TAG: Dubstep

Nov30

25: NOW! Podcast (ft. J Cole, 12th Planet, ADaD, Daisy O’Dell, The XX and DJ Skeet Skeet) (Podcast)

Various Artists

25: NOW! Podcast Part 1


URB.com presents the first in a four part podcast series featuring emerging artists from our 25: NOW! digital issue. The first episode features tracks from 12th Planet, ADaD, Daisy O’Dell, The XX, J Cole and DJ Skeet Skeet. Check back every …

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Nov10

Mary Anne Hobbs: Elegance In Experimental Sound

Interview With The First Lady Of Dubstep 

What is there to say about Mary Anne Hobbs that hasn’t already been said? She’s already cemented a place in dubstep culture as the “lady ambassador” to the genre; where it pretty much started thanks to her special programme “Dubstep Warz” in 2006. Highlighting artists such as Benga, Kode9 & The Bug, it exploded into something more in a small amount of time. Fast-forward to 2009 and Mary Anne is still knee-deep in listening to new tunes every single day, trying to find the next few artists to spear-head the world of experimental sound. Oh, did we mention that she also spins as well? That’s a vast understatement, as she rocked New York City’s seminal experimental party “Dub War” in September to a packed basement at Club LOVE. Her first full US tour was no joke, as she even went …

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Nov10

DJ/Rupture and Matt Shadetek – Solar Life Raft (Review)

DJ/Rupture and Matt Shadetek

Solar Life Raft

Released by The Agriculture


Dub always has a curious way of rattling loose the connections between disparate entities and then binding everything together in viscous bass. New York natives DJ/Rupture and Matt Shadetek bring that approach, if not always those exact sounds, to the selections they threw together while dreaming up Solar Life Raft. Coming together as a DJ mix, but showcasing the two artists’ production skills in numerous ways, this three-turntable odyssey starts and ends in warm echoy places. Along the way Rupture and Shadetek highlight an array of fellow ...

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Jan02

Burial: Silent Shout

Burial digs up the UK fascination with the low end (by Brandon Ivers) 

If music blog fanboys served as any indication of the real worlds taste in music, Burial would be bigger than Beyoncé. But since that isnt the case, it’ll take some time before people wake up to Untrue, the conceptual refinement of last years acclaimed self-titled album that introduced the media-silent artist to listeners beyond those immersed in UKs dubstep underground.

Sounding like the excavated ruins of two-step, Burial’s all too appropriate name plays off the final procession of British electronic music. Sidestepping the age old preoccupation with the future, tracks like “Ghost Hardware” are propelled by an underlying noise and slack that defies pinpointing the creation date (not that the production relies on textural smoke and mirrors). Burial has the same innate knack for long-brewing melody that helped wedge groups like Boards of Canada and Tricky into mainstream consciousness. On the …

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Mar28

Dubstep: Calling for Reinforcements

Inside the scattered evolution and cross-Atlantic club nights of dubstep (by Brandon Ivers) 

It only takes five minutes inside Crash Mansion, the current host of NYC’s dubstep  party Dub War, to see the telltale signs of a new scene taking form. Everyone is learning to dance again; midair hand chops and a pseudo-skank bounce replace years of codified junglist head bobs. The music sounds rawer, more unpredictable than most of these people are used to; a sludged-out bass crawl one moment can flash into a bleepy synth arpeggio the next. Even the DJs seem as psyched as the crowd-when certain tracks drop, these grown men suddenly look like 10-year-olds with a PS3.

On this night, Dub War’s “FWD vs. Dub War” lineup represents a cross section of the success both the UK and U.S. dubstep scenes have experienced over the last year. Youngsta and Hatcha represent the UK’s FWD weekly, which, aside from the …

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