I’ve noticed that there seem to be a really disconnect in what scenesters are listening to in Edmonton. We have what seem to be 3 separate crowds. You only need to look at the party postings to confirm this:
1. Trance Scenesters: Listening to everything from Armin Van Buuren, Tiesto, Marco V., Paul Van Dyk, etc.
I have no particular problems with trance, but I still can’t figure out why it hasn’t died yet. Most of N. America has kicked it to the curb. In the period of 2001-2003 trance was becoming known as candy-raver garbage. Lots of old school ravers wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole. I remember a lot of heads were wearing the “FU@K TRANCE” T-shirts. We all just watched it tank.
From Miami to Seattle, trance pops its beat-less head out in cities where Europeans often visit and in large festivals. In Edmonton though, it’s huge.
I may not like it, personally, but I think it thrives here for some purpose. A lot of old school heads will agree with me when I say DIVERSIFY your taste in beats – try something new.
2. Electro House Scenesters and Indie-Electro Hipsters: Listening to everything from David Guetta, Deadmau5, Boys Noize, Justice, MSTRKFT, Crookers, Vandalism, Fake Blood, etc.
I have a particular fondness for this music – I still love it. When I was spinning the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale Crush parties this was everything to us. We were more of the Indie-Electro Hipster type. The crowd here screamed of irony, wearing Bill Cosby sweaters and Reebok Pumps. It was cool – sometimes to cool to be cool.
The term Banger Music was made up to label the genre, but as you can imagine, it’s hard to pin down artists from MIA to Kid Cudi to Deadmau5 in a single phrase. In N. America this sound is beginning to diminish. At one point it was very cool to be a hipster…now….not so much.
In Edmonton this scene is doing very well. It tends to lean a little toward the House side of fence, but it still leaves room for the hipster type.
A lot of old school heads will agree with me when I say DIVERSIFY your taste in beats – try something new. All I can say is DUBSTEP!
3. Dubstep: Listening to the sounds of Rusko, Skream, Proper Tings, Emalkay, Eksmo, Nero, etc.
Dubstep: the story so far
Back in the early 2000s, dubstep was being made by just a handful of producers based in a couple of micro-centers: Sheffield, Leicester and the concrete-coated suburbs of south-west London. They used free PC software like Fruity Loops or PlayStation’s music-making software Music 2000 (the same stuff So Solid Crew used to record their first album - the story goes that they took the memory card in to be mastered) and made their own wonky versions of dark garage records by producers like EI-B, Benny III and Wookie.
In January 2006 everything changed - or more accurately, everything began to change. On 10* January one-time NME journalist Mary Anne Hobbs invited a group of producers onto her 2am midweek show for a dubstep special. Mala, Skream, Kode9 and Space Ape, Vex’d, Hatcha, Loefah and Sgt Pokes and Distance all played micro-sets their own tunes (apart from Hatcha, a rare DJ-not-producer, who played Benga, Coki, Skream and Digital Mystikz). The show remains the most downloaded of Hobbs’ shows, and was spread worldwide by barefiles.com, a site run by teenage south Londoner ‘Deapoh’. The rest is increasingly well-documented history - Croydon’s entry on Wikipedia even includes a short history of dubstep under the ‘culture’ section. Since 2006 hundreds of clubs, labels and fansites have been started, boosted by the DIY ethic that runs deep in the genetics of the scene. People who started as fans have become DJs, producers, photographers, bloggers, T-shirt designers, promoters and compilers, documenting and adding to the world of dubstep simply because they want to.
New York DJ Joe Nice’s one-time assertion that dubstep is defined by “bass, space and place” doesn’t even cover it any more: in 2008 it is more about an association with the clubs, radio stations or labels surrounding the music than any specifics of genre or sound.
This scene is huge in N. America and much of the rest of the English speaking world. It’s taken over in a way that most didn’t believe was possible. It was lightning fast. The World Music Conference (WMC), held every year in Miami, saw this Dubstep surge first hand. From the reports given to me, most of the parties, before and after the main event Ultrafest were Dubstep parties.
In Edmonton you will find Dubstep growing at fast pace, but it’s hindered by the other 2 music styles of our scene. I insist you give it a try. Dubsteo parties, as of late, have be held at the Starlite Room. I will also continue to update you on new events.
BELOW THIS POST you will find several Dubstep tracks I’ve posted today. They are what I consider to be the highlights of 2009-Present (downloads not available at the moment). Give them a listen.
