NPR's take on dubstep....

http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2010/12/30/132447535/the-year-in-music-dubsteps-identity-crisis

My wife heard this on the radio yesterday and forwarded it to me knowing that I listen to certain stuff vaguely defined as "dubstep"... anyway the article is short 'n sweet- - come to find out I've been blissfully unaware of the brostep phenomenon here in the States (thanks WATMM ). Comments are quite entertaining too, I love it how some people get so worked up about whether something is or isn't of a certain genre... On a related note I've pretty much given up trying to sort out the UK bass scene altogether.

looking at that picture makes me not want to like it, but i do

fucking posers

^ lol

crowdstep

brostep depresses me.

check the knockers

Brostep is the reason I don't say I produce/DJ dubstep anymore.

I just say "Bass Music", because brostep usually doesn't actually have any bass.

...and yeah, you can be all "lol genres" and "butthurt" etc etc, but the fact of the matter remains, as a DJ who regularly browses online music retailers for tunes, sub-categorization is very useful to a degree. I just think the time has passed for the "it's all 140bpm, so it's dubstep" attitude, and it's time for people to recognize that these two things are NOT the same genre of music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2En93fR_09w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NqyG4Lbzsc

Both camps of people expecting to see/hear/purchase one of those and receiving the other, will most likely respond with a "what the fuck is this shit?". It's time to come up with a different name for the deep stuff.

yeah i knew something was up when every young person i know couldn't shut the fuck up about "dubsteeeep man!" and "WOMP THIS WOMP THAT"

then i'd play an older dj hatcha or loafah track and they would think it sucked

it's like drumnbass, there's tons of kinds, liquid, dark, etc...

just like trance

and just like rock

GargleStep and SubStep

those are good names

one is definitely for dancers, the other one if for posers

you ever been to a show that plays this shit? rusko, boregore, datsik, excision, bassnectar, skrillex, reid speed.. those are some of the most common names in my area, and pretty much all anyone in my age group ever talks about.

they lumber around on the beat doing the same repetitive motions for hours on end constantly waiting for the bass drops while the mix never leaves one tempo. the bass always sounds the same to me.

come to think of it all the people i know do way too much cocaine and hustle drugs while living in other people's apartments. i can see why they dig the hyper-masculine sound of "brostep" or whatever we're going to call it

all things connected, brostep may be why i'm going back to school and currently in pursuit of new friends who don't make drugs and shit shows their life. thanks brostep

  On 1/1/2011 at 12:31 AM, THIS IS MICHAEL JACKSON said:

 

haha, nice edit.

dubstep/brostep unequivocally proves wrong the theory that the world would be a better place if everyone smoked a joint

the most weed smoke i ever inhaled 2nd hand in a venue was at a brostep party at Red sky records in San Francisco and not just 2 but almost 3 fights broke out and the vibes inside were so macho, insecure, gangstery, thug like bullshit. it was perhaps one of the worst electronic music environments i have ever been around in my life. In some ways it made me very depressed and i couldn't help but think that movie Idiocricy was predicting thinks accurately for our future.

edit: in reference to the above, maybe it's all the booze and coke that the fans mix with the pot? Who knows, but im pretty sure that simply being a marijuana smoker this day and age does not makes you a calmer person, some of these thug pot heads blow like an 1/8th straight to their head a day, the calming effect of pot is now long gone and is replaced with an angry anxiety when they havent smoked enough

has synthesizers = techno

This is true.

  On 1/1/2011 at 12:44 AM, Awepittance said:

dubstep/brostep unequivocally proves wrong the theory that the world would be a better place if everyone smoked a joint

 

the most weed smoke i ever inhaled 2nd hand in a venue was at a brostep party at Red sky records in San Francisco and not just 2 but almost 3 fights broke out and the vibes inside were so macho, insecure, gangstery, thug like bullshit. it was perhaps one of the worst electronic music environments i have ever been around in my life. In some ways it made me very depressed and i couldn't help but think that movie Idiocricy was predicting thinks accurately for our future.

 

 

edit: in reference to the above, maybe it's all the booze and coke that the fans mix with the pot? Who knows, but im pretty sure that simply being a marijuana smoker this day and age does not makes you a calmer person, some of these thug pot heads blow like an 1/8th straight to their head a day, the calming effect of pot is now long gone and is replaced with an angry anxiety when they havent smoked enough

it's not about the pot, but about who smokes it!!!

me and my friends smoke a lot, and i mean a lot, and we don't act thug and stuff...

i guess the latest fashion is being thug, the pot has always been there.

and another thing, these are mostly under 18 kids, that's why it isn't working, if you go to a party where the most people is 25 up or something, they also do drugs, maybe more than the 18 year old kids, and they don't act like that

afterall, concluding, KIDS!!!

oh, and what about the latest fashion on reggae??? they take their shirts off, and show off their six packs, and dance pretty sexual, wtf

  On 1/1/2011 at 12:44 AM, Awepittance said:

dubstep/brostep unequivocally proves wrong the theory that the world would be a better place if everyone smoked a joint

 

the most weed smoke i ever inhaled 2nd hand in a venue was at a brostep party at Red sky records and not just 2 but almost 3 fights broke out and the vibes inside were so macho, insecure, gangstery, thug like bullshit. it was perhaps one of the worst electronic music environments i have ever been around in my life. In some ways it made me very depressed and i couldn't help but think that movie Idiocricy was predicting thinks accurately for our future.

 

 

edit: in reference to the above, maybe it's all the booze and coke that the fans mix with the pot? Who knows, but im pretty sure that simply being a marijuana smoker this day and age does not makes you a calmer person, some of these thug pot heads blow like an 1/8th straight to their head a day, the calming effect of pot is now long gone and is replaced with an angry anxiety when they havent smoked enough

god, thank you for more accurately mapping out why i hate this shit with a passion.. i couldn't seem to put it into words. that is exactly the vibe i get at pretty much any local show now, because ever local DJ or DJ coming to town is playing it.

yeah, weed is a HUGE part of it no doubt.. i only mentioned the ridiculous coke habits because all my "friends" were either weed dealers or trying to deal weed and smoke for free, but they share in common a cocaine habit that is more than just weekend warrior. the macho gangster thing REALLY grates on me, and i have a hard time believe people get spun on acid, mushrooms, coke, MDMA, and weed all at once on the regular while attending these kind of shows.. which is what a majority of the youngsters are doing at brostep shows really

its really frustrating because the majority of my age group seems to have fallen for hackjob electronic music on every front and its hard to meet people that aren't doing the same thing.. usually its:

1) hustle any drug currently available for maximum profit

2) attend shit shows nightly

3) consume said drugs excessively

4) act like it changed their life

5) post about it on facebook

6) run of out pot and frantically start again at #1

is it that the rest of the sensible young people are going to school? i sure hope so.. i'd like to meet some decent interesting people.

it would be nice to have a social life with decent people while i educate myself further

maybe its just these towns in southwest virginia that does it.. its like townies imitate urban culture and mangle it up

hm, townies..

  On 1/1/2011 at 1:04 AM, fiznuthian said:

that's not his arm

IMO the brostep is less danceable, don't get this article...

from bassnectar's wiki:

  Quote

Eclectic electronic mix, combining mainstream music with underground dubs and the common "wobble" bass used by many dubstep musicians. [3] Many songs contain multiple techniques of composition, such as: a sudden shift from double to triple meter, a sudden drop into half-timings, multiple layers of synthesized arpeggios, rappers, singers, vocal samples pitch-shifted and time-stretched.[4] The most utilized characteristic is focus on various tempos.[5] He uses the broad spectrum of speeds in electronic genres to create what he calls, "omni-tempo maximalism," and describes it as, "an amalgamation of every sound I've ever heard, mixed with ultra wicked basslines."[6] Bassnectar's music is often dubbed as "womp womp," describing his frequent bass drops and distorted synthesizer sounds.

omni-tempo maximalism.. where's the puke emoticon?

im serious, young people here in SW Virginia worship this guy.. i've known many who traveled multiple states in their moms car to see him live.

  On 12/31/2010 at 8:02 PM, Bob Dobalina said:

 

ia it just me or is that the worlds largest baltimore orioles hat?

  On 1/1/2011 at 1:42 AM, fox said:

ia it just me or is that the worlds largest baltimore orioles hat?

i just know, if you wanna be thug, you'll not bend it neither take its golden sticker out

That reminds me of all the grime MCs you see in videos wearing Yankees gear. I highly doubt they're all avid baseball fans.

no, seriously, the hat is bigger than the chick's head.

  On 1/1/2011 at 2:35 AM, fox said:

no, seriously, the hat is bigger than the chick's head.

it belongs to both chicks, that's why

fuck dubstep. i know there are bunch of different kinds, but really. WOBBLE WOBBLE BOOM BOOM