Space Bass

As dubstep spreads vehemently worldwide, producers have moved away from the early intentions of the music to create stomping dance floor anthems. The early use of the music was to create a dark mood of deep effect. “Deep dubstep” became the nominal term to describe these musicians as the genre transgressed toward the dance scene. Burial, a pioneer who launched dubstep to massive notoriety in 2006, would fall under the guise of deep dubstep; albeit the reclusive producer is without a doubt in his own tripped out musical realm. Some people might also call it “ambient dubstep,” but I dislike that term for the false implications “ambient” can induce upon a genre, especially an inherently movable, dance style like dubstep.

When DJ Distance was selected to choose his replacement for last summer’s Generation Bass, he epitomized this transitional sentiment perfectly: “The reason I picked Cyrus for 2008 is because of his production style really. It’s original; it just stands amongst the stuff at the moment which is all kind of dance floor. His stuff to me just creates a space, and like an environment, which is what dubstep is all about to start out with.”

Whatever surrounding deep dubstep seems to create, that notion of building an environment with the music, similar to minimal techno, is the hallmark of that original dubstep quality. To note, these hybridized subgenre labeling for dubstep, are highly arguable. Dubstep is barley definable in its own right, still being at a relatively infantile, and extremely innovative and experimental stage. My personal use of such terms is simply to express a most universally precise assertion of my experience, in regards to these sounds, in hoping you can share my elation for what is currently being developed underneath the global barrage of bass-weight bangers.

Lately I’ve been listening to a similar sect of such environmental-shifting tunes, what I like to call “Space Bass.” I contrived the term to describe those ultramodern, cosmic auras being created within the scene. I first noticed it with Starkey’s Ephemeral Exhibits, released late last year. The Philadelphia-based producer demonstrates a rare ethereal side of his abilities, with a celestial journey into Low-Earth Orbit that would bring any astronaut on the International Space Station to a zero-gravity boogey. The outro-track, appropriately titled Spacewalk, would be a prime choice for a NASA selectah’s closing track to reload as the sunrises over the Earth, signaling the astronomical tomorrow has arrived and thus ending a literal ‘out-of-this-world’ party.

Veteran electro producer Anthony Rother’s just released, double-CD debut for the German-based Telekraft label, takes us further into the deep void of space bass. Staying true to his German roots, he maintains the 4/4 pace. The album, entitled My Name Is Beuys Von Telekraft, also seems to introduce us to an extraterrestrial alter-ego representing the dark side of Rother. Man takes advantage of lo-fi technique and mechanized vocals to create an extraordinary futurist, outer space environment. His relentless basslines release a cascade of high energy particles through the deep, empty ambiances like solar flares in the magnetosphere. That’s a serious warning for the biochemical damage your body may incur when this guy hits the set on an 800-Watt sub-system.

As technology continues to expand our knowledge of the universe, there’s sure to be more sonic output of cosmic expression, as music remains a primary outlet for the inquisitive questions and conditions of tomorrow. Today, deep dubstep is one of the few genres with the innate ability to encapsulate that vibe. So rock on, Earthlings. “Space Bass” has landed and comes in P.E.A.C.E.

Link: www.starkey-music.com
Link: www.datapunk.de

Starkey - Spacewalk

Where Have I Heard That Before...

If you listen to as much hip-hop as we do then you’re probably familiar with the following predicament: you’re listening to your favorite artist’s new album but the track you're on sounds oddly familiar. The lyrics are dope... but... then it dawns on you: it’s the sample.
Obviously, hip-hop is a sample-based art form. Therefore, this kind of epiphany is nothing new to the hip-hop listener. From 2Pac’s Changes to Eminem’s Sing For The Moment, recycling music is the name of the game. But when two (or even three) of the artists your admire most cop the same sample the results can be polarizing. After all, you’re bound to prefer one over the other right? A previous loyalty to one artist might invoke distaste for a newly discovered group.I recently downloaded Wordsmith’s “The Pursuit of Harmony” off iTunes (get the album now if you haven’t already; shit is ill) and when listening to the track entitled Coalition I was sure I'd heard it before:


Wordsmith - Coalition


After listening to the song on loop 4 or 5 times in a frustrated attempt to identify exactly where the hell I’d heard the melody, it finally hit me: one of my all-time favorite groups, Sweatshop Union, used the exact same sample in their 2005 single God Bless, off “United We Fall”:


Sweatshop Union - God Bless


But the story doesn’t end there. The “original” is simply a sped up version of Füchse a track released in 1999 by German hip-hop group Absolute Beginner.


Absolute Beginner - Füchse


For all I know, this musical regression could go back even much further into the annals of hip hop history. But I think you get the point. What surprises me is the intolerance some people have when confronted with this sort of crisis of sampling. On YouTube there are accusations that Sweatshop Union “stole” the beat from Absolute Beginner. And I'm sure the avid Sweatshop fan might think the same thing when confronted with the Wordsmith track.


Point is, I didn’t drop the album and stop listening to Wordsmith. In fact, I found the parallel fascinating. It made me curious whether Wordsmith had heard Sweatshop’s track before recording his. Or, had both groups heard Absolute Beginner’s track independently.
In any event, the identity of all three of these songs rests very heavily on the melody in question. Indubitably, problems arise when an artist recycles a sample. Being labeled unoriginal and therefore ostensibly untalented can ruin an artists career. Look at Vanilla Ice.


That being said, the existence of multiple interpretations of a single piece of music is not necessarily a negative thing; in fact, it often times enriches the listener’s experience. The incredible thing about hip hop is its innate ability to breath new life into music that has been overwhelmingly played out.Hip-hop could be viewed as a perpetual revival of music beginning with the conception of an original melody or beat, and the subsequent evolution of that piece of music (each evolution documenting how an unique group in history related to that particular piece of music).

Don't get me wrong, Füchse is quality track (and you should peep the music video if you haven’t) but both the Sweatshop Union and Wordsmith variations keep the beat fresh. Then again, I’m a firm believer that in music, better to have too many options than too few. The more important thing to take away from this, perhaps, is that, as someone once said: “there are no original ideas left in this world, only ideas to be evolved.”

A credo, perhaps, for the modern artist. And becoming more-so.

Finally, a little something I found interesting in relation to re-sampling. The top 8 most “overused” samples in hip-hop history. Check it out: http://audio.tutsplus.com/articles/web-roundups/8-most-overused-samples-in-hip-hop-histor