Artist: Various
Genre(s): Dubstep/Electronic
Released: 2009
What exactly is dubstep? I'm not entirely sure. Wikipedia offers this:"Dubstep is a genre of electronic music that has its roots in London's early 2000s UK garage scene. Musically, dubstep is distinguished by its 2step rhythm, or use of snare sounds similar to 2step garage and grime, and an emphasis on bass, often producing "dark" sounds, but just as frequently producing sounds reminiscent of dub reggae or funky US garage. Dubstep tracks are generally produced at a tempo of around 140 beats per minute and in recent years have developed signature half time rhythms, often heavily shuffled or syncopated, and usually, though not exclusively, including only one snare drum hit per bar, often on the third beat. Such factors make dubstep rhythms markedly different from four-to-the-floor rhythms used in other styles of electronic dance music such as house music, which usually have two snare hits accompanying the second and fourth kick drum. Often, the sense of rhythm in dubstep is propelled more by the bassline than by the percussive content."
Unfortunately that's as much information as I, an outsider to the genre, can offer. Hyperdub release a shitton of stuff, mostly 12', and this compilation featuring 30 songs from artists such as Burial, Kode9, Darkstar, Zomby, Samiyam and much more seems to be an excellent introduction not only to the label Hyperdub but the genre of dubstep as a whole. It's a very solid comp that really flows well, beats and melodies chugging along to a brilliant conclusion on many of the offerings. So try it.
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3 comments:
niiiice post, and it's about time something like this came out too!
Have you listened yet? Love you to hear your thoughts, since you know much more about the genre than I do!
Well, i'm not a proper hardcore dubstep guy. I pay more attention to the fringe/experimental stuff.
There's so much bedroom producers constantly churning out 12" releases now, that it's become practically impossible to keep up with it all. A lot of it is quite indistinguishable from the next, basically lots of mid-range wobble with a heavily reverberated snare drum. Every now and then though, something comes along which sounds like the most innovative, ground-breaking thing you've heard in ages. Artists like Chasing Shadows, Joy Orbison, Kode9, Darkstar, Zomby, Mount Kimbie, Terror Danjah and Ramadanman have all been doing some really interesting things for a while. Obviously guys like Skream, Benga & Loefah are brilliant as well, they basically pioneered the whole thing, but like I said, there's now a million bedroom producers copying their sound because of it. Burial is good, but i've never understood why he's considered the second coming of Jesus by some.
This record is definitely a good place to start for anyone looking to get into the genre though. Hyperdub have been putting out quality stuff for ages and are now seen as one of the main cornerstones of the genre, along with labels like DMZ, Tectonic, Tempa and Hotflush too.
My favourite tracks here have gotta be Aiden's Girl's A Computer by Darkstar (has been getting airplay for months and months but frustratingly, is not officially released yet), Kaliko by Zomby (stuff like this really needs to be played loud on a serious sound-system to be fully appreciated). Anyone who likes videogame music needs to get into Zomby because he uses all those 8-bit beep sounds. There's quite a few tracks which I hadn't heard before and was pleasantly surprised with, like Purple Smoke by Black Chow. I need to watch out more for this guy. Loving "Sahara Michael" by Ikonika as well.
I'm slightly surprised Kingstown by Kode9 didn't make it, as that has an incredible, menacing rhythm and I always felt it was one of his best tracks, but eh there's plenty of good stuff from him on there anyway. Black Sun probably should be on there as well.
A really solid release overall. As with everything dubstep, it's even better depending on how good your bass speaker is!
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