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.
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The Unsound Festival New York kicked off Thursday and will continue to dominate a variety of venues in Manhattan and Brooklyn through Valentine’s Day. This stateside version of the renowned Polish event seeks to move beyond the bounds of techno, drum ‘n bass, and house, to expose an electronic music world that’s more than computer-generated beats for dark, strobe-lit rooms.
The festival has brought together a global community of DJs, producers, promoters, composers, and music collectives to present an adventurous program of panels, film screenings, multimedia performances, and, of course, plenty of good parties. The lengthy list of artists scheduled to appear includes Carl Craig, Moritz von Oswald, nsi., Lillevan, and others, many of whom are making their US debuts.
In the spirit of Unsound’s devotion to talent and creativity, we asked eight of the festival’s most innovative artists the question: “What do you envision as the future of electronic music?” Check out their inspiring responses after the jump.
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Keeping up with the ever-changing world of dance music can be exhausting; creative energy burns out as quickly as fresh trends become stale hype. That’s why Tiësto, Dutch DJ and dance-music icon, is such a legend. He has topped DJ charts since he reached stardom in the early ’00s, and continues to max out venues with a 15,000+ capacity. He kicked off another Tiësto “era” on September 24, to launch his highly anticipated album Kaleidoscope, out tomorrow.
“They can definitely expect [the music] to be different,” he says of his tour. The album, appropriately named after its fused-genre theme, is the product of Tiësto’s initiated collaborations with several disparate artists, such as Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke, Sigur Rós’ Jónsi, Tegan and Sara, Nelly Furtado, and electro-pop sensation Sneaky Sound System. Read More »
