out there old and new.
Scene, movement...whatever you want to call it, theres so much POSITIVETY that comes with dubstep in terms of nights, people making beats ect, and the fact that dubstep hasnt settled into a "sound" (producers coming in with shedloads of different influences keeping stuff fresh) means that things will continue to progress, and next year will bring new ideas to the melting pot.
ONWARDS AND UPWARDS
ONWARDS AND UPWARDS
I found out about dubstep in 2001 when I was browsing through the garage section in my local shop, and then started checking what was going on at the old dubplate.net and old Hyperdub site (some great interviews and articles there, pity they seem to have disappeared). Started playing Horsepower and El-b tunes at parties and they all went down really well, but in terms of people buying it, there only seemed to be about 3 people I knew in Brighton.
What attracted me to it at first was the offbeat rhythms, experimentation, eclecticism and vibes rather than the bass as the focus (although obviously still important and intrinsic). As releases seemed to dry up, I thought that dubstep had been cancelled due to lack of interest. Then I got the internet at home and found this forum in early 2006.
To be honest, I was mostly disappointed with the developments, the rhythms that swung now plodded, the cheeky fun had been replaced with dour po-facedness and it seemed to be falling into more formulaic patterns which have gotten worse (release wise) over the last year. There's an awful lot of nights where there is no-one whatsoever that I'm interested in seeing, and a hell of a lot of releases that I won't bother even checking any more based on the previous output of the producer (and if I do optimistically give it a listen find that it's same old same old).
I'm only really sticking with dubstep for Burial, Mala, Ikonika, Geiom, Whistla, HOD and the UC, United Vibes, Oneman, the Anti-social boys, Reso, Sully, Kode 9, Martyn, TRG and the Hessle crew and the hope that Horsepower are going to put out another album eventually. There's a few others and some unsigned producers that are moving into interesting new territories but to be honest, if you're not into halfstep, there's only a tiny fraction of the scene to entertain you.
Having said that, the vast majority of people that I've met up with in the last year have been really sound, funny and decent folks and that counts for a lot to me.
And do remember that this is just my opinion before you start flaming and taking offense at the concept that I might actually like different music to you or start trying to explain that "the rhythm's in the bass yeah". I'm happy to see people coming into the scene and being really enthusiastic about it, even if I'm not necessarily vibing on it.
What attracted me to it at first was the offbeat rhythms, experimentation, eclecticism and vibes rather than the bass as the focus (although obviously still important and intrinsic). As releases seemed to dry up, I thought that dubstep had been cancelled due to lack of interest. Then I got the internet at home and found this forum in early 2006.
To be honest, I was mostly disappointed with the developments, the rhythms that swung now plodded, the cheeky fun had been replaced with dour po-facedness and it seemed to be falling into more formulaic patterns which have gotten worse (release wise) over the last year. There's an awful lot of nights where there is no-one whatsoever that I'm interested in seeing, and a hell of a lot of releases that I won't bother even checking any more based on the previous output of the producer (and if I do optimistically give it a listen find that it's same old same old).
I'm only really sticking with dubstep for Burial, Mala, Ikonika, Geiom, Whistla, HOD and the UC, United Vibes, Oneman, the Anti-social boys, Reso, Sully, Kode 9, Martyn, TRG and the Hessle crew and the hope that Horsepower are going to put out another album eventually. There's a few others and some unsigned producers that are moving into interesting new territories but to be honest, if you're not into halfstep, there's only a tiny fraction of the scene to entertain you.
Having said that, the vast majority of people that I've met up with in the last year have been really sound, funny and decent folks and that counts for a lot to me.
And do remember that this is just my opinion before you start flaming and taking offense at the concept that I might actually like different music to you or start trying to explain that "the rhythm's in the bass yeah". I'm happy to see people coming into the scene and being really enthusiastic about it, even if I'm not necessarily vibing on it.
Last edited by shonky on Wed Nov 21, 2007 9:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
Hmm....


Certain ways of doing dubstep are being stuffed in a little 'leftfield' cranny. When dubstep becomes 8 DJs at a night all playing the same type of tune continuously, it will be fucked. Luckily there are still tunes smacking dancefloors that aren't just written in a 'wobble + sample= banger' way... I remember when Request Line, Backwards, Anti War Dub, Mud and Bombardment of Saturn were ALL big tunes- they were all different, even if they shared similarities.
You can't fight what's popular, but people are getting into this music thinking its all about one thing, and if DJs/Promoters aren't giving them any reason not to think that, it's going to (except on the margins) BECOME one thing. Shooting for wider popularity means shooting for formula- its more easily packaged that way.
It would be JUST as boring if every DJ played front to back deep 'meditational' tunes and never played any party tunes. I'd say keep it dancefloor but keep it interesting.
ON THE PLUS SIDE:
House Party, DMZ, Futureproof < in the past few months all these nights have been massive and given me faith in dubstep.
Still loads of great producers around, getting exposure or not.
You can't fight what's popular, but people are getting into this music thinking its all about one thing, and if DJs/Promoters aren't giving them any reason not to think that, it's going to (except on the margins) BECOME one thing. Shooting for wider popularity means shooting for formula- its more easily packaged that way.
It would be JUST as boring if every DJ played front to back deep 'meditational' tunes and never played any party tunes. I'd say keep it dancefloor but keep it interesting.
ON THE PLUS SIDE:
House Party, DMZ, Futureproof < in the past few months all these nights have been massive and given me faith in dubstep.
Still loads of great producers around, getting exposure or not.
Hear what your saying bruv but how can u tell anyone on this forum the new releases are formulaic. Look at Tes la Rok, look at Vex'd, look at the progression of skream if you want. All of those artists and so many others are varying the output completely, have you listened across there backlog, if you call that plodding along then maybe you should get into gabba.
I know its all about opinion, but the energy is there and i think 90% of this forum can feel it, no matter whether they are seeing benga, hatcha, mala or any of the big guns, or just some local dj smashing it with a really varried set (like my local in notts Rust). I think to say the production and the nights have become formulaic is fudementally wrong, because the proof is out there. producers like ASBO coming up, Ultrablack, EFA so many to choose from that are coming up with individual tunes raning from really dark techy vibes, to ragga pumping full of energy riddems.
Fine if you've gone off the music as a whole and don't genuinely like it at 140 bpm or wateva, then thats your decision. But you carnt say dubstep has become formulaic because it quite blatantly hasnt.
I know its all about opinion, but the energy is there and i think 90% of this forum can feel it, no matter whether they are seeing benga, hatcha, mala or any of the big guns, or just some local dj smashing it with a really varried set (like my local in notts Rust). I think to say the production and the nights have become formulaic is fudementally wrong, because the proof is out there. producers like ASBO coming up, Ultrablack, EFA so many to choose from that are coming up with individual tunes raning from really dark techy vibes, to ragga pumping full of energy riddems.
Fine if you've gone off the music as a whole and don't genuinely like it at 140 bpm or wateva, then thats your decision. But you carnt say dubstep has become formulaic because it quite blatantly hasnt.
If your someone who thinks its getting stale try and remember somewhere else in the world its only starting to come in. Energy from newcomers will reach back to the source.
I'm personally dreading the first hair gel advert with a halfstep beat and a wobble, thought I heard one last night but I think it was just a slow hip hop beat, whew.
I'm personally dreading the first hair gel advert with a halfstep beat and a wobble, thought I heard one last night but I think it was just a slow hip hop beat, whew.
i agree completelysteppa wrote:Hear what your saying bruv but how can u tell anyone on this forum the new releases are formulaic. Look at Tes la Rok, look at Vex'd, look at the progression of skream if you want. All of those artists and so many others are varying the output completely, have you listened across there backlog, if you call that plodding along then maybe you should get into gabba.
I know its all about opinion, but the energy is there and i think 90% of this forum can feel it, no matter whether they are seeing benga, hatcha, mala or any of the big guns, or just some local dj smashing it with a really varried set (like my local in notts Rust). I think to say the production and the nights have become formulaic is fudementally wrong, because the proof is out there. producers like ASBO coming up, Ultrablack, EFA so many to choose from that are coming up with individual tunes raning from really dark techy vibes, to ragga pumping full of energy riddems.
Fine if you've gone off the music as a whole and don't genuinely like it at 140 bpm or wateva, then thats your decision. But you carnt say dubstep has become formulaic because it quite blatantly hasnt.
I like it at 140 bpm, I just don't really rate most halfstep and I think something can be called formulaic if it follows a similar path to others in the genre and most releases seem to be either dark, minimal tunes or wobblers, neither of which I'm mad into. What got me into dubstep in the first place was the beats, not the bass really and it seems to me that listening back to the originators like Darqwan, Horsepower, El-b and Roxy and even Zinc and Hypes old garage tunes, there was a lot more variety going on even though there were far less people involved.steppa wrote:Fine if you've gone off the music as a whole and don't genuinely like it at 140 bpm or wateva, then thats your decision. But you carnt say dubstep has become formulaic because it quite blatantly hasnt.
Hmm....


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jackquinox
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I thought ASBO was Loefah?? and if its not then how anyone can say that the tracks not formulaic is beyond me because it sounds like everything else loefah makes (which isnt a bad thing).steppa wrote:Hear what your saying bruv but how can u tell anyone on this forum the new releases are formulaic. Look at Tes la Rok, look at Vex'd, look at the progression of skream if you want. All of those artists and so many others are varying the output completely, have you listened across there backlog, if you call that plodding along then maybe you should get into gabba.
I know its all about opinion, but the energy is there and i think 90% of this forum can feel it, no matter whether they are seeing benga, hatcha, mala or any of the big guns, or just some local dj smashing it with a really varried set (like my local in notts Rust). I think to say the production and the nights have become formulaic is fudementally wrong, because the proof is out there. producers like ASBO coming up, Ultrablack, EFA so many to choose from that are coming up with individual tunes raning from really dark techy vibes, to ragga pumping full of energy riddems.
Fine if you've gone off the music as a whole and don't genuinely like it at 140 bpm or wateva, then thats your decision. But you carnt say dubstep has become formulaic because it quite blatantly hasnt.
Second in my opinion two of the artist you mentioned Skream and Tes La Rok have released some very similar sounding records and hold to very strict formulas in there production if i listen to the last three records released by them there all fairly similar in production, on there other hand i look at Vex'd and think the last three records i have heard there production on (all remixes i think) have been very different, experimental and leftfield not a bad thing at all for keeping things interesting. I think we need the Skreams and Tes La Roks of this world to keep giving us tracks to skank about to in the dance but we also need artists like Vaccine, BoxCutter, Peverlist, Shakleton, Appleblim etc etc to keep things interesting and dare i say varied.
Pangaea wrote: DUBSTEP SERIOUSLY HARMS YOUR BANK BALANCE
I heard a few the other week but then they were playing.Corpsey wrote:I don't think most people would say that there aren't great producers around, the issue for me is with how much light those producers are getting. I can't remember the last time I heard a Vexd tune at a big dubstep night.
Hmm....


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