Dubstep becoming too dark and masculine?

d-nile · Post by **d-nile** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 1:23 pm

m9918868 wrote:I don't know what is more disturbing, the continuous flow of darker-than-thou bangers or the fact that putting some extra bass below an r&b hit/reggae classic/ibiza anthem is becoming the only alternative left.

I mean, common, dubstep was about breaking boundaries, no?

POST OF THE YEAR!

elgato · Post by **elgato** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 1:42 pm

m9918868 wrote:I don't know what is more disturbing, the continuous flow of darker-than-thou bangers or the fact that putting some extra bass below an r&b hit/reggae classic/ibiza anthem is becoming the only alternative left.

I mean, common, dubstep was about breaking boundaries, no?

i dont want to be a dick, but this is a little annoying. i dont like most dubstep that i hear now

but...

the darker-than-thou thing is at least 6 months out of date, more like 12. if anything the balance is with silly ravey wobblers nowadays, and a lack of po-face! i cant understand people who are still characterising the scene as dominated by dark meditative halfstep

and in any case, do you really think that refixes are the only other thing happening in the scene?

as i see it, plenty of people in dubstep are still breaking boundaries

blackdown · Post by **blackdown** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 1:49 pm

i think you're getting the wrong end of the stick elegato, this isn't about halfstep per se, but the over dominance of extremely dark agressive wobble/drop contest stuff, compared to the lack of percussive/groove/swung stuff in many sets right now.

ufo over easy · Post by **ufo over easy** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 1:58 pm

people confusing dark with aggressive is such a pet hate

shonky · Post by **shonky** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 2:11 pm

UFO over easy wrote:people confusing dark with aggressive is such a pet hate

Yeah definitely, Burial's got the dark melancholic edge but isn't aggressive at all. Actually he can be quite uplifting on tracks like Versus

scarecrow · Post by **scarecrow** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 2:26 pm

I dont personally attribute Wobbly Basslines and big drops to 'Dark' dubstep, to me it's more to do with feeling, emotion etc, it's a completely different thing, eg: Burial, but I think (most) people think twice about playing that kind of stuff out cos they want to Smack it and get as big a response from the crowd as possible, hence the big wobbly bangers.
Dark doesn't mean masculine, I know there's plenty of ladies who love that shit. It's all music innit?
Although I do think there isn't enough nicey nicey/ladies tunes being made any more, but I suppose I should shut my trap, get in the studio and put my money where my mouth is really shouldn't I? Ahem...... Lol.

the wiggle baron · Post by **the wiggle baron** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 2:48 pm

Id say the wobbles are more rife (and completely different) than "dark" dubstep.

But, as someone who still has no idea what a "VST" is, all I can do is sit back and enjoy the ride!

frebentos · Post by **frebentos** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 2:49 pm

Shonky wrote: Yeah definitely, Burial's got the dark melancholic edge but isn't aggressive at all. Actually he can be quite uplifting on tracks like Versus

I like hard wobbly tunes as well, but I also like dark, atmospheric stuff, music that chills you to the bone, and those type of tracks are not aggressive...

I find it quite dissapointing that DJ's will think twice before playing this type of stuff at a club. Theres a lot of mellower, atmospheric dubstep/2step tunes I listen to in my house that I would love to hear on a proper system, but DJ's wont play it because they dont want to lose the crowd eh...its a shame...

m9918868 · Post by **m9918868** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 2:50 pm

elgato wrote:i dont want to be a dick, but this is a little annoying.

That's ok. I did phrase my opinion problably a tad more provocative than necessary.

elgato wrote:i dont like most dubstep that i hear now but...the darker-than-thou thing is at least 6 months out of date, more like 12. if anything the balance is with silly ravey wobblers nowadays, and a lack of po-face! i cant understand people who are still characterising the scene as dominated by dark meditative halfstep

and in any case, do you really think that refixes are the only other thing happening in the scene?

as i see it, plenty of people in dubstep are still breaking boundaries

I know there is more out there than just an angry wobble or a cheecky refix. Still, it's annoying me how much and especially how fast dubstep is loosing its subtlety and inventiveness. It's a bit silly to claim dubstep as a non-formulaic genre when the formula is clearly kicking in. It's a pity, because this formula surely isn't the most interesting one.

Oh and about the darkness. I am all for music that explores all possible emotions, but who on earth decided that it always should be dark? I, for one, would love to hear some bright dubstep.

darkside · Post by **darkside** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 2:59 pm

The darker the better!

I love the angry dubstep!

shonky · Post by **shonky** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 3:12 pm

m9918868 wrote:Still, it's annoying me how much and especially how fast dubstep is loosing its subtlety and inventiveness. It's a bit silly to claim dubstep as a non-formulaic genre when the formula is clearly kicking in. It's a pity, because this formula surely isn't the most interesting one.

Innit mate

darkmatter · Post by **darkmatter** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 3:13 pm

UFO over easy wrote:people confusing dark with aggressive is such a pet hate

true man, same thing happens in dnb. boring.

phazeman · Post by **phazeman** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 3:20 pm

LEQ wrote:Seek and ye shall find. Loads of tunes that have that 'summer vibes 'feeling round at the mo, Le Cosa Nostra by $shy/Afterdark (?) is one that springs to mind.

By toxin actually but AFTERDARK still....In my opinion...you need somethin to dance to when you go out...not jus sway about to like a ketamine head.....But...thats my opinion....
REMEMBER....Things evolve...its a natural progression
PEACE

scarecrow · Post by **scarecrow** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 3:23 pm

Shonky wrote:
m9918868 wrote:Still, it's annoying me how much and especially how fast dubstep is loosing its subtlety and inventiveness. It's a bit silly to claim dubstep as a non-formulaic genre when the formula is clearly kicking in. It's a pity, because this formula surely isn't the most interesting one.
Innit mate

Very good point. When I got into this music, it was so unbelievably open, creatively speaking. I read a review of Toasty Boy's Knowledge recently on Juno or somewhere (mp3 dl bizniz), and it said something about 'before the ink dried on the Dubstep schematic'.... I like to think that the ink is still wet, ahem, you get what I mean.

d-nile · Post by **d-nile** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 3:25 pm

The writing was on the wall about a year ago - the problem is that because a lot of the crowds respond to familiar tunes and a lot of the 'big' djs are playing a very similar type of 'impact' track - warm up/local djs are under pressure to not lose the floor and play 'what the people want/know'... so this probably leads to everyone rinsing a similar sound...

The deep stuff is being made - it's just not being played!

It's really hard to play a deep set when you know that someone like N-Type is gonna come on after and smash with 50 new dubplates from the scenes elite... having said that I guess the point of a warm up is to prepare the crowd for the main assault of the guest DJ...

Is there a thread on deep producers on the forum? Could do with checking some of that out!

metalboxproducts · Post by **metalboxproducts** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 3:32 pm

I like to use the horror film analogy. The best horror films tend to be the one's that aren't gory. They tend to rely more on psychological tricks to scare us.

blackdown · Post by **blackdown** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 3:42 pm

We've seen this cycle before with jungle/d&b and we simply can't make the same mistakes again.

If you're a big DJ instead of feeling the need to smash it all the time, why not take the odd risk ... that's the advantage of bass weight: people will stay with you.

dj phonetic · Post by **dj phonetic** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 3:46 pm

Blackdown wrote:We've seen this cycle before with jungle/d&b and we simply can't make the same mistakes again.

If you're a big DJ instead of feeling the need to smash it all the time, why not take the odd risk ... that's the advantage of bass weight: people will stay with you.

2nd

Its about the drop nowadays not about the meditation... Allthough there are a lot of good guys still playing the dubstep i like...

shonky · Post by **shonky** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 3:51 pm

dj phonetic wrote:
Blackdown wrote:We've seen this cycle before with jungle/d&b and we simply can't make the same mistakes again.

If you're a big DJ instead of feeling the need to smash it all the time, why not take the odd risk ... that's the advantage of bass weight: people will stay with you.
2nd

Its about the drop nowadays not about the meditation... Allthough there are a lot of good guys still playing the dubstep i like...

To be honest the meditation can fuck off'n'all - it's a club not a temple. I'm actually finding the bass weight a bit boring now as there seem to be loads of tunes which really don't have anything else going for them - is it still that much of a novelty people?

metalboxproducts · Post by **metalboxproducts** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 3:57 pm

Shonky wrote:
dj phonetic wrote:
Blackdown wrote:We've seen this cycle before with jungle/d&b and we simply can't make the same mistakes again.

If you're a big DJ instead of feeling the need to smash it all the time, why not take the odd risk ... that's the advantage of bass weight: people will stay with you.
2nd

Its about the drop nowadays not about the meditation... Allthough there are a lot of good guys still playing the dubstep i like...
To be honest the meditation can fuck off'n'all - it's a club not a temple. I'm actually finding the bass weight a bit boring now as there seem to be loads of tunes which really don't have anything else going for them - is it still that much of a novelty people?

hahaha. You don't really like dubstep do you.

Dubstep becoming too dark and masculine?

TOO DARK MY ARSE!

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