Dubstep – that bone rattling, two-step groove synonymous with the UK’s bass-obsessed underground — is one of the most complex musical subcultures to emerge in the last decade. Since its early rumblings ten years ago, this gritty, wonky spin-off of drum ‘n bass/UK garage has stayed somewhat insulated within the confines of its birthplace, London. But by 2008, something unexpected had happened: dubstep had become an international phenomenon, filling not basements, but fields with bass-hungry youth craving its sonorous sound.
Now we’re witnessing a new wave of stateside dubstep. With domestic talent such as Starkey and FaltyDL honing reputations as dubstep innovators, American sound alchemists have taken up the torch to lead this low-end revolution onward. These fresh faces have boldly ventured beyond London’s regimented formula, shaved off a layer or two of its dark, heavy edge, and injected it with homegrown styles of New York garage, hip-hop, West Coast breaks, techno-soul, and instrumental reggae. New age dubstep? Deepstep? Call it what you will; we’ve rounded up eight American acts at the forefront of bass culture’s new wave. After the jump, sample the sounds of dubstep’s future.
1. Starkey
Hailing from Philadelphia, this young producer serves soulful platters of melodic, downtempo dubstep that has UK stalwarts such as Mary Ann Hobbs nodding with approval. Following his impressive debut album, 2008′s Ephemeral Exhibits, comes Ear Drums and Black Holes, out this week. Floating on melodic synths and sweet vocals, the tracks on this album carry a crisp, blissful sound. Smooth and ethereal, this watered-down dubstep will perk up the ears of any electronic music junkie.
Comments (12)
Wonderful group of photo images. Keep ‘em coming!!
Moldy puts it down like a modern day producer should…. and it’s tight!!
why do you guys make these articles on 7 pages instead of 1??
god people. if youre gonna lump music into a box and try to create a movement out of thin air, at least make sure to get the labels right first.
this is not to pass judgment on the tunes themselves – i actually think a good number of them are quite good – but some of it is definitely not dubstep. falty dl? jus wan? REALLY?
i don’t think there is anything “pioneering” about these tunes. it all sounds like DubStep by numbers to me aka just set Ableton Live to 70 or 140 bpm and just mimic every UK producer out there. there are much better US producers out there like 12 Planet, Metaphase, and Noah D.
For real for real – I’m all for covering the next phase of dubstep but these are not great examples in the slightest. And can we have a writeup that doesn’t say something about ‘post-Dilla’??
Furthermore – Starkey isn’t any younger than the others on your list and this most recent isn’t by a long shot his debut, which a quick google or discogs or just reading earplug should tell you.
i can’t wait til people stop pretending like this music is interesting. its really not. its boring. tedious. flat. and definitely doesn’t inspire me to dance. I think the appeal is that everyone can afford ableton and maschine and so everyone can make this music and people are impressed with it from that angle. just like you might not give a shit about a violinist until you pick up a violin and hold it and see just how hard it is to get a decent tone. I have both those, and this shit wouldn’t require too much effort to make. most of it sounds like hardly tweaked sounds from the NI library (yes it takes time and effort, but these guys are being heralded as the bearers of a new music and so are held to the highest standards). And its interesting to hear how they make it work, but ultimately, its amateur shit made by amateurs. then again…. thats what house and techno was so. what’s my point? donno. but I still don’t get it. i’ll have to get some drugs i suppose
though I will say that when I heard a hq version of Pangaea’s bear witness, it hit me pretty hard. 2562 is legit… still. Most of this is boring and cliched.
[...] flavorwire on the second wave of dubstep. [...]
To catch Dubstep in New York check out Deep Space at Cielo Monday nights. Deep Space is an adventure into future dub, spacey vibes, and abstract grooves featuring resident DJ François K. live on the mixing board. Mary Anne Hobbs will be there on May 10th
PLEASE don’t EVER call San Francisco “Frisco”. you sound like a stupid yuppie.
I can agree with only some of these.. you needed to dig deeper to Austin’s scene with producers like VVV and FBom and Formant Recordings; to Philly’s Autopilot who’s making gorgeous music on the cusp of dubstep and idm; to San Fransicso-based DJ/radio host SNF who’s forwarding the scene along playing the bleeding edge of tunes coming out weekly worldwide.. go hang out on Sub.FM for a week and then redo your list..
[...] – he’s got a soft side, too, with a sweet spot for downtempo melodies and airy vocals.” - Flavorwire (Apr 19, 2010) This entry was posted in Info by Moldy. Bookmark the [...]
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