Mainstream Pop's First Attempt at Dubstep

Prepare to hear this for the next four months...

More than just WOMP

Bacon. Related enough.

Dubstep has the reputation—especially in the United States—of being a genre all about devastating bass that sometimes sounds like whales mating, other times sounds like grinding chainsaws, and still other times just sounds like a migraine waiting to happen. However, to reduce the genre to this would be entirely unfair. Although represented more prevalently in Europe, dubstep usually incorporates stuttering, off-kilter rhythms, groovy synthesized lines that reflect UK garage and funky influences, and more explicit dub vibes. You might say that it's the difference between dubstep and brostep, although that comes off fallaciously as sophistication versus novelty, which is not always the case. I will likely put together some kind of longer feature on the difference between dubstep and brostep in the near future, but for now, enjoy some tunes that are about more than just WOMP and WUBWUBWUB.

Also, a side note: if you haven't already, do yourself a favor and get Desto's discography. Dude's the absolute truth.

Desto: Broken Memory

501: Back Up

Fine Cut Bodies: Beaver Blink (Ooah Remix)

Stenchman: Part 1

[video: vaguely related]

This guy knows how to wobble and wobble with conviction. Stenchman brings a unique wobble bass to the bro/dubstep (I can't tell which he is yet) genre. The following are dangerously unclean cuts. The wobble bass on these four is some of the grimiest, wide-wobbling I have ever heard. I'll stop not making sense and come to your own conclusion. Look for another post concerning Stenchman very soon.

His name is Stenchman for christ's sake. Oh, and Swine--the last one is for you.

Burial: "Archangel" (Stenchman Remix)

Phoenix: "Lisztomania" (Stenchman Remix)

Stenchman: "Overtaker"

Stenchman: "Prime Time Swine"

Big thanks to www.likedubstep.com for sharing these.

dw|tb

Insane in the Brain

Sure, in terms of musicality, so-called brostep may be a total gimmick, but I don't think anyone can resist a good drop. So here's a handful of some of the most mental drops I've come across. Likely, this is just part one of many, but for now, four tracks will have to suffice.

Ready. Set. Rage.

Plan B: Love Goes Down (Doctor P Remix)

Noisia: Alpha Centauri (Excision and Datsik Remix)

Netsky: Iron Heart

J. Rabbit: I'm So Happy

B-A-N-A-N-A-Z

For normal people, Christmas is about family and giving thanks and presents and food and all that lovey-dovey bullshit. For me, Christmas 2010 is about one thing and one thing only: The Fall. On Saturday, Damon Albarn and the Gorillaz will be releasing their so-called "iPad album" on their website. (It's only available to stream for non-fan club members, but fuck knows it will be all over the Interwebz minutes after it's put up.) Comprised exclusively of songs written and recorded during the Gorillaz American tour, The Fall is a separate entity entirely from Plastic Beach; however, the LP is sure to have ample noodlings of Albarn on synthesizers, a direction hinted on Demon Days cuts like "Dare," developed further throughout PB, and continued on "Doncamatic (All Played Out)," the only track we've heard since Plastic Beach's release this past March.

It's this "Doncamatic" track that's likely to offer the most accurate hints in terms of what kinds of sounds will be populating The Fall. Although the original version of "Doncamatic" is stellar in its own right, the Joker remix found on the single release puts a purple spin on the tune. Let this one hold you over until Christmas morning, kiddies.

Gorillaz: "Doncamatic (Joker Remix)"

Slugs that go bump in the Night

I'm admittedly pretty disillusioned right now after having experienced and been disappointed by my first live dubstep gig this past weekend in Atlanta (more on that later), but as long as there's labels like Night Slugs around, there's still hope for the movement—no matter how many raving, MDMA-maddened bros there are to dilute the solution. With a roster consisting of Jam City, Girl Unit, Egyptrixx, Velour, and Kingdom among others, NS has been unbelievably consistent in releasing one quality record after another. And did I mention that NS released a roster-spanning compilation at the end of last month? With head-spinning tunes from track one to track thirteen, the compilation could've very well been a five-year retrospective, but Night Slugs have only been at it for one year. Along with the Hyperdub, DMZ, and Circus, it's no stretch to categorize NS up there with the trailblazers of the genre—if not sprinting ahead of them tauntingly with its innovative mix of dub, electro, glitch, IDM, and UK garage.

Perhaps this is the label's biggest compliment, however: if you played me twenty dubstep tracks and asked me to pick out the Night Slugs releases, I probably could do it. Not because my ear is stellar or because I'm all-knowing or anything like that, but rather because there's a certain sheen to everything NS puts out. From the Day-Glo color palette employed in the album art to the meticulous mastering that ensures precise kicks and delightful sound separation, Night Slugs makes it perfectly clear that they mean business and aren't going anywhere any time soon.

Endgame + Velour + Girl Unit + Kingdom=

http://nightslugs.net/

Twitter Live Report: Dub the Halls

A break from grind gives the both of us time to reimmerse ourselves in the blogosphere. Within the hour, I will make the arduous journey down to Atlanta for The Masquerade's Dub the Halls show, braving the snow and sleet for this meeting of the dub gods on our side of the pond. Throughout the gig, I will be tweeting pictures and updates @muzjikssteven.

Blue Foundation: Eyes on Fire (Zeds Dead Remix)

J. Rabbit: Ninja Gaiden

Nero: Innocence

SWiNE

All I Want for Christmas is Filth

All I Want for Christmas is Filth by derphead

[Untiitilated]

"Where Burial finds romance in the darkest night, Salem’s dubstep-drenched electro exists in a world of prostitution, violence and abuse, employing bizarre half-tempo rap sections that growl like burst exhausts."

So we're pretty into dubstep around here, but what Salem brings is almost sacrificial, sacrilegious dubstep--you immediatley know whose violenlty distorted bass is blaring through the speakers and you shiver. Let's see what happens when they get a hold of one of the Boss' greatest darkly tinged pop tunes. Both are provided for reference and clarity's sake.

edit: my bad, this is "Witch-House"--just for iTunes library. Everyone can breathe now.

Salem: "Streets of Philadelphia"

Bruce Springsteen: "Streets of Philadelphia"

dw|tb

I'd go to the grave before I acted as a cowardly African American

Muzjiks Nation, I'm sorry to inform you that I will be taking a leave of absence... until Friday (see what I did there?). As much as enjoy doing this, it is secondary to school, so I must tend to that first. I hope that you will understand and survive the next few days without me. Until then, consider the following...

– Sugar Glyder Sugar Glyder Sugar Glyder Sugar Glyder Sugar Glyder
– Tiesto (ft. Jónsi): Kaleidoscope (ADD Edit) [alt] | Although the full song is superior, for my upcoming DJ gigs, I figure that I should cut the song down, extracting much of the atmospheric Jónsi falsetto, and get to the meat of it—that is, the absurd drop. After some quick Audacity tweaks, we have what I've called the (musical) ADD edit of the title track to Tiesto's 2009 LP.
– Follow me on the Twitters.
– Acquaint yourself with WALT.
– And take notes on this...

Microcosmic Adventures in La-La Land

How big of a deal is Beyonce Knowles? A really fucking big deal. Sure, you could cite her success with Destiny's Child or her stellar solo debut in 2003 (remember 'Crazy in Love,' 'Me, Myself and I,' and even 'Daddy'?), but for the sake of this post, I'm going to stay fairly recent and focus exclusively on Sasha Fierce—namely, 'Sweet Dreams.'

Dedicated readers of Muzjiks know my stance on mashups. In general, I consider them the lowest form of music, except in cases where the artist takes two or more original pieces of pop music and fuses them to create an entirely new song that challenges our ear to decide whether the original is the predominant version in our mind any longer. Such is the case for The White Panda's 'Stuntin' Like My Energy' and the majority of Girl Talk's output (case in point: 'Here's the Thing'). However, 'Sweet Dreams' has gone above and beyond the mashup treatment, something that just about every top 40 hit of the past four decades has gotten at this point. That is, 'Sweet Dreams' has been sampled, covered, and altogether transformed several times over.

Allow me a brief digression: dubstep godfather Burial has taken such universally recognizable songs as Christina Aguilera's 'Beautiful,' Destiny's Child's 'Emotion,' and Massive Attack's (of House fame) 'Teardop' and completely reworked them into brooding, experiencing-the-inception-of-the-apocalypse-in-the-dark-alley-next-to-a-British-club soundscapes. It is this relative of the mashup culture which I'd argue is the primary progressive force in popular music today—not only is it cognizant and respectful of the past, but it simultaneously pushes pop forward.

Jigga's got the hottest chick in the game wearing his chain, and her 'Sweet Dreams' received the aforementioned Burial-esque treatment. From psych-rockers (and Jaguar promoters) The Big Pink to dubstep behemoth Kingdom to the Great Weezy F, 'Sweet Dreams' has transcended the scope and reach that one could ever imagine a single three-and-a-half-minute song achieving. The Big Pink covered it and made it an atmospheric, drugged-out, introspective anthem of angst and waking-up-the-next-morning-with-the-taste-of-vomit-in-your-mouth-and-a-wholly-unfulfilling-cluelessness-of-who's-asleep-next-to-you. Kingdom offers a glimpse of what happened the night before in the club when that sweet dream hadn't yet morphed into the beautiful nightmare it would become. And Weezy—well, he and heiress to the throne/rapper equivalent of Beyonce Nicki Minaj just command 'Sweet Dreams' and have their way with it on No Ceilings.

Beyonce Knowles' 'Sweet Dreams': a microcosm of where pop is and where it's headed...

The Big Pink: Sweet Dreams (cover) [alt]
Kingdom: Fogs [alt]
Lil Wayne (ft. Nicki Minaj): Sweet Dreams [alt]

EDIT 9/4: It's Beyonce's birthday today. She turns 29. Totally didn't plan that! Weird.

MuzjiksRx (9.3)

Note to patient: Though MDMA is not required to listen to this music, it certainly helps.

Monster! Monster!: Died In Your Arms (Dubstep Remix) [alt]

+

Vitalic: Flashmob [alt]

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Guido: Mad Sax [alt]

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MuzjiksRx (8.28): Second Dose

Side effects: Perspiration, restless leg syndrome, and increased heart rate.

Freestylers: Cracks (Flux Pavilion Remix) [alt]

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Picture Book: Sunshine [alt]

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Ratatat: Drugs [alt]

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Grimy, Filthy Dubstep

Picture completely unrelated.

If you're not already familiar with dubstep, you're missing out. A genre characterized by nasty basslines, crunchy synths, and neck-breaking head nod grooves, there's not a style of music better for testing out that new subwoofer. Perhaps what makes this genre so exciting, however, are the many variants that exist under the "dubstep" umbrella—from the desolate, alleyway house take of Burial to the drugged-out, hip hop fusion slant of Flying Lotus to club banger-meets-slaughterhouse floor style of Joker. Although it's impossible to cover all the bases, I'll try to offer a cross-section of what's out there in the world of dubstep...

Emalkay: When I Look at You [alt]
I don't know about you, but I'm a sucker for drops. There's something carnal about that synth swell that explodes into a clusterfuck of bass and melody. If that description fits you too, then you're in for a treat. Hang in there for about a minute, and then prepare for your speakers to turn inside out.

Joker: Psychedelic Runway [alt]
An example of dubstep with a more distinct groove to it, this is what a UK drug kingpin might roll around town listening to. A little trippy, a lot gangsta, and criminally grimy.

Plan B: She Said (16Bit Remix) [alt]
A sort of sister genre to dubstep is grime, a UK take on hip hop that incorporates dubstep-esque beats with spitfire English emceeing. Here, 16Bit remixes rapper Plan B's "She Said" and takes it to whole other level of intensity.

Hyetal: Pixel Rainbow Sequence [alt]
Incorporating 8-bit samples from the original Donkey Kong and other nostalgic video game favorites, Hyetal offers another dubstep track with a sick buildup and release within the first minute of play. More laid back and less in-your-face than some other dubstep offerings, "Pixel Rainbow Sequence" is nevertheless super nod-worthy.

Flying Lotus: Massage Situation [alt]
Another more laid back track, "Massage Situation" features a soulful female vocal sample over a groove that builds, deconstructs, and rebuilds again. Although considerably less lysergic than, say, FlyLo's 2010 Cosmogramma, this song is nothing to scoff at.

Burial: Archangel [alt]
A dubstep primer would simply be incomplete without a sampling from Burial. Don't expect this to be part of your next party playlist. William Bevan, the man behind Burial, creates haunting soundscapes that are probably the club bangers of the underworld. As a brief aside, I must say that Burial holds a special place in my heart for the sole reason that his music was played as roadies set up Radiohead's equipment before I saw them in 2008. Burial's music is now forever synonymous with anticipation and happiness as the musical interlude to what would become the best night of my life beginning at 8:47 PM when Thom, Jonny, Ed, Colin, and Phil took the stage at Verizon Amphitheater in Charlotte, NC.