London clubs: dub be good to me

London clubs: dub be good to me

4 March, 2008 | 5.48PM

• Section: Music News Topics: Beatport Blog
• Written by: Mark Treadwell

London has seen the resurgence of a number of tried and tested musical forms over the last year.

We have had the disco resurgence, the return of 2step (cunningly disguised as nu-rave’s slightly backwards sibling).

Portishead have returned to give us a another slice of ‘hip’ trip hop pie, whilst no one except a few dreadlocked Jah rasta man’s and some skinny weasels from Essex are excited about Ronnie Size re-releasing his admittedly at the time forward thinking, but now rather dated ‘New Forms’ album. 

Now it’s not that I am against any of these, because as anyone who knows me will testify (and as you may have guessed if you have managed to summon the will power to read this blog on more than one occasion) that I am a total disco whore.

Just play me a ‘Hot Chocolate’ (except that “I believe in Miracles” dirge), Chic, Lovefingers or Todd Terje track and watch me fly round the dance floor like a kid with ADD that has been force fed six cans of Red Bull, a gram of speed and 100 orange Smarties.

I also like Portishead, and can get on down to 2step, though I only really like 187 Lockdown ‘Gunmen’, because it has proper gun shot noises (blam blam!) on it like the ones I used to make when shooting my brothers with a plastic gun as a kid.

There is, although it may not be directly forthcoming so far, a point to this and that point is as such.

Amongst a regurgitation of older electronic musical influences (this has, don’t get me wrong, been extremely positive in some cases), there has been one distinct musical movement in the last couple of years that although now spreading its dark talons across the world, is thoroughly English in the same way that two of its direct predecessors drum & bass and grime were, and, for a large part, still are.

Dubstep, then, as most of you should know, emerged from the ashes of British garage, a genre so utterly misguided that it actually encouraged Craig David and Victoria Beckham to suckle at its Sean John tailored bosom.

However, whereas garage preached the mantra of bitches, bling and bubbly, dubstep is characterised by darkness, sparse rhythms and in particular its emphasis on seriously low end bass.

As with East London’s grime scene, dubstep was fostered amongst the estates and tower blocks of Brixton and the not quiet urban nor suburban wasteland that is Croydon — which until now had been known not for being the birth place of dubstep but as the birth place of everyone’s favourite rock n roll queen, Kate Moss.

Nights such as Forward>> in East London’s Shoreditch have now taken the scene from its original South London roots and begun along with the likes of Fabric, dubstep’s next level assault on Britain’s sonic landscape.

This leads me to tomorrow night at Cargo in Shoreditch.

As pointed out earlier, there is something quite dark about dubstep on the whole — a bit disturbing, kind of like when David Bowie is telling a 14 year old Jennifer Connelly that he loves her whilst walking upside down and wearing Jodhpurs at the end of ‘Labyrinth’.

For those who haven’t seen this wonderful film, Bowie is portraying Jarred the Goblin King, just to set the record straight — it has nothing to do with dubstep.

Add to this the whole “Who is Burial?” hype, the obsessive use of white labels and the general air of mystery that still surrounds much of the producers and their productions, and some could accuse dubstep of being something of a faceless genre.

Three of the scene’s heavyweights, it seems, are preparing to readdress this.

Magnetic Man then is the live project of crossover king Benga, original dubhead Skream and Artwork.

Exactly what this live act will incorporate is unsure, having had a wee scout around on some of my favourite dubstep forums.

It seems that in keeping with the traditions of dubstep, no one has a clue, thus it seems that the rhythm is still a mystery.

They (Benga, Skream and Artwork) have promised that throughout their 10 date tour of England, they will be performing an innovative live set, with no two nights the same, combining raw, bass led improvisation and established anthems.

Catch the first of what promises to be something special at Cargo tomorrow night!

Magnetic Man (live)
plus guests
Wednesday March 5th
7 -1am
Cargo
83 Rivington Street
Kingsland Viaduct
Shoreditch
London, EC21 3AY
Tickets are £8

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• Check out Benga on Beatport