right so having spent the last couple months getting to know it and all the classics, i now feel qualified to talk about new stuff thats good in the world of dubstep/grime, if anyone cares:
first of all, the most important thing is probably darkstar's north, which came out this past week. darkstar are (or were) one of the most excting newcomers in the dubstep/grime world over the last couple years with a bunch of fucking amazing singles, but their debut album is a total left turn into really beautiful, melancholic synth-heavy music which isnt easily classified. at a stretch you could put it under the umbrella of post-dubstep with people like james blake, but this should appeal to everyone here for sure. whenever i listen to north, it just melds into this huge, beautiful, 40-minute warm mess of dubby beats, pianos, strings, and synths. it's one of those albums you can just listen to front to back, over and over again. up there with the years best for me.
the post-dubstep train rolls on with girl unit's wut ep. this is another one that's getting a shit ton of attention right now. alot of people are calling the title track track of the year and all this stuff, but all 3 tracks are pretty mindblowing. this thing is just absolutely huge, taking cues from house music and using just massive, massive synth lines, sampled air horns and all kinds of crazy shit to make 18 minutes of music that punches you straight in the gut, but wraps it around vocal samples that do some really interesting things in a way similar to james blake and his two eps this year. highly recommended!
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darkstar showed the benefits of evolving their sound with north, and i feel like that is definitely important with this kind of music, because alot of dubstep and grime full lengths feel too long and full of filler, and a classic example of this is ikonikas debut album, contact, love, want, have.
her track "please" is def one of the dubstep classics i mentioned earlier, but this full length is just samey and uninteresting for the most part. shame :/
JME is one of the few grime mcs i really like, and im listening to his new album blam! at the moment, and im kind of dissapointed.hes always stood out to me because hes just a fucking hilarious, down to earth guy, and his music is the same: smart, funny, and with none of the pointless agression and dickhead posturing that is most grime. it's also way accessible to people who like hip-hop and want to get to know what the uk equivalent is like. i absolutely fucking recommend anyone who likes hip-hop to check out his first album famous?, and to check out some out a couple youtube videos of him on westwood's radio show: link
this second one, at least one first impression, seems alot less unique. the beats are better and the lyrics are more impressive technically, but theres alot less of the humour or character. guy still raps about playing street fighter 2 on the snes though, so that should still give you an idea of what to expect.
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jamie xx, the producer/non singing member of the xx also came out with a single more in the vain of chilled out, tropical-tinged dubstep which uses steel drums to create a great atmosphere. definitely another one of the years best tracks, and it really makes you realize just how much the xx actually owe to dubstep in their sound, it's just that guitar and bass which pulls it into the realm of indie music.
(and i totally bought that album for 7 quid in hmv the other day. i like the fact theyre getting really popular here in the uk, totally deserved)
also really enjoying the glitch mob's drink the sea like i said earlier in the thread, which takes cues from dubstep even if it isnt strictly dubstep (it isnt strictly anything).
and again, reso's reso in da mix is a mindblowing mix which takes the back catalogue of one of dubsteps most important labels/distributors (z audio) and turns it into a HUGE, cohesive fucking beast of a mix that is an absolute perfect introduction to the genre. listening to this earlier in the year just made me super fucking excited to delve into this new genre and made me excited about discovering music in a way i havent since i learbed to appreciate hip-hop. go download this srsly.
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and thatll just about do it for 2010 things worth talking about. outside of dubstep/grime, i've started to listen to sleigh bells treats again and am falling in love with it again, new brian eno album was interesting but didnt hold my attention for long, and diamond rings' special affections, despite getting a fair bit of praise around the internet, just totally bored me. uninteresting, drum-machine centric indie pop. bleh.
gonna lsiten to salems king knight soon, and looking forward to the new girls ep. also kanye. not much in 2011 im bothered about so far, hoping new go! team album is as good as thunder lightning strike but probably wont be...iono
first of all, the most important thing is probably darkstar's north, which came out this past week. darkstar are (or were) one of the most excting newcomers in the dubstep/grime world over the last couple years with a bunch of fucking amazing singles, but their debut album is a total left turn into really beautiful, melancholic synth-heavy music which isnt easily classified. at a stretch you could put it under the umbrella of post-dubstep with people like james blake, but this should appeal to everyone here for sure. whenever i listen to north, it just melds into this huge, beautiful, 40-minute warm mess of dubby beats, pianos, strings, and synths. it's one of those albums you can just listen to front to back, over and over again. up there with the years best for me.
the post-dubstep train rolls on with girl unit's wut ep. this is another one that's getting a shit ton of attention right now. alot of people are calling the title track track of the year and all this stuff, but all 3 tracks are pretty mindblowing. this thing is just absolutely huge, taking cues from house music and using just massive, massive synth lines, sampled air horns and all kinds of crazy shit to make 18 minutes of music that punches you straight in the gut, but wraps it around vocal samples that do some really interesting things in a way similar to james blake and his two eps this year. highly recommended!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
darkstar showed the benefits of evolving their sound with north, and i feel like that is definitely important with this kind of music, because alot of dubstep and grime full lengths feel too long and full of filler, and a classic example of this is ikonikas debut album, contact, love, want, have.
her track "please" is def one of the dubstep classics i mentioned earlier, but this full length is just samey and uninteresting for the most part. shame :/
JME is one of the few grime mcs i really like, and im listening to his new album blam! at the moment, and im kind of dissapointed.hes always stood out to me because hes just a fucking hilarious, down to earth guy, and his music is the same: smart, funny, and with none of the pointless agression and dickhead posturing that is most grime. it's also way accessible to people who like hip-hop and want to get to know what the uk equivalent is like. i absolutely fucking recommend anyone who likes hip-hop to check out his first album famous?, and to check out some out a couple youtube videos of him on westwood's radio show: link
this second one, at least one first impression, seems alot less unique. the beats are better and the lyrics are more impressive technically, but theres alot less of the humour or character. guy still raps about playing street fighter 2 on the snes though, so that should still give you an idea of what to expect.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
jamie xx, the producer/non singing member of the xx also came out with a single more in the vain of chilled out, tropical-tinged dubstep which uses steel drums to create a great atmosphere. definitely another one of the years best tracks, and it really makes you realize just how much the xx actually owe to dubstep in their sound, it's just that guitar and bass which pulls it into the realm of indie music.
(and i totally bought that album for 7 quid in hmv the other day. i like the fact theyre getting really popular here in the uk, totally deserved)
also really enjoying the glitch mob's drink the sea like i said earlier in the thread, which takes cues from dubstep even if it isnt strictly dubstep (it isnt strictly anything).
and again, reso's reso in da mix is a mindblowing mix which takes the back catalogue of one of dubsteps most important labels/distributors (z audio) and turns it into a HUGE, cohesive fucking beast of a mix that is an absolute perfect introduction to the genre. listening to this earlier in the year just made me super fucking excited to delve into this new genre and made me excited about discovering music in a way i havent since i learbed to appreciate hip-hop. go download this srsly.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
and thatll just about do it for 2010 things worth talking about. outside of dubstep/grime, i've started to listen to sleigh bells treats again and am falling in love with it again, new brian eno album was interesting but didnt hold my attention for long, and diamond rings' special affections, despite getting a fair bit of praise around the internet, just totally bored me. uninteresting, drum-machine centric indie pop. bleh.
gonna lsiten to salems king knight soon, and looking forward to the new girls ep. also kanye. not much in 2011 im bothered about so far, hoping new go! team album is as good as thunder lightning strike but probably wont be...iono
