It wasn’t too long ago when it seemed like dubstep was in danger of being drowned in the output of enthusiastic but unimaginative tracks that all seemed to be clones of each other: what I called the “Look Mum I can use an LFO” effect: all cheap dancefloor thrills and no substance, about as far from the understated menace of, say, Loefah, as it’s possible to get and still be in the same genre. Living in Sydney I’m a long way from the action, but I think it’s the same old story: people sniff a bit of cash and start churning out “product” rather than really engaging with the music for the love of it.
Happily, dubstep is now evolving rapidly in many different directions. Sure, the crappy generic wobble is still with us, but there’s plenty of new styles cropping up. It’s an exciting time. Bristol, a city that time and again puts itself on the map with a new take on a genre, is leading the way with dubstep-techno crossover, a welcome development – people like Headhunter most obviously. Two-step is back as well, although it tends to be less dancefloor-oriented than it was in its first incarnation, more reflective, following in the footsteps of the inimitable Burial. The Martyn album Great Things is another milestone for dubstep’s maturity.
In terms of new tunes that will mash up the dance, though, any DJ would be silly to sleep on Akira Kiteshi, who have only released one 12″ so far that I know of, Pinball / Noglitch. It’s all about the A-side: a glitchy, Nintendo-inspired track with little J-Pop samples, building up a frenetic energy before a crazy gangster heavy drop out of nowhere, then going nuts with the edits. Mental. Looking forward to more releases … the other stuff on his MySpace sounds good also.
In terms of the underground, there’s a whole next generation of producers ready to take the sound in unexpected new directions. Check out the underground showcase we did – just a small sample of the stuff we’ve been receiving from people from as far as afield as Russia, Norwich, Finland, California and even over here in Sydney.
I need to stop blogging and get back to work but I can’t resist mentioning Starkey’s ‘Gutter Music’ (maybe it’s technically a grime track, but so what – it drops great into a dubstep set) – especially the vocal cut with Durrty Goodz. What a tune!