2011/01/20

Afro-Step





















Those around me remember about 4 or 5 years ago when i was sooooooo excited about this new sound called Dubstep. And now 90-99% of the derivative bullshit leaves me not only cold, but running for the door. What took almost a decade to happen to Jungle/Drum'n'Bass took only half as much time with Dubstep: meat-headification.

But i believe one fundamental formal difference might give Dubstep more longevity. A vast mutability in the genetic blueprint, i.e. the spaciousness of the half-time beats, allows the virus to virtually infect any other musical organism, forming hybrid entities, and thus giving the "genre" much more room to evolve. This might be a bad thing in many cases (does anyone need Dubstep remixes of Stairway to Heaven?!?!) but i believe, in other instances, can point to interesting aural possibilities.

So here is a percussive Afrocentric Dubstep mashup refix i was looking forward to playing in Berghain, where i was to open up for Konono next month. But the club booker changed his mind last minute and booked Burnt Friedman instead, and I uploaded this to Soundcloud within an hour of getting the bad news. Oh well can't win them all and on to the next one!

Royal Panamax Snook Shed by djzhao

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