Dubstepforum.com

A severe lack of criticism in the dubstep scene

I am speaking as a dubstep dj / producer ( years into it ) and promoter ( hold the only dubstep monthly in my city )... as an " insider ", so to speak.

Let's try to turn this thread into a constructive conversation about the problematic relationship between dubstep and criticism !

It seems there's some kind of unwritten rule on dubstep forums - this unwritten rule is more often than not applied in the real world - : dubstep cannot be criticized ; a dubstep track ( since it is not drum and bass ? since it is so forward and revolutionnary ? ) is by default a good track.

If you don't think so it's simply because you haven't evolved to the next stage of musical consciousness and don't quite understand dubstep : therefore, 1. your judgement is invalid, 2. You're a wasteman.

Praise is automatically given to tracks produced by well known and not-so-well known producers ( Skream, DMZ, Distance, Pinch, Boxcutter, M.R.K. 1, Loefah, D1, Coki, etc... as if they could not produce bad tracks. How many times have you heard or read : " This DMZ / Skream track is shit ! " ? ) to the point where dubsteppers don't need to open their mouths for you to know what they think. This lack of criticism, this " forced positivity " to me is problematic. It seems to me that a lot of dubsteppers, who will not tolerate honest criticism, are blurring the lines between the good, the bad and the ugly, in order to make the ugly and the bad " look good ".

[ Criticism will be directed outwards, towards " less-evolved ", low-brow forms of music, such as drum and bass. ]

Listen carefully to whatever is in the dubstep section of redeye records or BM Soho, and you will agree that within dubstep there are bad tunes - and also REALLY bad ones. What's wrong with saying that there are shit, boring tunes in dubstep ? Dubstep cannot always be " sublime ". I don't care if some dubstep tracks are meant to be " spiritual " or " more intelligent " than tracks from more " dumb " dance music genres, if they are shit and if they bore me I see no reason for me not to say it. But it's as if one could not utter a single word against these particular tracks. Dubstep heads ( as they often interpret criticism of a piece as an attack on dubstep as a whole ) will immediately gang up on whoever has not been crushed under the pressure to say what the others say and dares criticize a piece. On the contrary, these tracks will be over-hyped by zealous dubsteppers, even more so if they are the doing of a well-known producer... at the end of the day, we end up with tons of track reviews which make them appear better than they really are. To me, this kind of criticism is the " death " of criticism.


I want your opinions please.

Have you noticed this lack of criticism ?

What do you make of dubstep coverage in the press ?

A severe lack of criticism in the dubstep scene

I am speaking as a dubstep dj / producer ( years into it ) and promoter ( hold the only dubstep monthly in my city )... as an " insider ", so to speak.

Let's try to turn this thread into a constructive conversation about the problematic relationship between dubstep and criticism !

It seems there's some kind of unwritten rule on dubstep forums - this unwritten rule is more often than not applied in the real world - : dubstep cannot be criticized ; a dubstep track ( since it is not drum and bass ? since it is so forward and revolutionnary ? ) is by default a good track.

If you don't think so it's simply because you haven't evolved to the next stage of musical consciousness and don't quite understand dubstep : therefore, 1. your judgement is invalid, 2. You're a wasteman.

Praise is automatically given to tracks produced by well known and not-so-well known producers ( Skream, DMZ, Distance, Pinch, Boxcutter, M.R.K. 1, Loefah, D1, Coki, etc... as if they could not produce bad tracks. How many times have you heard or read : " This DMZ / Skream track is shit ! " ? ) to the point where dubsteppers don't need to open their mouths for you to know what they think. This lack of criticism, this " forced positivity " to me is problematic. It seems to me that a lot of dubsteppers, who will not tolerate honest criticism, are blurring the lines between the good, the bad and the ugly, in order to make the ugly and the bad " look good ".

[ Criticism will be directed outwards, towards " less-evolved ", low-brow forms of music, such as drum and bass. ]

Listen carefully to whatever is in the dubstep section of redeye records or BM Soho, and you will agree that within dubstep there are bad tunes - and also REALLY bad ones. What's wrong with saying that there are shit, boring tunes in dubstep ? Dubstep cannot always be " sublime ". I don't care if some dubstep tracks are meant to be " spiritual " or " more intelligent " than tracks from more " dumb " dance music genres, if they are shit and if they bore me I see no reason for me not to say it. But it's as if one could not utter a single word against these particular tracks. Dubstep heads ( as they often interpret criticism of a piece as an attack on dubstep as a whole ) will immediately gang up on whoever has not been crushed under the pressure to say what the others say and dares criticize a piece. On the contrary, these tracks will be over-hyped by zealous dubsteppers, even more so if they are the doing of a well-known producer... at the end of the day, we end up with tons of track reviews which make them appear better than they really are. To me, this kind of criticism is the " death " of criticism.


I want your opinions please.

Have you noticed this lack of criticism ?

What do you make of dubstep coverage in the press ?

ramadanman wrote: Interesting reading...i think he has a point.

sek [espionage] wrote:There are pleanty of tunes and producers that I dislike for whatever reason.
...but expressing those thoughts on a public message board does what exactly?

Paulie wrote:

A severe lack of criticism in the dubstep scene

I am speaking as a dubstep dj / producer ( years into it ) and promoter ( hold the only dubstep monthly in my city )... as an " insider ", so to speak.

Let's try to turn this thread into a constructive conversation about the problematic relationship between dubstep and criticism !

It seems there's some kind of unwritten rule on dubstep forums - this unwritten rule is more often than not applied in the real world - : dubstep cannot be criticized ; a dubstep track ( since it is not drum and bass ? since it is so forward and revolutionnary ? ) is by default a good track.

If you don't think so it's simply because you haven't evolved to the next stage of musical consciousness and don't quite understand dubstep : therefore, 1. your judgement is invalid, 2. You're a wasteman.

Praise is automatically given to tracks produced by well known and not-so-well known producers ( Skream, DMZ, Distance, Pinch, Boxcutter, M.R.K. 1, Loefah, D1, Coki, etc... as if they could not produce bad tracks. How many times have you heard or read : " This DMZ / Skream track is shit ! " ? ) to the point where dubsteppers don't need to open their mouths for you to know what they think. This lack of criticism, this " forced positivity " to me is problematic. It seems to me that a lot of dubsteppers, who will not tolerate honest criticism, are blurring the lines between the good, the bad and the ugly, in order to make the ugly and the bad " look good ".

[ Criticism will be directed outwards, towards " less-evolved ", low-brow forms of music, such as drum and bass. ]

Listen carefully to whatever is in the dubstep section of redeye records or BM Soho, and you will agree that within dubstep there are bad tunes - and also REALLY bad ones. What's wrong with saying that there are shit, boring tunes in dubstep ? Dubstep cannot always be " sublime ". I don't care if some dubstep tracks are meant to be " spiritual " or " more intelligent " than tracks from more " dumb " dance music genres, if they are shit and if they bore me I see no reason for me not to say it. But it's as if one could not utter a single word against these particular tracks. Dubstep heads ( as they often interpret criticism of a piece as an attack on dubstep as a whole ) will immediately gang up on whoever has not been crushed under the pressure to say what the others say and dares criticize a piece. On the contrary, these tracks will be over-hyped by zealous dubsteppers, even more so if they are the doing of a well-known producer... at the end of the day, we end up with tons of track reviews which make them appear better than they really are. To me, this kind of criticism is the " death " of criticism.


I want your opinions please.

Have you noticed this lack of criticism ?

What do you make of dubstep coverage in the press ?

This is true, there is a lot of boring music out there, but i'm not naming names!!

Paulie wrote:

A severe lack of criticism in the dubstep scene

I am speaking as a dubstep dj / producer ( years into it ) and promoter ( hold the only dubstep monthly in my city )... as an " insider ", so to speak.

Let's try to turn this thread into a constructive conversation about the problematic relationship between dubstep and criticism !

It seems there's some kind of unwritten rule on dubstep forums - this unwritten rule is more often than not applied in the real world - : dubstep cannot be criticized ; a dubstep track ( since it is not drum and bass ? since it is so forward and revolutionnary ? ) is by default a good track.

If you don't think so it's simply because you haven't evolved to the next stage of musical consciousness and don't quite understand dubstep : therefore, 1. your judgement is invalid, 2. You're a wasteman.

Praise is automatically given to tracks produced by well known and not-so-well known producers ( Skream, DMZ, Distance, Pinch, Boxcutter, M.R.K. 1, Loefah, D1, Coki, etc... as if they could not produce bad tracks. How many times have you heard or read : " This DMZ / Skream track is shit ! " ? ) to the point where dubsteppers don't need to open their mouths for you to know what they think. This lack of criticism, this " forced positivity " to me is problematic. It seems to me that a lot of dubsteppers, who will not tolerate honest criticism, are blurring the lines between the good, the bad and the ugly, in order to make the ugly and the bad " look good ".

[ Criticism will be directed outwards, towards " less-evolved ", low-brow forms of music, such as drum and bass. ]

Listen carefully to whatever is in the dubstep section of redeye records or BM Soho, and you will agree that within dubstep there are bad tunes - and also REALLY bad ones. What's wrong with saying that there are shit, boring tunes in dubstep ? Dubstep cannot always be " sublime ". I don't care if some dubstep tracks are meant to be " spiritual " or " more intelligent " than tracks from more " dumb " dance music genres, if they are shit and if they bore me I see no reason for me not to say it. But it's as if one could not utter a single word against these particular tracks. Dubstep heads ( as they often interpret criticism of a piece as an attack on dubstep as a whole ) will immediately gang up on whoever has not been crushed under the pressure to say what the others say and dares criticize a piece. On the contrary, these tracks will be over-hyped by zealous dubsteppers, even more so if they are the doing of a well-known producer... at the end of the day, we end up with tons of track reviews which make them appear better than they really are. To me, this kind of criticism is the " death " of criticism.


I want your opinions please.

Have you noticed this lack of criticism ?

What do you make of dubstep coverage in the press ?

This is true, there is a lot of boring music out there, but i'm not naming names!!

Paulie wrote:I actually think more hating would be a good thing.

micky wrote:

Paulie wrote:
This is true, there is a lot of boring music out there, but i'm not naming names!!

I suppose that confirms the point of this thread then.

smudge wrote:So what the DOA forum are saying is that if Pendulum produced a tune that the drum and bass community wasn't into, then they would go on the DOA forum and post a thread telling everyone how shit they thought it was?