Recently checked this out, and Lifted is FUCKING FATNESS.
Old news I'm sure, but I always lag behind scenes a little.
― chap, Friday, 18 July 2008 23:59 (fifteen years ago) link
Woah Ramadanman's "Blimey"! Percussive biz. Check http://www.juno.co.uk/products/313302-01.htm"> http://www.juno.co.uk/products/313302-01.htm.
For the billionth time I must wonder why dubstep spent so many years actively avoiding making tracks like these.
Also been enjoying Quest & Silkie's late June Rinse FM show.
― Tim F, Monday, 21 July 2008 10:54 (fifteen years ago) link
i love blimey. the first time i heard it was in fabric in march at 11am or some ungodly hour, pitched down to -6 or whatever by villalobos. the looks on people's faces were priceless.
― resolved, Monday, 21 July 2008 17:30 (fifteen years ago) link
the old MAH Dubstep Wars show from early 2006 got a repeat last night and is listenagainable:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/maryannehobbs/
ahead of next week when they do it again with people chosen by the people who played the first one.
― koogs, Wednesday, 13 August 2008 15:28 (fifteen years ago) link
I'm actually tired of dubstep now. Too many white kids.
― VeronaInTheClub, Wednesday, 13 August 2008 15:33 (fifteen years ago) link
oh fuck off
― I know, right?, Wednesday, 13 August 2008 16:14 (fifteen years ago) link
Should be followed by btw, I'm white.
― Neil S, Wednesday, 13 August 2008 16:15 (fifteen years ago) link
No okay, maybe the last comment was a little...but there are far too many middle class kids who have 'suddenly discovered this fresh new genre' and they tend to be white. I'm also tired of dubstep because my partner is a mainly dubstep musician and its all he plays. GRRR.
― VeronaInTheClub, Wednesday, 13 August 2008 16:20 (fifteen years ago) link
should be followed by btw, I'm middle class
― I know, right?, Wednesday, 13 August 2008 16:21 (fifteen years ago) link
Dom is a dubstep musician? Wow
― DJ Mencap, Wednesday, 13 August 2008 16:23 (fifteen years ago) link
HAHAHAHA
― VeronaInTheClub, Wednesday, 13 August 2008 16:24 (fifteen years ago) link
I must say 'Blimey' is really doing it for me lately, I thank Tim for the recommendation. BTW I'm white and middle class.
― mehlt, Wednesday, 13 August 2008 19:47 (fifteen years ago) link
yeah 'blimey' is pretty cool. ramadanman is like one of the best producer names ever though right? it's like those muslim dj names my (muslim) friend sara was making everyone think up (u know, eg quran quran, niqabaret voltaire, jihaddaway, halal cool j &c) except actually real.
i'm not white btw!
― lex pretend, Wednesday, 13 August 2008 21:02 (fifteen years ago) link
I tend to think dubstep is at its best and worst ever in 2008. Producers like Quest, Silkie, Ramadanman, Martyn, 2562, Peverelist, Forsaken, Shackleton and Untold are all making quality tunes. It's just they're surrounded by a larger glut of crap wobble than before.
Still, this strikes me as a better situation than c. 2005 where I'd like maybe 5 dubstep tunes tops (hmm - let's see: "Midnite Request Line", "Neverland", "Qawwali", "Broken Home"... I can't even think of a 5th track off the top of my head!). Yes, this is mostly due to the fact that there were just less producers around back then, but it's still hard for me to understand the tendency for dubstep fans to pine nostalgically for this era of privation and scarcity.
― Tim F, Wednesday, 13 August 2008 23:25 (fifteen years ago) link
Also possible they just like Digital Mystikz a lot.
― Alex in SF, Wednesday, 13 August 2008 23:29 (fifteen years ago) link
I really don't understand how anyone could possibly need more than about 3 Loefah or Coki tracks in their lives.
― Tim F, Thursday, 14 August 2008 00:24 (fifteen years ago) link
Personally, I get bored after 16 bars.
Indeed all attempts at getting into dubstep prior to may 07 (i.e. seeing Kode 9 live) failed on account of just being exposed to Digital Mystiks / Benga type blocky zzzzzzz music. . . Still don't find anything remotely interesting about it and I could give a shit about people who want to keep things one big wobble-fest, but when I listen to say, Appleblim's recent mixes etc. I find it genuinely exciting.
― mehlt, Thursday, 14 August 2008 00:53 (fifteen years ago) link
zomby ftw
― gregory first world, Thursday, 14 August 2008 01:13 (fifteen years ago) link
the more i hear of dubstep that sounds like it's made by huge Basic Channel fans, the more i like it.
not that this is BC influenced, but i really love this track by http://www.myspace.com/subeena, "Minor", i heard on some Mary Anne Hobbs show. not even sure if it's dubstep, but i want to hear more stuff like this. her other tracks are pretty nice, too.
― rockapads, Thursday, 14 August 2008 02:42 (fifteen years ago) link
i hope it's not frowned on to link myspace pages here...
just realized i used the i tag instead of url. i'm just fuckin up left and right. Subeena is the artist, if that isn't apparent.
― rockapads, Thursday, 14 August 2008 03:35 (fifteen years ago) link
Add me to the huddled mass mumbling that I didn't initially get the whole early detour things seem to have taken in the 2005 era, although I've recently gotten more into things. I think I had a token few I liked, but kind of remained ignorant of the scene at large. Now I've been trying to go back and read through the Martin Clark dubstep articles on pfm and read old blog entries.
Anyone have any opinions on the Dusk + Blackdown album? I listened to some of it after seeing the video <a href="http://www.vimeo.com/1467214">here</a> and am kind of intrigued. Like the blackdown mixes off his blog.
― mh, Thursday, 14 August 2008 03:59 (fifteen years ago) link
..and I just completely failed to hit the "simple html to bbcode" button, sorry about that
― mh, Thursday, 14 August 2008 04:00 (fifteen years ago) link
"I really don't understand how anyone could possibly need more than about 3 Loefah or Coki tracks in their lives."
Me neither, but I don't think we represent a majority of dubstep fans.
― Alex in SF, Thursday, 14 August 2008 17:51 (fifteen years ago) link
No that's right, but nor do the people moaning about how dubstep has fallen off either. Being obsessed with Loefah but resenting Caspa strikes me as major case of narcissism of small differences.
Kinda like saying: "Jonny L's "Piper" and Ed Rush & Optical's Wormhole - THAT was the golden age of drum & bass. It all went to shit when Bad Company came along."
Of course, I do read interviews with d&b producers where they say exactly that, and talk about bringing back the "spirit of '98".
― Tim F, Thursday, 14 August 2008 23:15 (fifteen years ago) link
mmm, pangaea's 'router' is just gorgeous: http://www.myspace.com/journeytopangaea
― lex pretend, Sunday, 5 October 2008 22:33 (fifteen years ago) link
Shackleton's new stuff is amazing.
― Sven Hassel Schmuck, Sunday, 5 October 2008 23:03 (fifteen years ago) link
New Headhunter mining that techno-dubstep crossover territory and producing some diamonds.
― jim, Monday, 13 October 2008 14:29 (fifteen years ago) link
Must listen to some of the new Headhunter stuff.
New Shackleton EP is indeed a doozy. Very nice stuff.
RSD - Speeka Box: Makes use of one of the prettiest/catchiest loops I've heard in a day or two, sounds really nice. And normally I hate wobble bass, but I really want to hear this played live and revel in the hugeness of this track.
― Their time's limited, hard rocks, too (mehlt), Sunday, 19 October 2008 05:02 (fifteen years ago) link
Destroy: Everything I heard yesterday that was linked from a page I was looking at.
Apparently there are a few Burial-derivatives now that jack the way he fades vocal samples with melancholy loops. The other great one was refixes of classic dub where they just add a really generic bass wobble loop through the whole thing!
― mh, Monday, 20 October 2008 17:49 (fifteen years ago) link
New Quest and Silkie singles on Deep Medi = ace ace ace. Especially Silkie's "Sky's The Limit", which reminds me of Zed Bias circa 2001 at his best. I do like how these guys are managing to plot course which avoids simply drifting towards dub-techno or just bringing back (even very good) 2-step percussion, but rather magically turns Benga/Loefah/Coki style beats into something actually good, interesting and energising.
― Tim F, Sunday, 26 October 2008 00:49 (fifteen years ago) link
Speaking (even disparagingly so) of Loefah, it's been forever since he had a record out.
― what U cry 4 (jim), Sunday, 26 October 2008 01:03 (fifteen years ago) link
I'm liking the Finnish stuff (Clouds, Tes La Rok) quite a bit ("Elders" in particular is awesome.) Haven't heard the new Deep Medi stuff, but I generally like both Quest and Silkie. New Hyperdub things, I wasn't spun on the Dabrye/Flying Lotus remixes of King Midas Sound, but I'm excited for the new album none-the-less. Ikonika seems to be more of the same.
Has anyone head the Zomby-back to 92 rave thing?
― Alex in SF, Sunday, 26 October 2008 02:45 (fifteen years ago) link
RSD has also been on fire lately.
― Alex in SF, Sunday, 26 October 2008 02:48 (fifteen years ago) link
Rob Smith is the bomb. That being said, the stuff on his MySpace really just sounds pretty much like his old dub & D&B stuff, doesn't it?
― factcheckr, Sunday, 26 October 2008 23:30 (fifteen years ago) link
is that zomby thing like old hardcore or something?
― titchyschneiderMk2, Sunday, 26 October 2008 23:34 (fifteen years ago) link
hes got a old school hardcore album coming on werk in november and a 7 tracker of bleepy stuff on hyperdub
― jon b (bass), Sunday, 26 October 2008 23:39 (fifteen years ago) link
The new Shackleton stuff is astonishing.
But it ain't Dubstep.
― Sven Hassel Schmuck, Sunday, 26 October 2008 23:51 (fifteen years ago) link
Okay, my favourite dubstep trackz this year (in no particular order):
Peverelist - Infinity Is NowSilkie - Sky's The LimitQuest - Deep InsideSully - Give Me UpDigitial Mystikz - Shake Out Your DemonsPangaea - RouterRamadanman - BlimeyMartyn - VelvetGeiom - Reminiscin' (Dubplate Version)Patti Blingh - Brother: The Point (2562 Remix)
Good stuff!
― Tim F, Sunday, 9 November 2008 04:42 (fifteen years ago) link
Allowing more than one track by any artist, I'd add Pangea's "You and I", Martyn's "All I Have Is Memories", Silkie's "I Sed" and Quest's "The Seafront". I'm kinda mentally discounting Shackleton but "Death Is Not Final" and his remix of Villalobos were both ace.
― Tim F, Sunday, 9 November 2008 04:48 (fifteen years ago) link
did you ever listen to the geiom album?
― moonship journey to baja, Sunday, 9 November 2008 04:49 (fifteen years ago) link
The first one? Yeah. It's good! Although I like that version of "Reminiscin" more than anything on it, I think. He works well with vocals.
― Tim F, Sunday, 9 November 2008 04:51 (fifteen years ago) link
sad to see nothing on your list's been compiled yet ... i'm too old to chase down vinyl/mp3s
how about round black ghosts
― moonship journey to baja, Sunday, 9 November 2008 04:53 (fifteen years ago) link
i mean "island noise"
― moonship journey to baja, Sunday, 9 November 2008 04:55 (fifteen years ago) link
"Infinity Is Now" and "Reminiscin' (Dubplate Version)" or both on the last Dubstep Allstars mix of course, and I believe Deep Medi Musik (Quest, Silkie, poss. the DM track) are putting out a comp or mix-cd later this month! Surely Hessle Audio (Pangaea, Ramadanman) can't be far behind.
― Tim F, Sunday, 9 November 2008 05:12 (fifteen years ago) link
That DM track is on Disfigured Dubz, I think.
Has anyone heard the Zomby "Rave" album?
― Alex in SF, Sunday, 9 November 2008 05:19 (fifteen years ago) link
My favorite Geiom track is that one with the Khalid vocal.
― Alex in SF, Sunday, 9 November 2008 05:20 (fifteen years ago) link
I guess I asked about the Zomby album above, but now it's actually out hah!
― Alex in SF, Sunday, 9 November 2008 05:22 (fifteen years ago) link
well, everyone's heard "infinity is now" and "reminissin" by now, right?
i liked the appleblim disc a lot but i couldn't help thinking it was redundant after gutterbreakz' "echospace odyssey" mix.
i don't think there's been much fresh since then ... things like "steppa's delight" and "i love dubstep" and the recent rinse mixes seem like rehash / repackaging for a growing audience
― moonship journey to baja, Sunday, 9 November 2008 05:31 (fifteen years ago) link
"That DM track is on Disfigured Dubz, I think."
yeah it is, but you could imagine it being used to fill out a deep medi comp. I can't find the tracklisting yet.
"i liked the appleblim disc a lot but i couldn't help thinking it was redundant after gutterbreakz' "echospace odyssey" mix."
I felt the same way, but in relation to other mixes I'd heard (not heard the gutterbreakz mix). I actually preferred the RA set Appleblim did - spacier and wider-ranging.
"Circling" (while a good track) is, I think, a telling example of the dub-techno influence basically crowding out all the other things that the music could be doing. I felt the same way about Pinch's (also good, but...) "136 Trek" and (disappointingly) much of the 2562 album.
Most of the tracks (see e.g. "Blimey", "All I Have Is Memories") I've listed above are in the same general vein but retain that crucial rhythmic perspicacity, sometimes managing to push it into that outer-reaches-of-funk territory that Horsepower got to with "Pimp Flavours" (meanwhile something like "Router" is basically delectable 2-step programming meets gorgeous deep-dub-house atmospherics) - there's a sense of internal distance from the "dubstep = nu-dub-techno" equation.
Meanwhile as I've said upthread, one thing I like about Quest and Silkie is that they're kind of finding their own path that draws from the best bits of everyone (Mala, Benga-but-good, Zed Bias revivalism and Horsepower revivalism).
― Tim F, Sunday, 9 November 2008 05:52 (fifteen years ago) link