Which Fork...

would you use to eat a veritable banquet of dubstep and grime info? Pitchfork of course. This month's "Month in Grime and Dubstep" chats about a favourite subject of mine- Dubstep's London roots alongside an update of the latest releases and a very interesting interview with the Rinse FM management regarding the nessecity of pirate radio stations (big up!!).

Distinctly...

Originally uploaded by infinite. G aka DJ Distinction. He has a knack of tracking me down and placing me front of camera at DMZ and various other places that we meet at. Of this one, he reckons I look like I'm saying 'get this freak off me!' but how could I possibly think that of a sweet Yorkshire lad?

So what's the sweet Yorkshire lad been up to? "workin, tryna get back on production, tryna get a new job, havin women trouble, money trouble, stayin alive the usual!" but mostly he's concentrating on his new Leeds Student Radio show that launched a while ago. Distinction was one of the very first DJ's to hook me up with a mix when I first heard the call of Dubstep in 2004 and back then I remember thinking he was already a wicked DJ. Naturally, with time he's become even better, something's that obvious throughout his radio shows and online mixes. Production wise, I was bowled over by his wonderfully spacious and futuristic sounding 'Dead Beat' dub as mentioned in the last Currently Feelin' post so I'm itching to hear some more material! (Hurry up G!!!!) No doubt you'll bump into Distinction at the forthcoming Sub Dub event in his home town Leeds where he pretty much single handedly pushes the sound but in the meantime, catch him at www.djdistinction.blogspot.com, his recent DMZ photos at http://dubstep.forumsplace.comand of course, Leeds Student Radio (www.lsrfm.com)

New York, New York!

Dub War
Originally uploaded by infinite.

So good they named it twice, New York has quickly become one of Dubstep's biggest international bases thanks to a handful of passionate stateside producers, dj's and journalists. Borrowing Miss Fiddy's trick of posting online chats , here's some news, views from across the pond via NY Dubwar promoter (see above), DJ and fellow blogger DQ.

infinite drumz (7:34:40 pm): what u been up to?
infinite drumz (7:34:42 pm): any parties?
quintild (7:35:01 pm): yeah lots going on right now
quintild (7:35:21 pm): the big thing i've been planning though is dub war w/ kode 9 this coming friday
quintild (7:36:01 pm): really excited about this night. things are looking really good for this one. the dnb establishment in ny is really getting behind it
quintild (7:36:27 pm): and the following night joe is sticking around and the two of us are supporting dj zinc at the same venue
infinite drumz (7:36:42 pm): mr bingo beats himself
quintild (7:36:55 pm): yep i gotta remember to pack my bingo records
infinite drumz (7:37:12 pm): lol
infinite drumz (7:37:23 pm): you in that stuff then?
quintild (7:37:56 pm): into it ya mean? a little. not toomuch, but i used to buy the occasional bingo tune.
infinite drumz (7:38:13 pm): ok
quintild (7:38:14 pm): 138 trek was definitely important
quintild (7:38:47 pm): so how goes the "lull" :-)
infinite drumz (7:38:50 pm): lol you've noticed it too?
quintild (7:39:19 pm): well that's been a topic on conversation on dubway's forum
infinite drumz (7:39:30 pm): yeah
infinite drumz (7:39:35 pm): there is a lull
infinite drumz (7:39:41 pm): very few tunes being made
infinite drumz (7:39:43 pm): but
infinite drumz (7:39:50 pm): outside of london things are good
quintild (7:40:20 pm): hmm, you think dubstep is eating its dead or something? or just taking a nap?
infinite drumz (7:41:47 pm): i think it's just hibernation time! music is a reflection of the people that make it. Generally, everyone's a bit down at the moment cos it's dark and cold so it doesn't surprise me that there's a lull. Also, the summer was so mental for the scene what with all the new nights that emerged so it's probably just a bit exhausted
infinite drumz (7:42:21 pm): All will be good, I think it's only 'insiders' that really notice the lull anyway.
quintild (7:43:41 pm): makes sense. the speed of progress seems to have been so rapid it's hard to imagine it sustaining that energy level indefinitely. i mean in particular the number of mind-blowing tunes popping every week
infinite drumz (7:44:10 pm): yeah zactly
infinite drumz (7:44:16 pm): but how are things in the states?
infinite drumz (7:44:24 pm): big crowds?
infinite drumz (7:44:29 pm): media interest?
quintild (7:45:16 pm): in our case over here 1. most people are just discovering it so they don't need to hear nuthin but brand new tunes 2. the parties are more spread out 3. there's very few people playing it so there isn't as much competition for playing tunes no one else is
quintild (7:45:31 pm): the crowds are pretty small but very entusiastic
infinite drumz (7:45:35 pm): cool cool
infinite drumz (7:45:41 pm): i'd love to come over one day
infinite drumz (7:45:45 pm): i need a new environment
quintild (7:45:47 pm): and there's the beginnings of some media interest, but much stronger on the blogs
infinite drumz (7:45:51 pm): yeah
infinite drumz (7:45:58 pm): that's what i love about this scene
infinite drumz (7:46:04 pm): blogs are like the modern day fanzines!
quintild (7:46:39 pm): very true. and the bigger publications just can't keep up with the new shit as fast
infinite drumz (7:46:44 pm): nope
infinite drumz (7:46:59 pm): which tunes are going off over there?
quintild (7:47:06 pm): vex'd
quintild (7:47:18 pm): midnight request line is big
quintild (7:47:27 pm): vex'd knowledge rmx
quintild (7:47:32 pm): coki 'officer'
quintild (7:47:59 pm): for the most part people don't know the names/artists but know the big tunes when they hear em
quintild (7:48:05 pm): like 28 grams
quintild (7:48:10 pm): or crackbong rmx
infinite drumz (7:48:19 pm): nice
infinite drumz (7:48:30 pm): any record shops stocking it yet?
quintild (7:48:40 pm): just one. kim's
quintild (7:48:48 pm): they're actually sponsoring dub war
infinite drumz (7:49:06 pm): NY?
quintild (7:49:26 pm): yeah. the guy at kim's who stocks the dubstep grime bin goes to london pretty regularly to get hooked up with the new tunes
infinite drumz (7:49:32 pm): nice!
quintild (7:49:36 pm): a producer named i-sound
infinite drumz (7:49:43 pm): dubstep?
quintild (7:50:11 pm): yeah they get all the offical releases usually like a week after they hit the uk shops
quintild (7:50:25 pm): but of course we're missing out on the tp's
quintild (7:50:38 pm): oh you mean dubstep producer
infinite drumz (7:50:51 pm): yeah
quintild (7:50:52 pm): nope but i wouldn't be surprised if he tries it out
infinite drumz (7:50:56 pm): cool!
quintild (7:51:00 pm): he's known as an IDM kinda guy
infinite drumz (7:51:06 pm): haha
infinite drumz (7:51:07 pm): wicked
quintild (7:51:16 pm): you know this guy aaron spectre?
infinite drumz (7:51:22 pm): i've heard the name
quintild (7:51:41 pm): oh man george ya gotta download this set. one sec
quintild (7:52:54 pm): Aaron Spectre-  Life We Promote http://drumcorps.cc/assets/audio/aaronspectre_lifewepromote.mp3
quintild (7:52:54 pm): absolutely bonkers
quintild (7:53:06 pm): just one of the most mental things i've heard in a while
infinite drumz (7:53:10 pm): thanks!
infinite drumz (7:53:13 pm): American guy?
quintild (7:53:37 pm): i think he's a brit who lives in the states. or it might be vice versa. can't remember
infinite drumz (7:54:14 pm): ok
infinite drumz (7:54:19 pm): what sort of music?
quintild (7:54:53 pm): it's a mashup of ragga jungle, dancehall and some grime
infinite drumz (7:55:13 pm): nice
quintild (7:56:02 pm): well i better get outta the house before this day is gone. it's lovely out too
quintild (7:56:28 pm): out late watching wiley, shy fx, and j majik last night
infinite drumz (7:57:33 pm): how was that?
quintild (7:58:38 pm): wiley was at small venue in brooklyn as part of some world hip hop festival so that was ok. shy fx was heavy. that was in the former limelight, which is a big gothic church in manhattan
infinite drumz (7:58:49 pm): wow
infinite drumz (7:59:07 pm): any photos anywhere?
quintild (7:59:33 pm): no photos yet i don't think. i didn't take any but i'm sure someone did
quintild (8:00:11 pm): ok g i'm out. talk soon!
infinite drumz (8:00:11 pm): cool
infinite drumz (8:00:14 pm): laterz

Letts Dance

In April 2004 l I caught Don Letts at the Coronet alongside the Libertines prior to their split from Pete Doherty and his subsequent romance with No 1 Croydon girl Kate Moss. The Libertine's were surprisingly good live, although their songs slightly grating after a while but for me the highlight was a short set from Don Letts in the other room. I'm thriled to see Kode9 and Digital Mystikz on the same line-up as he for the forthcoming Dublime gig. Sounds like the perfect tag-team to me.


DUBLIME!!!
FRIDAY NOV 11th @ Old Blue Last

"A journey through the sonic realms of sublime dub with 3 pioneers of low end experimentation! We have dub legend Don Letts educating us of past and present with Kode 9 and Digi Mystikz providing the crowd with the
freshest sounds from the dubstep movement."

DON LETTS (Dub Cartel Sound System)
DIGI MYSTIKZ (DMZ / FWD)
KODE -9 (Hyperdub/ FWD)
Hyponik DJ's: Shifta, Bazrah, Professor J-S

8pm - 12am
FREE ENTRY
The Old Blue Last
30 Great Eastern Street, London, EC2A 3ES
Nearest tube old street/liverpool street

Penny for the Guy

Shoreditch Guy
Originally uploaded by infinite.

Shoreditch Style >.

Français avec Mme Georgette.

Drum Magic
Originally uploaded by infinite.

Numéro Un:

Drum
Le Tambour

Drummer
Jouer de Tambour

Drum Roll
Roulement de Tambour

Drum Stick
Baguette de Tambour

Chicken Drum Stick
Pilon

Drumz of the South
Tambourz des Sud

Reminder

dmz_0063
Originally uploaded by infinite.

DMZ on the horizon! New dubs to look forward to?

www.dmzuk.com

Dub World Wise

A discussion has sprung up on dubstep’s forum suggesting that the scene’s been in a bit of a lull recently, something which I agree with to a certain extent. Personally I’ve been a bit bored of hearing the same tunes over and over again but I guess that's a lot to do with the fact that I’ve spent so much time within the scene this year. From an international point of view however, things couldn't be better. The forum is chokka with heads from all over the world talking about the scene, and there are new nights springing all around our spinning globe:

France

Paris' Sonic Design managed to reach the last DMZ of which he took some pics. He also writes for www.rootspeople.com where you can read about the Rephlex Party's out there, a review of Dubstep Allstars Vol.2 in French as well as plenty of DnB news.


Germany

Germany’s Orson has been following the scene for a couple of years now and has recently played in Berlin and Dusseldorf which he reports was a strange event due to the fact that he was on after a band who played Ramone's covers. Thankfully, he still had great fun as the whole place was rattling from the bass and he had lots of people asking what the incredible music was, his comments reminding me how wonderful it is to hear dubstep for the first time.

Belgium
Bugklinik

Netherlands
Next months Dubstep at a place called Risk sees South London in the form of Kode9 & Space Ape, Loefah and Digital Mystikz reachin Tilburg

Spain

Rascal Beatz@xpressing club, c/Valencia 196, Barcelona on Friday 25 Nov. From midnight till 03.00. Free entry.

23hz - dubplate session
Howie Roach - bass n beat underground 4 beginners set
Josh Brent - electronica + leftfield set

Check www.dostreceradio.net/index.html for radio shows and more.

Portugal
Check www.conspira.com for Portugal updates and links to UNIDADE SONORA, “a weekly live transmission dedicated to the coldest flavors of BrokenBeat, Grime, Breakstep, Dubstep and beyond...”

Every Wednesday live at RIIST, from 23h>00h [GMT]
It repeats every Saturday at RIIST from 21h>22h [GMT]

Last weeks tracklisting:
00:00 - Intro
00:22 - BOXCUTTER - Brood (12" Hotflush)
06:13 - KODE9 FT. THE SPACE APE - Kingstown [vox]
(10" Hyperdub)
10:30 - COKI - Officer (12" DMZ)
14:34 - LOEFAH - Truly Dread (12" Promo - Tempa)
18:37 - PRESSURE - Money Honey [remix] (12" Hyperdub)
23:50 - SKREAM - Request Line (12" Promo - Tempa)
28:22 - PLASTICMAN - Cha (12" Terrorhythm)
32:41 - ROLL DEEP - Heat Up [instrumental] (12" Relentless)
37:44 - KAHIL EL'ZABAR & THE KEMIT SOURCES - Our Time Is
Now [IG CULTURE remix] (12" Deeper Soul)
45:18 - YELLOWTAIL FT. IAN FISHER - What's Real (CDR-Dub)
49:25 - BASEMENT JAXX - Do Your Thing [SEIJI remix] (12" Promo)
54:54 - DIRTSMAN & MISSY ELLIOTT - Get Impeccable
[HEATWAVE remix] (7" Punchline)
58:44 - BURIAL - Broken Home (12" Hyperdub)

[ TUNE IN ] COPY/PASTE to REAL PLAYER or iTUNES
[LOW - 32Kb/s] http://ri3.ist.utl.pt:8000/riist32.mp3.m3u
[MEDIUM - 64Kb/s] http://ri3.ist.utl.pt:8000/riist.mp3.m3u
[HIGH - 128Kb/s] http://ri3.ist.utl.pt:8000/riist128.mp3.m3u


Czech Republic
www.webpark.cz/audio-virus/?X is home to Prague based Priapus and E.S.P. Kode9 recently played out there, and I hear from many UK artists of all genres that the Prague dancefloors go off everytime they play.

Hungary
Big Ups to Budapest's Dubster, spreading the sound to a whole new audience: http://dubster.blogspot.com

Stateside

Benny Ill and Dinesh are working together in an NYC studio as reported by Blackdown. I received word of their new projects from Dinesh who also sent me a link to his Tasty Grits myspace site where you can hear some impressive new Grime and Hip-Hop beatz. copy and paste: http://www.myspace.com/tastygritsmusic

www.signalstation.com is a great place to keep up with US happenings. Most recently he’s posted up photos of the recent Grime City party where Joe Nice dropped in from Baltimore to loosen up the dancefloor. I found this link to a San Francisco Bay Guardian article that gives a good idea of how Grime and Dubstep is being received over there, with a focus on the Superheroes and Villains party that I mentioned couple of weeks ago.

Baltimore's enigmatic Joe Nice has been with the scene for many years now and was one of the first DJ's I locked into when I got into it. A true souljah, amongst his many gigs, he's the first U.S DJ to have played at DMZ and one of the only ones to have done Rinse FM. You can access his world via www.joenice.blogspot.com and www.gourmetbeats.com Check some of his radio shows and mixes at www.dubstep.blogspot.com

Shouts also to BIG crew who are reppin Grime and Dubstep in San Fran proppa. Megatron is partial to sending me AIM updates but you can check him at www.megatron.com which contains a wealth of audio and visual material for your pleasure.
www.riddim.ca is an online dubstep and grime community set up a few months ago. Based in Canada, it now has nearly 300 members and features a great archive of interviews, mixes and general chat via their forum.

Amongst the diverse sets that San Fran's Kid Kameleon and Ripley play is a whole lof of dubstep and grime. Ripley (who's surely one of the first female DJ's pushing dubstep?) has also recently started a new column for http://sonicheart.com/ so say hello to that too.

Also worth checking is www.dubliminal.net/words.html where you can find links to radio shows, photos and flyers and www.dubquixote.blogspot.com, home to promoter of Dubwar, DQ whose recent announcment of DUB WAR 3 feat Joe Nice and Kode9 has had me itchin to get out there.

Finally, if you can get hold of XLR8R magazine, you’’ll find a guest review by Loefah alongside some portraits I took a while back. Next months issue sees the Hotflush boys on guest duties.


Brazil

Bruno Belloumini is pretty much the ambassador for all things Dubstep in Brazil.

A DJ, producer and promoter his site www.submusica.com promises fresh, new forms of music and like the others is worth checking for audio links as well as great photos of great looking people.

BRUNO BELLUOMINI (SAO PAULO, BRAZIL) TOP 10 GRIME, DUBSTEP, BREAKSTEP CHART 1ST WEEK OCTOBER 2005

1. Dogzilla & Danny Weed "Hello" OT
2. Ruff Sqwad "Together Jumping" Ruff Sqwad
3. Moving Ninja "Shellcode" Tectonics
4. N Double A "Monsta Riddim" Mastermind
5. Majestic MC "Kebab Riddim" Maj Funk
6. Fumin "War" UD
7. Emalkay "Missile" Morphic Sounds
8. Slaughter Mob "Tinji" Boka
9. Emalkay "Rain" Morphic Sounds
10. Scuba "Timba" Hotflush

Australia
Everyone needs good neighbours, my favourite Aussie neighbour being Kodama who runs www.southernsteppa.com Check it for interviews with Joe Nice, our very own SLT Mob, Digital Mystikz, Martin Clark and mixes including a recent one by Cogent who spent some time down there.