Pitchfork time again

[gutter]

The oversight seems even more strange when you consider how important Martin's own blog has been...

[doomstep]

I'm not suggesting that blogs are the main thing, but I think they're a major contributing factor.

I think blogs are the digital analog (?) of Soundsystem / dubplate culture, insomuch as they are the on-line equivalent to wheatpasting what you want to put across on a wall in the town square or down the high street.

I certainly wouldn't have got into any of this music without them.

circle of life ...

[boomnoise]

i'm sure martin would love to write an extended piece, highlighting the importance of the blog but his pitchfork platform has be quite concise.

blogs, obviously cannot be underplayed. generally the internet has been instrumental in propelling so many small scenes. and blogs and this forum are carrying the scene to a bigger audience which wouldn't be reached by the traditional methods employed by most artists.

the danger is growth beyond the current infrastructure. and that is starting to happen. demand outstripping supply etc.

[prismatic7]

I agree. I can't imagine how I would have discovered this music without the Internet. Browsing sound clips in online record stores was my way in, but it was blogs with mix mp3s that got me interested enough to start buying vinyl again.

seconded. i found grime on late night telly, but the blogs (blackdown, gutta, etc) kept me up-to-the-second. I haven't found a night where they play dubstep here - there's a bit of grime creeps into leftfield hiphop/eclectronica sets, and dancehall's everywhere - so that and soulseek is about all that keeps me in touch. and it's a damn good touch! despite the distance it's hard not to be involved. I'm proud that Moving Ninja came out of Sydney to drop on Tectonic. Don't like the EP as much as I could but it's a great start! Even if they are from Sincity.

[dubmugga]

we don't do culture, we just make beats...

too late. you are here promoting your beats to a community and making t-shirts with dubstep on them. you're doin culture, you muppet.

now shaaat it, you kiwi fool

nah man that's bullshit...

...when did dubstep become a culture ???

Did I miss something here in NZ while tracking the dubstep music strain thru hyperdub and dubplate.net...

...and u and boom noise can just read my lips, pommy twat

we make beats and promote them via the internet on mp3 not via the london underground dubplate subculture...

...and i make t shirts as a promotional tool to support our beats

maybe someone should quickly register the trademark for the word dubstep so then i'd have to pay a royalty

the danger is growth beyond the current infrastructure. and that is starting to happen. demand outstripping supply etc.

and just what the hell does that mean ???

what infrastructure ???what is the danger ??? and what of the demand ???

just release the shit as hi bit mp3 on the net and watch it grow by more people actually playing out the tunes instead of trying to base it around the london underground dubplate culture system and 12'vinyl...

...isn't that the international exposure it needs ???

it's funny hearing talk about protecting "pirate" radio and yet being so protective of your recorded material by the "pirate" file sharers...

...it seems everyone is worried about cultural property, intellectual copyright and royalties

[tate]

fantastic work as always, Blackdown. Many thanks.

[blackdown]

Yeah, my first thought when Martin asked the question 'how did dubstep go global' was - what about the bloggers?

blogs might be a very important factor, but as a blogger myself, i wasn't going to be the one to shout about it...

I don't think DMZ as an organisation are responsible for its international growth. They started operating along very traditional lines (soundsystems, dubplates/vinyl only releases) with a very London-centric attitude. It was other people outside of their circle who started reppin the sound on the internet and spreading the word across continents.

i disagree on this. perhaps you forget the hostility and snobbery dubstep faced from the blogsphere circa 2003? DMZ came along and opened up the dubstep spectrum, creating an increase in the grass roots following for the sound. blogs were able to magnify this enthusiasm. but they didn't create this enthusiasm in the first place.

How many people would even know about the Rinse stream without blog support?

now lets not get carried away here Gutta, you trying to attribute Rinse FMs success to bloggers?

[gutter]

i disagree on this. perhaps you forget the hostility and snobbery dubstep faced from the blogsphere circa 2003?

Not at all. Maybe the turning point was K-Punk's Rephlex Grime post in April '04, with all the attendent comments...

http://k-punk.abstractdynamics.org/archives/002632.html

It certainly had me intrigued anyway!

DMZ came along and opened up the dubstep spectrum, creating an increase in the grass roots following for the sound. blogs were able to magnify this enthusiasm. but they didn't create this enthusiasm in the first place.

From 'grass roots' level you're right, Martin, but it was that 'magification' which helped to spread the sound worldwide, which was the point you were focusing on in the Pitchfork article. I just think you should've given the bloggers a mention when answering the question.

How many people would even know about the Rinse stream without blog support?

now lets not get carried away here Gutta, you trying to attribute Rinse FMs success to bloggers?

No, merely pointing out they may have been a 'significant contributing factor' for spreading the Rinse love outside of the capital

[geoff]

we don't do culture, we just make beats...

not sure what culture is to you then, except dodgy hair extensions.

[boomnoise]

re: blogs


difficult to assess the contribution of blogs from inside the cage, innit! hard to put it down to one single thing but given the collapse of a decent printed music press, blogs have to be credited with something.

re:dubmugga

all i mean is that if people want to invest in the music by buying it but can't, then it presents a bit of a problem. given the international appetite for it and the finite number of recordings which are available. not dangerous per se but grime has done well to feed it's not vinyl recording buying audience with mix cds.

[blackdown]

DMZ came along and opened up the dubstep spectrum, creating an increase in the grass roots following for the sound. blogs were able to magnify this enthusiasm. but they didn't create this enthusiasm in the first place.

From 'grass roots' level you're right, Martin, but it was that 'magification' which helped to spread the sound worldwide, which was the point you were focusing on in the Pitchfork article. I just think you should've given the bloggers a mention when answering the question.

don't get the hump gutta, like i said i deliberately didn't mention bloggers because i'm not interested in bigging ourselves up. respect is given not taken!

[blackdown]

http://k-punk.abstractdynamics.org/archives/002632.html

It certainly had me intrigued anyway!

amazing looking back at that thread. so many of the big blog boys up in there. i'm almost nostalgic for that era of grime though it was only 18 months ago. so much was yet uncharted...

[joenicedj]

Another quality read Martin.
excellent work.

[tekblazer]

http://k-punk.abstractdynamics.org/archives/002632.html

It certainly had me intrigued anyway!

amazing looking back at that thread. so many of the big blog boys up in there. i'm almost nostalgic for that era of grime though it was only 18 months ago. so much was yet uncharted...

Yeah Martin and Gutta....

I went back and searched up the ole ILM threads. You guys know...

[bruno belluomini]

Great! Nice words!

Best,

Bruno Belluomini.

[pete_bubonic]

we don't do

...when did dubstep become a culture ???

Did I miss something here in NZ while tracking the dubstep music strain thru hyperdub and dubplate.net...

Of course it's a culture, it might have a strong scene where you are but that doesn't mean it isn't a culture. You sit in your studio and make beats, you tell stories and express yourself through your beats. You post on here (a community) and listen to other dubstep producers. It is part of your life. It is your culture, mine and ours.

[pete_bubonic]

and that article is a good read, cheers blackdown.

[dubmugga]

not sure what culture is to you then, except dodgy hair extensions.

wrong again man...

...them locks is real and have been for 13 years and guess what??? i don't even do pork, also if you want total culture, know that you are talking to a native polynesian

see the thing is, we didn't get introduced to the sound or "culture" or whatever through pirate radio, blogs or mixtapes...

...we were listening and buying rekkids from dn'b through to breaks/breakstep, garage, to dubstep and making tunes along the way

we evolved with the music outside of the "culture" and are a part of the international face of the music outside of london...

...the only scene here is me, Jared(other hellscientist) and about 2other mates. It is a small part of our lives and not our frontline culture. We have family, dayjobs, other interests and are part of another culture, that of urban NZ which I imagine is radically diferent from london club culture

I remember posting about this on BBWW a few months ago of the danger of trying to control the scene by geography and dubplate culture just like d'n'b did in the early days and know that it virtually killed the conscious aspect of jungle for years...

boomnoise

...the finite number of recordings is beacuse of the investment in vinyl and the turnaround time using trad forms of distro and marketing. I'm sure a lot of the big boy producers have shitloads of tunes lined up which they could flood the international market with and really get people to sit up and take notice listen and distribute the sound, even do more mixtapes outside of crappy radio streams and broadcast live gigs

blogging is bullshit, one man's opinion on whatever the fuck and a form of egotistical self promotion, another drain on my precious bandwidth...

...forums are the shit

[seckle]

big up to blackdown. solid.

[gutter]

blogging is bullshit, one man's opinion on whatever the fuck and a form of egotistical self promotion, another drain on my precious bandwidth...

...forums are the shit

Fuck! Maybe I should just retire now?!

Must admit, all the energy and pace seems to be on the forums now. Maybe I should quit while I'm (barely) ahead...