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SideSteppa wrote: Where has the innovation gone? There are cries of anger at a dubstep sample CD being released (people say that dubstep's all about expression, individuality etc..) but THE reason a dubstep sample CD has been released is that most the big names are constantly referring to their earlier pieces with no progression so the sample CD compilers can easy pick a few cliches out of the Rinse FM DJ sets and throw them together to make a sample pack.

Some of the big names move on, some don't. I have noticed a certain saminess over the last year, but then that appears to be split into moody halfstep, reggae-based halfstep, and wobbler. There's still plenty of people doing something different, but those three seem to dominate at the moment. I've heard too much of all three that it needs to be pretty outstanding now to stand out from what's gone before, so ultimately things will either stagnate or some people will take a different path and keep it fresh (or both).

SideSteppa wrote:Even people trying to be individual are looking to the past all the time 'dubstep with a techno edge' or 'dubstep with a 2step beat', no one is trying to do something new just rehashing ideas, this makes for okay music but not an innovative, exciting or lively scene.

And what sort of new were we proposing - I love Boxcutter's stuff and he's an incredible producer, but at the same time you could say that he's taking the dub science from Lee Perry, the drillcore antics of Squarepusher, and the ambient sounds of FSOL - all of which are at least ten years old. So hardly new is it.

What makes it sound new is the combination, so surely allowing 2 step and techno or whatever influences in is a good thing. The 2 step influence in dubstep mostly disappeared due to disinterest from the garage scene and apart from Burial and TRG (and a few others) hasn't really been heard greatly since. I've noticed playing to non-dubstep crowds that the garage stuff goes down best and the halfstep's seen as a bit dull (and was playing what I thought to be the crowdpleasers)

Shonky wrote:

SideSteppa wrote: I've noticed playing to non-dubstep crowds that the garage stuff goes down best and the halfstep's seen as a bit dull (and was playing what I thought to be the crowdpleasers)

ive noticed this too, its a bit weird. Im all for it though, 2 step makes for a much livelier rave!

all the "crowdpleasers" have been played to death now anyway, i dont need to hear "I" for a long time, so overplayed

Yeah was listening to "In Fine Style" last night and realised how good the tunes are as straight up dance tunes in a way that a lot of modern dubstep doesn't seem to be.

Then again, Ghost and Horsepower are supposed to be back on the scene pretty soon, so things may change. El-b got some suave summer tunes that need to be dropped when summer actually gets here (and he's got a release soon I think)

Shonky wrote:Yeah was listening to "In Fine Style" last night and realised how good the tunes are as straight up dance tunes in a way that a lot of modern dubstep doesn't seem to be.

Then again, Ghost and Horsepower are supposed to be back on the scene pretty soon, so things may change. El-b got some suave summer tunes that need to be dropped when summer actually gets here (and he's got a release soon I think)

its been talked about for ages but is it actually gonna happen? especially the ghost thing.

Bob Crunkhouse wrote:

Shonky wrote:Yeah was listening to "In Fine Style" last night and realised how good the tunes are as straight up dance tunes in a way that a lot of modern dubstep doesn't seem to be.

Then again, Ghost and Horsepower are supposed to be back on the scene pretty soon, so things may change. El-b got some suave summer tunes that need to be dropped when summer actually gets here (and he's got a release soon I think)

its been talked about for ages but is it actually gonna happen? especially the ghost thing.

Hope so!

Re drama: it's always better to support the good stuff than to whinge about the bad stuff. Noone ever stops listening to something because someone on a forum told them it's causing the scene to stagnate, they just get pissed off and argue.