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Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 5:44 pm
by dq
DJ Whistla wrote:"The Split" has made the disposessed that found dubstep disposossed again. And in that way what we are seeing is people going either back to there previous flavour of music with a "post-dubstep" aestetic, or finding another pre-existing genre and taking the aestetic there. Eaxmple of this can be seen with some of Funky/Dubstep crossover djs you mention.
This is very well put and pretty close to where I'm at in thinking about the interesting crossroads dubstep is at now. To contradict my earlier post about the centrality of London to the forward momentum of (post-)dubstep music, it is interesting to note how my earliest impression of UK funky was that it sounded like an imitation of US deep house. But as I have heard more and as it has rapidly evolved, I'm now completely excited by how the influence and slower tempo of funky has breathed new life into dubstep as it was headed down a depressing dead end street. Unfortunately that dead end street (bpm's pushing 150 and heavy metal wobble) is still what most of the dubstep scenes worldwide still look like, and that's why I think London is still the main epicenter of musical ideas and progression in dubstep, if it still deserves to be called that.
Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 5:53 pm
by dj cal cutta
seckle wrote:mr. Clark,
heavy read, and will reply to the discussion on the blog. one thing though, can you give me examples of "elements of feminine pressure". i want to make sure what exactly that means to you.
cheers matey.
Seckle, your avatar is my all-time favorite film(maybe my all-time favorite
anything). Lovely...
Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 5:57 pm
by human?
somewhat disappointed in the "post-dubstep divide" view as opposed to the "post-genre unity" view i feel is more the vibes...
so it goes...
Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 6:02 pm
by ♫♪♫
*makes a guitar out of rubber bands and an empty tissue box*
Fuck yeah!
Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 6:05 pm
by mumble
Wise words as always.
And whilst Im here, are you writing a book by any chance Martin ?
Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 6:24 pm
by -dubson-
i sort of hope that dubstep really does split..
Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 6:46 pm
by bandshell
It has split.
Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 6:51 pm
by human?
has it split?
or has the idea of defining a vast spectrum of sounds and vibes with a single "genre" word become obsolete?
i dunno, feels more like falling into a fractal than a tree with distinct branches.
Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 7:38 pm
by ramadanman
Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 9:13 pm
by .spec
human? wrote:has it split?
or has the idea of defining a vast spectrum of sounds and vibes with a single "genre" word become obsolete?
i dunno, feels more like falling into a fractal than a tree with distinct branches.
Saying it's more like a fractal would imply that at some point these little offshoots come back around at some point and meet and for the most part they don't really. From what I've observed there's a pretty strong push goign on that will end in kids headbanging to post-dnb (really like that term btw) dubstep which is how the sound as a whole will be categorized. At the same time like Blackdown pointed out a good number of original heads will probably feel some betrayal to that and don't really want anything to do with it.
Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 9:23 pm
by human?
.spec wrote:human? wrote:has it split?
or has the idea of defining a vast spectrum of sounds and vibes with a single "genre" word become obsolete?
i dunno, feels more like falling into a fractal than a tree with distinct branches.
Saying it's more like a fractal would imply that at some point these little offshoots come back around at some point and meet and for the most part they don't really. From what I've observed there's a pretty strong push goign on that will end in kids headbanging to post-dnb (really like that term btw) dubstep which is how the sound as a whole will be categorized. At the same time like Blackdown pointed out a good number of original heads will probably feel some betrayal to that and don't really want anything to do with it.
i dunno, they seem to be coming back around nowadays in cycles so quickly that people cant come up with enough "genre" names to describe it....
wonky is Hiphop & funky is house... but are they? its all post genre imho, and anyone clinging to a word (dubstep) is gonna be disappointed as we move forward....
analyzing and studying how things relate is awesome, i do it obsessively.. any effort to erect barriers and youve lost me....
Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 9:34 pm
by .spec
human? wrote:
i dunno, they seem to be coming back around nowadays in cycles so quickly that people cant come up with enough "genre" names to describe it....
wonky is Hiphop & funky is house... but are they? its all post genre imho, and anyone clinging to a word (dubstep) is gonna be disappointed as we move forward....
analyzing and studying how things relate is awesome, i do it obsessively.. any effort to erect barriers and youve lost me....
Oh and I totally agree with you on that front, but if you're just talking about the current schism (for lack of a better term) between the heads that want dubstep to remain what it was and the heads who want to soldier on with louder, faster, harder death-metalstep stuff I'm not as sure that it holds up.
In this case we're not talking about just giving a name to a new genre that's taking from an established one but more the next wave of dubstep is very unlike it's past and where that puts us as individuals.
Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 11:20 pm
by jah pat
great tunes

Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 11:25 pm
by jah pat
WheelchairPrince wrote:Good read, is there a tracklist for the joy orbison mix?
http://nopaininpop.com/2009/06/that-doldrum-joy-sound/
Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 11:52 pm
by tranquera
Hummm... It's a nice blog post again by Martin... And... This is a nice discussion too...
Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 12:19 am
by jah wobble
there's something else that reminds me of something else. that something else could remind someone of something else...
call it what you want. good music can't be denied. joy orbison happens to make very good music.
Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 12:21 am
by wheelchairprince
Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 12:35 am
by dubstee
dq wrote:the best producers outside the UK are still taking their cues from london.
3 years out of date
Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 12:47 am
by seckle
Blackdown wrote:seckle wrote:mr. Clark,
heavy read, and will reply to the discussion on the blog. one thing though, can you give me examples of "elements of feminine pressure". i want to make sure what exactly that means to you.
cheers matey.
Mr S. Ekkle,
Feminine pressure is a simon reynolds term. the use and mis-use of female vocals runs through the hardcore continuum, from todd edwards to foul play to burial and now funky.
now on one hand you could say that female vocals are just like any other instrument or sonic choice, but they have a particular role in the nuum, such that they disappear when stuff get's too metally/blokey they disappear ie wobble, techstep etc.
personally i mostly tune out when stuff gets ultra diva-y too, with a few exceptions (some of the best r&b records for example, or Inner City Life) so to me there's often a perfect middle ground of 'feminine pressure' between it being to diva and to macho. Burial "Archangel" is a pretty good example of this. i hope that record has some fans here!
Cheers blackdown. clear now.
Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 12:54 am
by set records
dq wrote:DJ Whistla wrote:"The Split" has made the disposessed that found dubstep disposossed again. And in that way what we are seeing is people going either back to there previous flavour of music with a "post-dubstep" aestetic, or finding another pre-existing genre and taking the aestetic there. Eaxmple of this can be seen with some of Funky/Dubstep crossover djs you mention.
This is very well put and pretty close to where I'm at in thinking about the interesting crossroads dubstep is at now. To contradict my earlier post about the centrality of London to the forward momentum of (post-)dubstep music, it is interesting to note how my earliest impression of UK funky was that it sounded like an imitation of US deep house. But as I have heard more and as it has rapidly evolved, I'm now completely excited by how the influence and slower tempo of funky has breathed new life into dubstep as it was headed down a depressing dead end street. Unfortunately that dead end street (bpm's pushing 150 and heavy metal wobble) is still what most of the dubstep scenes worldwide still look like, and that's why I think London is still the main epicenter of musical ideas and progression in dubstep, if it still deserves to be called that.
I didn't see anyone complaining when Distance dropped metal wubstep grinding shit at Dubwar, at least not in the video. Also when writing for a publication, punctuation and proper spelling are in order imo... tend to agree that it's good people are bending genre's and whatnot, but this need to classify "Funky" as it's own genre altogether is a bit much in my estimation. I guess I started out feeling the same way, imitating American house... just never left that position.
More or less I agree with the "post genre" sentiment that Human? is on about. I also agree that the brutally aggro 150 stuff is pretty waste for my needs.