Dubstep

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Dubstep
Stylistic origins: 2Step, Dub, Electronic music, Drum and bass
Cultural origins: Late 1990s-Early 2000s South London
Typical instruments: Music sequencer, Turntable, samplers, Drum machines, Personal computer
Mainstream popularity: Small but growing rapidly
Regional scenes
Croydon

Dubstep is a genre of music which takes its name from the largely South London-based dark 2step sound that originally came out of productions by El-B (as part of both Groove Chronicles with Noodles and then the Ghost camp), Zed Bias, Horsepower and Steve Gurley in 1999-2000.[citation needed] Like another garage hybrid, grime, it uses dark sounds, but differs from grime in being largely instrumental. It also predates the evolution of grime by several years[citation needed].

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[edit] Origins and early Dubstep

The term 'dubstep' was coined by Ammunition Promotions[citation needed] and first used on an XLR8R magazine cover that featured Horsepower Productions. It gained full acceptance with the Dubstep Allstars Vol 1 CD (Tempa) mixed by DJ Hatcha. Since 2001, Ammunition have been responsible for a raft of labels like Tempa, Soulja, Road, Vehicle, Shelflife, Texture, Stealth People, Bingo and more - though to date only Soulja, Bingo, Road and Tempa remain active.

[edit] Forward>>

Ammunition also run club Forward>>, originally held at the Velvet Rooms in London's Soho and now running every Friday out of Plastic People in Shoreditch, east London. Founded in 2001, this club was critical in the development of dubstep, providing the first venue devoted to the sound and an environment in which producers could premier new music. Forward>> also ran a radio show on key east London pirate station Rinse FM, hosted by producer/DJ Kode9, owner of the pioneering Hyperdub label. The original Forward>> residents included Hatcha, Youngsta, Kode9, Zed Bias, Oris Jay, Slaughter Mob, Jay Da Flex, Slimzee and others and plus regular guests. The line up of residents have changed over the years to now include Youngsta, Hatcha, Geeneus and Plastician and Crazy D as MC/host. Producers like D1, Skream and Benga make regular appearances.

Forward>> also incubated several other strains of dark garage hybrids, so much so that in the early days of the club the coming together of the three strains was referred to as the "Forward>> sound". One style of early grime, then called '8bar', was played here by DJs like Slimzee (then of Pay As U Go, now part of Rinse FM). This style allowed producers like Croydon's Plasticman and Manchester's Mark One to come through with their own takes on the grime sound. Breakbeat garage ( a darker, breakier sound, see below) was pioneered here. The summer of 2005 saw Forward>> bring grime DJs to the fore of the line up with Roll Deep, Jammer, Geeneus, Newham Generals performing with their respective MCs. June 23, 2006 saw Forward>> move to The End, one of London's top club venues, showing dubstep's rise to prominence.

Forward>> also attracted the attention of Rinse FM DJs, who around 2003 opened up their schedule to dubstep DJs during a time where the traditional garage scene had turned their back on the sound. Rinse FM became a vital lifeline for the sound, strengthening the connection between dubstep and its urban London surroundings, while also allowing the scene to incubate new ideas.

[edit] Dubstep today

Throughout 2003 on Rinse FM and through his sets at Forward>>, DJ Hatcha began pioneering a new direction for dubstep, one that was to finally establish the scene as a distinct and new sound. Playing sets cut to 10" one-off reggae-style dubplates, he drew exclusively from a rich pool of new South London producers - first Benga and Skream, then also Digital Mystikz and Loefah - to pioneer a dark, clipped and minimal new direction in dubstep. The addition of Digital Mystikz to Hatcha sets brought with them an expanded palate of sounds and influences, most prominently reggae and dub, but also strange mystical melodies.

The south London collective Digital Mystikz (Mala and Coki) and Loefah soon came into their own, bringing sound system thinking, dub values, and appreciation of jungle bass weight to the dubstep scene - and with it a new lease on life. After 12"s on Big Apple, they began their own DMZ label, which has released eleven 12"s to date. They also began their night DMZ, held every two months in Brixton, a part of London steeped in reggae history. Showcasing the best in new dubstep talent (such as Skream, N-Type, Scuba, Kode 9, D1, Random Trio, Chef, Joe Nice, DJ Distance, Heny G, Benga, Kromestar, Pinch, DJ Youngsta, Hijak, Distinction, Vex'd, LD and Blackdown) and backed by a massive, sub-bass boosted sound system, the night is currently the benchmark dubstep night worldwide. Only Subloaded, Bristol's dubstep night promoted by DJ Pinch and the Context crew, can compare to DMZ's sound system in weight.

Another key turning point for the scene were the two misnamed 'Grime' compilations put together by Rephlex (assisted by Ammunition). Featuring Plasticman, Mark One and Slaughter Mob on the first volume, and Kode 9, Loefah and Digital Mystikz on the second, it introduced the different flavours to the global electronica audience, the repercussions of which can be seen in current productions and club nights.

2006 saw a massive expansion of interest in the sound. Building on the success of Skream's 2005 grimey anthem 'Midnight Request Line,' the hype around the DMZ night and support from online forums and bloggers, the scene exploded after Radio 1 DJ Mary Anne Hobbs gathered the cream of the scene together for one show, entitled 'Dubstep Warz.' The effect was to create a massive new audience for the scene, both in the UK and worldwide, after years of underground hard graft. 'Dubstep Warz' was so successful that some of the tracks were released on a Planet Mu compilation in October 2006, entitled Warrior Dubz. A successful year for the genre culminated in Burial's self-titled album appearing in many critics' "Best of..." lists for the year, notably The Wire Magazine's Best Album of 2006. Ammunition also released the first retrospective compilation of the 2000-2004 era of dubstep called "The Roots of Dubstep," co-compiled by Ammunition and Blackdown.

In 2006 dubstep producers are increasingly absorbing dub reggae sonic aesthetics - sub bass, reverb and delay - to forge a distinct path away from associate genres like drum & bass, house and breaks. Using different rhythmic patterns like the 2step and halfstep beat patterns (yet deployed in the same tempo range) dubstep can create senses of differing momentum within the same DJ set. At best, dub reggae sonic aesthetics also allow a broad range of new musical influences to be introduced with a sense of coherence.

Digital Mystikz, Random Trio and Kode9 were all featured on the soundtrack for the 2006 sci-fi film Children of Men.

Today Dubstep has evolved from its humble South London origins and infiltrated to places as far reaching as Canada, USA, Japan, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, France, Spain, New Zealand and Australia.

[edit] Breakstep

There is a breakbeat influenced side of garage - originally called breakbeat garage, now more often referred to as 'breakstep.' This sound is not to be confused with dubstep itself, although there is some cross-over between artists.

Breakstep evolved from the 2 step garage sound. Moving away from the more soulful elements of garage, it incorporated downtempo drum & bass style basslines, trading the shuffle of 2 step for a more straight forward breakbeat drum pattern. The breakthrough for this style came in 1999 from DJ Deekline's 'I Don't Smoke' selling 15,000 units on Rat Records until eventually being licenced to EastWest in 2000 and climbing the top 40 UK chart to no.11. Following this came DJ Zinc's '138 Trek,' an experiment with drum & bass production at garage tempo (138 bpm). This instigated a dialog between breaks and garage producers, with Forward>> playing host to Zed Bias and Oris Jay (aka Darqwan). They were mirrored in breaks by producers like DJ Quest, Osmosis and Ed209. Current descendants of these artists include Toasty Boy, Mark One, Search & Destroy, Quiet Storm, DJ Distance, Reza, Blackmass Plastics and Warlock, many of whom are associated with Destructive Recordings or Storming Productions.

[edit] External links

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