Mittwoch 30.04.2008 / Tanz in den Mai

U-Club & Version präsentieren:
DUBSTEP vs. DRUM&BASS NIGHT

mainfloor: dubstep vs. drum & bass
DIGITAL MYSTIKZ feat. MALA
(DMZ, deep medi, Soul Jazz rec, London)
& MC SGT POKES (deep medi, London)
FLIGHT (play:musik, metalheadz, London, UK)
MC KEMO (soul:r, digital soundboys, usa/ger)
DJ ORSON (Versio, Düsseldorf)
DJ MERZO (u-club, Wuppertal)

2nd floor: electro beatz & dubstep:
PENELOPE (düsseldorf)
PUPA NILEZ (elektronic beatz, Wuppertal)

visuell art:
DAS BEN (Berlin)
DIE HEIKE UND SEINE HENNE (u-club, Wuppertal)

U-Club Wuppertal
Start 22 Uhr - open end
Eintritt 10 Euro

ACHTUNG!
Tickets sind nur noch an der Abendkasse frü 10€ erhältlich

Sounds of London

Dubstep ist in London schon seit Jahren Trend, nun endlich scheint die Welle auch langsam nach Deutschland zu schwappen. Weltweit gesehen können wir uns dabei jedoch eher als Nachzügler betrachten, verfolgt man die Tour-Pläne der hochkarätigen Londoner Dubstep Djs. Einer von ihnen ist der Dj, Veranstalter, Labelchef und Produzent Mala von Digital Mystikz. Er ist einer der Pioniere des Dubstep. Beeinflusst durch seine Liebe zum Jungle, Dub und Garage entwickelte Mala gemeinsam mit seinem Labelpartner Coki einen sehr eigenen Style, der sich durch mystische Soundscapes und ihren "Wobbelbass" auszeichnet. Hierbei steht die Funktionalität auf der Tanzfläche jedoch im Mittelpunkt. Unterstützung erhält Mala bei seinem Set vom Teamkollegen am Mikrofon Mc Sgt. Pokes, ebenfalls aus London.
Für den Drum & Bass Part der Nacht zeigt sich Metalheadz Vorzeige-Dj Flight verantwortlich. Die junge Lady zählt gemeinsam mit Dj Storm zu den bekanntesten weibliche Djs im internationalen D&B Zirkus. Sie überzeugt neben ihren ausgezeichneten Mixing Skills durch ihre abwechslungsreichen Sets, welche nur so von Soul und Sexappeal strotzen. Flight versteht es das Publikum zu faszinieren, weshalb auch ihre Radio Show auf Radio One zu den angesagtesten D&B Radio Shows weltweit gehört.

Stellt Euch also auf eine abwechslungsreiche Nacht voll musikalischen Leckerbissen und ausgiebiger Körperbewegung ein. Präsentiert wird die Party als Kooperation zwischen Version und U-Club. Verson Macher Dj Orson ist einer der aktiven Dubstep Promoter in Deutschland. Neben guter Musik ist er auch für zahlreiche Dubstep Partys in Düsseldorf, Köln und im Ruhrgebiet verantwortlich. Ausserdem treffen wir auf die Djs Penelope, Merzo und Pupa Nilez, die jeder für sich innovative Persönlichkeiten hinter den Turntables darstellen. Für die Visuals ist Das Ben aus Belin sowie Die Heike Und Seine Henne vor Ort. Die Party startet um 22 Uhr, der Eintritt beträgt 10 Euro.

MYSPACE-LINKS:

DIGITAL MYSTIKZ: http://www.myspace.com/malamystikz
SGT POKES: http://www.myspace.com/sgtpokes
DJ FLIGHT: http://www.myspace.com/littlemissflight

Digital Mystikz - BIOGRAPHY

Digital Mystikz: South London’s finest purveyors of meditational bass weight. Pioneers of the dubstep scene, producers, DJs, label owners and promoters, they unleash a dense concentration of dubwise good vibrations.
Longtime friends from south London, Mala and Coki began with a shared love of jungle, dub, roots reggae, garage and house. Together they began forming their own distinct styles of music. Their breakthrough came when their first anthem, “Pathwayz” (Big Apple), got dropped at club Forward>>. Soon distinctive, fresh music like Mala’s “Neverland” or “Anti War Dub”, Coki’s “Stuck” or “Shattered” began raining down on unsuspecting Londoners.

They soon started their own flagship label DMZ with partner Loefah. Now on its eleventh release, DMZ has become a figurehead imprint for the dubstep scene. A new 7” series will soon follow. Digital Mystikz also have two 12” on London’s respected Soul Jazz imprint including the long awaited appearance of dance floor classic “Conference.” The duo also featured alongside Loefah on Aphex Twin’s label Rephlex, who licensed a batch of their dubplates for the second of their globally recognised “Grime” compilations.

To fully showcase their sound, they also (again with Loefah) began DMZ the night, held every two months at 3rd Base (St Matthews Church) in Brixton. Now 2 years old they have friends, fans and family flying in from all over the globe to attend, On their 1st Birthday they had to move to the bigger venue on the night to stop turning people away. They’re home is Mass in Brixton.

This international affection has been returned, with demands to play their sound worldwide. Mala began to play the dmz sound exclusively in 2004 and continues to play shows in Holland, Belgium, Germany, Norway, Spain, Portugal, Czech Republic and USA. Mala has just got back from touring Japan, Australia and New Zealand. All this follows on from wide UK coverage, from DMZ dances, London shows at Fabric, Fwd>>, The End. UK and European festivals LoveBox, TDK, Quart and Bestival, Detonate in Nottingham, Bristol’s Dubloaded events, Rephlex and Warp parties, supporting New Zealand’s Fat Freddys Drop at Brixton Academy - London. They’ve dropped their productions numerous times live on air, Kiss 100 and BBC Radio 1 including opening the now pivotal Dubstep Warz on Mary Anne Hobbs’ Breezeblock show. Their bass weight meditation is spreading far and wide.

DUBSTEP
A story by Martin Clark

Lately it would be easy to assume that dubstep = halfstep. Indeed lots of recent dubstep sets are dominated by this style, which uses one snare per bar and is designed to give a slower, skanked out feel. Mala Digital Mystikz's recent set, however, performed at Forward>>-- a vastly smaller venue than he's now used to playing-- was gloriously rhythmically diverse.

Premiering a ton of dubplate weight-line freshness, his FWD>> appearance was an excursion in polyrhythmic delight. From the off-4/4 of "Anti War Dub (version)" to the interrupted house rhythms of"Hunter", it worked a treat and played on the strength of having three producers all in rich form.

Mala's long since pioneered the "up" vibe in dubstep through "Neverland" and "Anti War Dub", in delicious contrast to Loefah's ultra dark "down." A keen house fan, he could have simply injected four kicks on the beat, and made house at 138bpm. Instead he took the interesting route.

One dub, with an unmistakeable "BURY THE BWOY!" sample in it, takes polyrhythm literally, with galloping kicks coming across like two tracks mixed out of phase. Try mixing a third track outta that?

One of the criticisms of halfstep is that it lacks energy, and last year steps were taken to respond to this. On some tracks, notably Coki DMZ and Skream's remix of DMZ's "Ancient Memories" (out soon on DMZ), the rapid fluctuation of the bass became a real vibe-driver, propelling ravers towards skankheaven. Tonight was no exception, with Mala showcasing a new Coki riddim that wobbled the b-line until the roof shook. With the drums almost inaudible, it was almost like a beatless Wiley Devil Mix, but with the synths driven from East London through the dark, choking Blackwall tunnel into Southside Croydon-style sub bass regions. When Wiley did it in early grime circa 2003 it was the MC's bark that drove the rave. In dubstep 2006, excessively mutating bass waves do the same.

But in this sea of dubstep Devil migrations and offkilter offbeats, one slab of halfstep minimalism stood out like a mile. The tune of the night-- the one that made jaws hit the floor-- was Loefah's remix of Vex'd"Third Choice". Minimalism is a tricky game. When you pick fewer elements you've got to get them right. Get them wrong, the crowd is waiting for the next tune from your intro. Get them right, and it's bliss. Loefah's "3rd Choice" remix is a dark, twisted kind of bliss, but amid his pain there's pleasure. Based around an old school bass stab, part bleep techno, part 96 Metalheadz, part grungy 2steppers-- take your pick-- Mala only played a few minutes of this seven minute remix that was finished just that day. Has Loefah topped
his own "Mud?"

Disclosure alert! The following copy is on a project I've been involved with and want to bring you world exclusive news of, right here. Since Skream's "Request Line", the success of the DMZ nights and Mary Anne Hobbs' Dubstep Warz show the explosion in interest in dubstep has been unprecedented in its six year history. Users on the Dubstep forum tripled to 1,500-- pretty amazing given most dubstep pressings couldn't shift more than 300 units as little as two years ago. You'd be forgiven amid the hyperbole for thinking a new scene had been born - when in fact Croydon's finest have been struggling away for six years or more. And while the scene's current stars and hot upand- comers are undoubtedly burning brightly, the sound also has a rich past.

Over the last four months I've been working on a project entitled "Ammunition and Blackdown
present...The Roots of Dubstep" for Tempa. The plan is to re-present the best of the now lost or obscure early dubstep 12"s. The selection will draw from proto-dubstepper Steve Gurley, go through the best of El-B's Ghost Camp, Zed Bias, Artwork, Horsepower, Skream and Benga, and end at the first Digital Mystikz anthem-- perhaps a beginning of a new phase, if ever a line can be drawn. We've spent months agonizing over which tracks have stood the test of time instead of those that merely sounded big back in the day at Forward>> over the Velvet Room sound-system. We've tracked down lost producers to prize mixed masters from their vaults. There will be an unmixed CD, so the productions can be heard in all their glory. There will also be a vinyl double-pack featuring two out-of-press classics and two still unreleased anthems dropping in early June.

Back in the Velvet Rooms days and before (circa 1999-2001), it is important to remember there wasn't a name for this sound. It evolved out of the dominant UK garage scene, where saccharine-sweet vocal 2step would sit next to Todd Edwards 4/4, DJ Zinc's breakbeat garage experiments mixed into Narrows' caustic Belgian rave or Timo Maas' remix of house anthem "Dooms Night". It was an exciting time for London's diversity of 138 bpm sounds.

As the Velvet Room sessions took garage in a more concerted, darker direction, its mix of dark 2step ("nu dark swing"), breakbeat garage, and proto-grime (also then known as "8bar" or "east beat") was for a while collectively referred to as "The Forward>> sound." At this time all parts of the dark garage spectrum influenced each other. Current dubstep purist Youngsta played mostly 8bar, and Wookie's"Storm" and majestic "Far East" were Forward>> anthems. Slaughter Mob played Ghost dubs. Oris Jay evolved from his 2step roots to produce breakier hits like "Confused" and "Said the Spider". And that doesn't even cover Lanslide, Jay Da Flex, and Zed Bias' broken beat/dubstep fusions.

It's recently come to light that it was Ammunition who first coined the term "dubstep", doing it in a press release supplied to XLR8R magazine, for a feature on Ghost and Horsepower Productions. It was subsequently used on the DJ Hatcha CD Dubstep Allstars, Vol 1. The Roots of Dubstep, therefore, documents strictly what the term dubstep refers to, and not the other shades of the Forward>> sound. For decent early breakbeat garage compilations, check the Bingo catalog. For proto-grime track down Slimzee's mix for Ministry, downloads of the N.A.S.T.Y. Crew's N.A.S.T.Y. Sessions, or early grime sets (there's an early N.A.S.T.Y. one here as part of my Dizzee Rascal interview).

The next Dubstep Allstars will be a double CD, with one disc each mixed by Youngsta and Hatcha. Legendary dubplate cutting house Transition is starting a dubstep label, which is perfectly sensible since most of the London 12"s are mastered there. The first release should be Skream v Distance "Wise Men". Distance is also working on an album for Planet Mu. Pinch's "Punisher" is also dropping on Mu.
Portugal's Numestro and 23Hz will be releasing a four-track vinyl EP late May, on 213 Underground. This will include the super subby "Galleon Dub". Scuba's crisp'n'clean electronica/dubstep excursions continue with the mournful "Dreams" dropping soon. Dub Police, Quiet Storm's label, is dropping the Caspa EP, including the lush "Cockney Flute". Burial's much anticipated debut album is out in May on Hyperdub. Finally, the BBC have done an excellent documentary and online hub on dubstep, check it here. Who likes me hat? Wed: 04-12-06