Please help me understand contemporary dubstep culture!
August 25, 2011 8:03 PM Subscribe
I would like some information about the current state of dubstep.
I would consider myself a huge dubstep fan --it's the most represented genre in my music collection, and I would have thought I was knowledgeable about the genre. Then I saw this fpp and, after some poking around, discovered that Skrillex (who was totally new to me) is extremely popular, and that there are also other dubstep artists out there who are extremely popular that I haven't heard of, eg Deadmau5. My question is: Are they somehow part of a totally different scene than traditional dubstep? (I would consider artists like Benga, Skream, Pinch, Loefah, Vex'd, etc to be "traditional" dubstep). And now I feel out of touch -- what other artists are big in the dubstep scene? Has the genre fractured so much that someone like me, who listens to what I guess is old-school stuff, can be so completely unaware of what's going on?
I would consider myself a huge dubstep fan --it's the most represented genre in my music collection, and I would have thought I was knowledgeable about the genre. Then I saw this fpp and, after some poking around, discovered that Skrillex (who was totally new to me) is extremely popular, and that there are also other dubstep artists out there who are extremely popular that I haven't heard of, eg Deadmau5. My question is: Are they somehow part of a totally different scene than traditional dubstep? (I would consider artists like Benga, Skream, Pinch, Loefah, Vex'd, etc to be "traditional" dubstep). And now I feel out of touch -- what other artists are big in the dubstep scene? Has the genre fractured so much that someone like me, who listens to what I guess is old-school stuff, can be so completely unaware of what's going on?
Best answer: The divide is between the UK/Europe and the U.S..
posted by elektrotechnicus at 8:31 PM on August 25, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by elektrotechnicus at 8:31 PM on August 25, 2011 [2 favorites]
Best answer: I think it's pretty clear that dubstep is a pretty big tent at the current time. Further there seems to be significant drift between the old-school dubstep sound and those artists that seem to be popular in the States.
Skrillex in particularly seems to invoke a massive amount of ire because it's "mid-range cack", he seems to be a bandwagon genre jumper, and because his popularity is pretty significant. Combined with the tendency of his fans to be aggressive "bro" fraternity types this can result in more traditional dubstep artists being neglected as venues seek to chase a lucrative and numerous clientele.
I think ultimately it's a backlash against the commercialization of what was essentially an underground sound and how a formerly exclusive community is being invaded by unwelcome outsiders.
posted by vuron at 8:40 PM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]
Skrillex in particularly seems to invoke a massive amount of ire because it's "mid-range cack", he seems to be a bandwagon genre jumper, and because his popularity is pretty significant. Combined with the tendency of his fans to be aggressive "bro" fraternity types this can result in more traditional dubstep artists being neglected as venues seek to chase a lucrative and numerous clientele.
I think ultimately it's a backlash against the commercialization of what was essentially an underground sound and how a formerly exclusive community is being invaded by unwelcome outsiders.
posted by vuron at 8:40 PM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]
I hardly know anything about dubstep, but it sounds like I've heard more of the mainstreamy stuff than you. The genre seems to have become ridiculously fragmented as it's grown. I can't speak to the cultural divisions within the scene, but it seems that there a bunch of specific styles that are barely related to each other.
The first dubstep artist to get real mainstream attention (at least in the U.S.) was Burial, who combines dubstep and two-step garage. His stuff is very mellow, almost ambient. Sounds like a rainy day in London. There are other artists like that, too.
Then there's this kind of jarring, halting, cut up style with a lot of wobbly bass and vocal samples, e.g. the track in this viral video.
Then there's the Skrillex and Deadmau5 brostep stuff, which just sounds like a glitched up version of trance to me.
Then there's the original old school stuff that you're into, which doesn't sound like any of that. It's very confusing.
It's weird that dubstep seems to contain at least four different sounds, given that usually a new electronic genre is anointed every time someone moves a high hat by a 16th note.
posted by abcde at 9:14 PM on August 25, 2011 [2 favorites]
The first dubstep artist to get real mainstream attention (at least in the U.S.) was Burial, who combines dubstep and two-step garage. His stuff is very mellow, almost ambient. Sounds like a rainy day in London. There are other artists like that, too.
Then there's this kind of jarring, halting, cut up style with a lot of wobbly bass and vocal samples, e.g. the track in this viral video.
Then there's the Skrillex and Deadmau5 brostep stuff, which just sounds like a glitched up version of trance to me.
Then there's the original old school stuff that you're into, which doesn't sound like any of that. It's very confusing.
It's weird that dubstep seems to contain at least four different sounds, given that usually a new electronic genre is anointed every time someone moves a high hat by a 16th note.
posted by abcde at 9:14 PM on August 25, 2011 [2 favorites]
I don't really know what I'm talking about, but:
1) I think part of Skrillex's popularity has to do with his many remixes of pop songs, which will attract a different fan set than people who are very into EDM.
2) I love Bassnectar and he seems to be pretty big; not really sure how he fits into various classifications.
posted by User7 at 10:33 PM on August 25, 2011
1) I think part of Skrillex's popularity has to do with his many remixes of pop songs, which will attract a different fan set than people who are very into EDM.
2) I love Bassnectar and he seems to be pretty big; not really sure how he fits into various classifications.
posted by User7 at 10:33 PM on August 25, 2011
empath answers your question here.
If you'd like to listen to a variety of tracks that are currently populating the genre check this out.
posted by lemuring at 2:27 AM on August 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
If you'd like to listen to a variety of tracks that are currently populating the genre check this out.
posted by lemuring at 2:27 AM on August 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
I'll just say that I wouldn't consider either Skrillex or Deadmau5 to be dubstep, and I say that as a fan of both.
posted by smitt at 8:48 AM on August 26, 2011
posted by smitt at 8:48 AM on August 26, 2011
Best answer: There's been a pretty pronounced split between the midrange wobble noises popularized by rusko, caspa, etc., (traced through to skrillex and the like), and the more introspective, less bombastic stuff. For the latter, here are some guys to check out:
pariah, mount kimbie, 2562, kuedo (jamie from vex'd), guido, silkie, instra:mental.
posted by subtle-t at 9:50 AM on August 26, 2011 [3 favorites]
pariah, mount kimbie, 2562, kuedo (jamie from vex'd), guido, silkie, instra:mental.
posted by subtle-t at 9:50 AM on August 26, 2011 [3 favorites]
also, in terms of the quality of tunes in the the wobble genre currently, I don't think any of the brostep producers can ever hope to match this vex'd track from 2005.
posted by subtle-t at 10:17 AM on August 26, 2011
posted by subtle-t at 10:17 AM on August 26, 2011
Best answer: Deadmau5 isn't usually dubstep. He's really only done a couple of dubstep records. He's mostly trance or electro.
The stuff you're talking about is 'brostep' which is like raved-up dubstep/electro crossover.
posted by empath at 10:25 AM on August 26, 2011
The stuff you're talking about is 'brostep' which is like raved-up dubstep/electro crossover.
posted by empath at 10:25 AM on August 26, 2011
console.fm has a decent dubstep channel that will give you a sense of who currently falls in that part of the venn diagram.
posted by judith at 2:29 PM on August 26, 2011
posted by judith at 2:29 PM on August 26, 2011
Response by poster: Great answers, thanks! I love Kuedo (& everything the Vex'd guys are associated with); Vex'd's Degenerate was my first introduction to dubstep, and Angel is one of my favorite songs of all time. What a bass drop! I listened to more Skrillex, and it seems like a lot of it isn't really dubstep, as was mentioned above - a lot of it sounds like that heavily-compressed French style a la Ed Banger &c.
posted by Frobenius Twist at 3:32 PM on August 27, 2011
posted by Frobenius Twist at 3:32 PM on August 27, 2011
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I think a lot of people wouldn't even recognize Skream or Benga as dubstep nowadays, because it's so different from Skrillex et al.
I don't know much about the actual musical scenes (in England) they belong to, but this is my perspective from here in the USA.
posted by vogon_poet at 8:28 PM on August 25, 2011