the genre known as dubstep - search and destroy

I dont see a lot of action on this thread. Shame, given the sounds bubbling around the edges of dubstep (and grime and funky) right now.

check some of these on our latest Rinse show here:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/tkf9wl

Tracklist here:

http://blackdownsoundboy.blogspot.com/2009/01/haarlem-rinse-and-fabric.html

been listening to a lot of old dubstep shows from 2004/05 lately... i tend to prefer any of those or the grievous angel mixes to things like dubstep all stars, for the most part.

My favourite things of the last few months are:

Jack Sparrow's "For Me" (not into the flip so much though)
Jus Wan's "Action Potential/"Afflectic" 12inch
Scuba's "The Upside (Martyn Remix)"

Very excited for the upcoming Martyn album.. it's released in March, I believe.

how do you keep up to date with dubstep these days? the stuff im interested in isnt the mainstream stuff but i dont know who/what to check anymore for that.

who from the non-mainstream do you like?

mainstream might be the wrong word. but i like the wonkier stuff and the people on hyperdub, and some of the dubstep-not-dubstep artists like ramadanman. i liked some of the beats you played for trim on your show a few months back. thought they were interesting - still bass heavy but not too wobble-ful.

yeah well for stuff like that i'd check our show, Starkey on Sub FM, any mixes Joker does.

The kind of stuff Ramadanman plays is about a lot: see also Appleblim, Pinch, Peverlist in this vein - but i'm sure you know all this.

pretty good quest & silkie set from november in 320, where to find other good quality sets?? so many sets in like 96kbps mono

when is the starkey ft durrty goodz coming, martin? i've worn this mary anne hobbs set of yours down to the kick

the round black ghosts 2 tracklisting is looking predictably boring..

hey lucas
having some minor pressing issues, so as basically as soon as i can get it out the door!
bigup

I've been trying to get into dubstep for a year or so but so far I'm still undecided about this genre although somehow I'm sure this genre has a potential to grab me. I do love some tracks, but only the catchy ones (at least to my ears). The ones that have distinct hooks. For example:

-Burial - Untrue LP
-Martyn - All I Have Is Memories, Natural Selection, Velvet, Twenty Four, Broken
-Shackleton - Death is not Final, Next to Nothing
-Ramadanman - Blimey
-Pangaea - Router

As you can see, the tracks I mentioned have some kind of warmth, which is the opposite of what I don't like about dubstep: coldness. Where do you think I should go from here?

Any love for the Zomby album, "Where were u in 92?"? Some mention of him upthread, but this record is dubstep gone rave, keeping the nasty sub-base and adding a lot of sped-up samples, heavy breakbeats and klaxons. It's really fun, despite being something of a retread. It kind of reminds me of Burial without the coffee table (sorry Burial fans)!

Durrr Durrr, it sounds like you basically like the upbeat, more 2-steppy end of the scene.

Check out Mala's tracks on DMZ, Silkie and Quest's 12 inches on Deep Medi Musik, anything on Hessle Audio, anything by Peverelist, some 2562 and Pinch (though these guys aren't always on 100% of the time).

I haven't been able to download the Silkie and Quest set above, but the December Anti Social mix on Rinse FM has some great new stuff from Silkie like "Concrete Jungle" (check this one!) and "Planet X". I think my favourite on this set though is Heny G's "Delayed Style" (I think this is the title): lush, percussive, and a great eerie build. Very Certificate 18.

The Kromestar remix of Erykah Badu's "On & On" is also gorgeous, though I don't go for Kromestar usually.

that Zomby album is the shit.

thanks, tim. i will check those out.

what's the best 2-steppy dubstep mixes?

have a look for grievous angels abstract 2step mixes

hey dan

there's a lot of older dubstep stuff that's 2steppy. check barefiles for that.

there's some 2step (sully, grievous, trg, D1, pangea, us...) on this podcast too: http://www.xlr8r.com/podcast/2008/08/dusk-blackdown

sully's very under rated imho, "trackside," "jackmans recs" and "the loot remix" are amazing, staples of our sets right now.

Durr--

There's a recent Kode 9 vs. LD (?) 12'' that you might enjoy. It's called "2 Bad".

We seem to have similar taste with regards to dubstep, and Tim made some great suggestions there.

I've also really liked some of the 2008 stuff from D1 (I'm Loving, Joy..)

woohooo, thanks everyone. martin, which set at barefiles would you recommend? there's too many stuff i don't know what to download.

Grievous' Devotional Dubz mix is here, it's amazing: http://www.sendspace.com/file/kep4k0

Kode's Groovetech ones on Barefiles are a good start...

that new kode 9 12 thats coming out - not dubstep exactly i know - is fucking sick.

thanks martin but i can't find any groovetech on barefiles. and devotional dubz is on sendspace which sucks so bad.

I think I'm in love with Martyn

@ dan http://barefiles.com/files.php?q=Kode9 "GT Radio"

Listened to the Dusk + Beatdown mix yesterday and I must say it contains too many grime for my taste. Like the dubstep part though.

this ruffage sessions second birthday mix is probably too garage heavy to be relevant on this thread but it's a lot of fun.

brackles b2b bok bok b2b oneman b2b elgato b2b ben ufo with asbo on mic

recommend me dubstep that's more step than dub, if you know what i mean.

seriously, the devotional dubz mix is you...

Durrr Durrr, download the QUest & Silkie mix that lucas posted above, it's amazing.

I knew about half the tracks already but it's such a relentless set. Simply reaffirms my belief that (the good side of) dubstep is stronger now than it ever was during the so-called golden age.

... a view which you're mostly alone in holding, probably because you dont have to listen to the vast majority of dubstep, either by volume of new "dubs" or in DJ sets in clubs.

Oh yeah that's why I meant "the good side of" - obv the bad side is worse than it's ever been! But yeah I avoid lots of dubstep nights for that very reason.

i think what enabled me to get really into dubstep (over the past 1-2 years) is the number of nights which have sprung up which play stuff from across the entire UKG spectrum.

I'm not aware of such a night over here unfortunately. It's wobble central.

Am listening to "The Roots of Dubstep" and I feel this might be the sound that I've been looking for.

glad you're enjoying it fella. Roots of El-B dropping soon i'm told.

10 minutes into Ramadanman's mix for RA and I say it's amazing.

mainstream might be the wrong word. but i like the wonkier stuff and the people on hyperdub, and some of the dubstep-not-dubstep artists like ramadanman. i liked some of the beats you played for trim on your show a few months back. thought they were interesting - still bass heavy but not too wobble-ful.

― p-noid (titchyschneiderMk2), Tuesday, February 3, 2009 4:33 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark

>>> why do you categorize ramadanman as dubstep-not-dubstep? what other artists would you categorize as that?

??? Where can I find this.

xpost I think what titchy means is that for a long time "dubstep" started to mean pretty much only halfstep material with a big snare hit on the third beat in the bar. Ramadanman's more 2-steppy sound obviously is quite distinct from that.

I wouldn't agree with that characterisation though - it's kind of like saying that 00s d&b producers who use complex breaks rather than just a 2-step beat are "d&b-not-d&b".

Certainly it's correct to say that "typical" dubstep sounds quite different from ramadanman et. al.

you can find it here: http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature-read.aspx?id=1006 . Superb mix. It features Ramadanman's upcoming single, "Humber" which is brilliant! Proper dubstep-techno.

i think the connection between ramadanman and 2step is kinda thing - and i've DJed before him about three times in the last six months. to me his sound is just so much more informed by techno.

and i'm firmly in favour of as diverse rhythms in dubstep as possible: the snare on the third has lmg since become too dominant.

If i understand the first part of your first para correctly then yeah, it's probably as much a techno thing as a 2-step thing - though I'm a huge fan of "Blimey" ideologically as much as for the music itself: the way it gets all of its energy from the drums without needing to add techno signifers like Basic Channel reverb.

As I've said before I feel Quest/Silkie have a bit of an edge for similar reasons: revitalising dubstep without actually having to look to an outside genre like techno in order to do it.

I don't really know if this belongs here, I'm not really deep into dubstep, but the new Mount Kimbie ep is gorgeous. Probably more ambient than dubstep, it's got an amazing atmospheric depth, with eerie, thin detailed rhytms running through it. It sounds like music you suddenly seem to think is there when lost. A+.

Have Mount Kimbie done other stuff like this? I know nothing about him/them, but this one's a definite keeper.

i didnt like that quest and silkie set all thaaat much. maybe its my pc speakers or the fact i was concentrating on work but a lot of it seemed a bit middle of the road/chillout.

Ha titch you think everything I like is middle of the road.

I must try to find more daring, brilliant and intense music to recommend.

you must.

dyou like the joker sets tim? or the new hyperdub releases? the stuff they played on MAHs show last year, though its not really dubstep as such, is still really doing it for me.

I've only heard the samples of mount kimbie EP at juno and it amazed me to no end. Imagine what would happen when I get my hands on the real thing!

where can i get the joker sets, titchy? and what's his most recommended release? particularly the one that you said "dubstep that is actually kinda funky and not joyless" about.

sorry tim, must not post before breakfast. meant to say "i think the connection between ramadanman and 2step is kinda thin".

and yeah, i agree on Blimey, it's a landmark, percussively and in it's restraint.

i like anti social, a lot, i think they've produced at least three stone cold classics - Quest's "Forever" and "Stand" and Silkie's "Horizons" - and there's tons i've not heard. Mala's also playing this Silkie beat that sounds like Starkey's Gutter Music, which needless to say I'm a fan of.

But what I find so farcial about your statement that says that Anti Social make up "the good side of dubstep (which) is stronger now than it ever was during the so-called golden age", is that so much of Anti Social's sound is so dependent on the foundations Mala built in that golden age. that's why he signed them!

Except that Anti Social only take a few of the many aspects that made mala's music so remarkable - the warmth and rollage of say Anti War Dub - but ignore the more staggeringly ground breaking percussive ideas, as found in "Learn" and "Bury the Bwoy." If you want to proclaim Anti Social as the next level you need to recognise the value of the "golden era" too.

--

and @ p-noid: the hyperdub/wonky stuff is a whole different trajectory but is exploding with posibilities rigth now, regardless of whether you want to call it dubstep or not.

Is that Mount Kimbie release available on download anywhere? Sounds great.