THE GENRE IS BORNE OF BASSLINES THAT BORDER ON THE SINISTER
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David Pollock casts an eye over the illustrious career to date of Skream, one of the founding fathers of that most sonorous of sub genres, dubstep
he \xoi'd ‘duhstep‘ might spell out all §ou need to knou .rhout .\lieam. .\lueh like duh the genre is bottle of a hem}. tremhlmg hassline and a \lo\\ ih}thm \\hieh borders on the \llll\lL‘l'. lhe \tep‘ part relerx to the laet that )iiii ean \llll datiee to it. l)e\pite the \_\nt|ietie. lutttrixtie \eneer ol dulktep. it\ roots lie in the riotous nrhan r'h_\thm\ of drutn tk haw arid l'l\' garage a\ mueh as duh.
It‘\ a measure ol the genre\ \ieiouxl} eontemporar} eaehet that Ski'eam. aka ()llie .lonex. a ll .\earvold lad from ('ro_\don. hax ahead) reaehed the point \xhere he ean he eonxidered a \enerahle founding lather ol' the genre \lthough duhstep has been huhhling under the South |.ondon \eene \inee the turn of. the deeade. .\lream has been on the l-ringe of that \eene for inst a\ long and has been irNrumental in its iourne} to\\.ii’d\ heeoming a hona lide national \uheulture.
ln .‘llll‘. dropping the term ‘duhxtep' has e\ en more of an air of eool than uttering the phrase ‘ne\\ ra\e‘. lt‘x e\en heen \\ritten about in the Hui/i It fruits/ill. for hea\en\ Mth l‘a i“.t\\-llL‘;l\_\ inxtrumental form' \\a\ ho\\ the} rather di‘_\l_\ deserihed itl. Yet it feel\ not so mueh a media irnention as a hung. organie lll\\\ClllClll.
l’l'itdtlet‘t\ \ueh ;t\ /.etl High ttlltl Ulllk‘l‘x llltHl notahl_\ thoxe on l.ondon\ l‘empa lahel. \\ ere unuittingl) to ereate duhxtep. untitled at the time. through their e\periment\ in \xelding the regular t\\o- \tep \t) le to languid duh rh_\thm\. hur) ing the results on the haelx of. \\hite lal‘elx. Yet. it \xaxn't until a eluh named l‘ornard» mm b} .\mmunition l’roduetionx. “h” tth‘ l‘ittllldcd lt‘lltl‘ul t‘l‘k‘llk‘kl ;tl St‘llt‘.\ \‘L'I\L‘[
reggae.
l\’imtlt\ in Illlll. that the \t_\le e\entua|l_\ found ll\ oun outlet.
.\round the same time. (‘roylon‘s Hig .-\pple reeord no\\ delunet reeords h} the area\ l)|\' duhxtep produeerx. and it \\a\ here. \\ot‘|\ittg behind the eounter. that Slxream reeei\ ed a good part of his edueation. .-\lread_\ a friend of llatelia. one of the genre\ older pt‘ogettilot‘\. the fledgling mum had heen ereating on his bedroom l’(' \inee the age of IS. and “as thus pei‘leetl} plaeed to let the leading pla}etx in the area hear \xhat he had eome tip \xith. It \\a\ llateha. in laet. \\ ho ga\e Ski'eam his first piihlie pla_\ at l~or\\ard>.
the nut ten .\earx \an duhxtep emerge into the national eonxeiouxnexx through \ueh di\er\e outlets as .\lar‘} .\nne llohhx' Radio l show. The Hire. and the mundtraek of .\lt‘onxo ('uaron'\ leflh film (‘lir/t/rt'n or .lli'n. This latter appearanee perhapx sums up the eroxxm er potential of Llllh\IL'P hest it‘s a \t_\le \\hieh is aeeexxihle hut dark. a perleetly realixed blend of d_\ \topiatt futurixm and ran. hrutal errntemptiraneousnesx.
.\t this point in time. then. stream is quite poxxihl} the hextrknoun duhxtep produeer in Britain. and. h} e\ten\ion. the \xorld. lllx lell5 single ‘Midnight Request line. is eertainl} the genres most familiar plate. and Iaxt walk self-titled album has taken him ax far afield as .-\meriea to pla}. He‘s e\en remixed Kla\on\. demonstrating iuxt hon elmel} duhxtep'x still relatnel}-unl\no\\n nature ix so perteetl} in tune with its times.
\lltili
Skream plays Volume! at the Bongo Club, Edinburgh, Fri 12 Oct.
heeatne lltL' leading \ltk‘hi\l lttl‘
THE BEST DANCEFLOOR ACTION
All Tore Up l we rockabilly from the lenn 2ssee l lotshots plus killer 550:; record hop to celebrate the fourth anniversary of lltli§ brilliant montth rock'n'roll (Tltll). Happy Birthday guys. Blackfrrars, Glasgow, Sat (5 ()et.
Streetrave 18th Birthday \lon Digweed heads up an all star line up that includes a live show from Shades of Rhythm. Arches, (,3/asgow, Sat (5 ()et.
Departure Lounge Biggal'jush touches down at the Caves to spread grins and good times wrth a rnrx of reggae and latrn. liataraida and h; ss. ‘Nanana nanana nice . . Like Beans and Rice'. [he Caves. /:(//Ilt)t/r_(//l, In K) Oct.
Volume! See prevrew, left. the Bongo Club, [’(i/ltbll/‘g/l, Fri 12 Oct.
Art of Parties liay Sin and pals begin their new montth residency in style at the Arches wrth Etienne de Creey, Yuksek, Passions (live) and Autokratz. Read it and weep folks; this is going to be a stormer. the Arches. G/asgow, Fri 72 Oct.
Solescience Call him Bobby Peru or Paul Woolford (pictured). this man's putting a little Space between himself and [ham to bring the wrong side of house Back To Basics. Cabaret Voltaire. Fri 72 Oct.
Camouflage A bit of a coup to say the least as the boys hook up With Scrabbe Soundsystem to bring you the one and only Milanese — Warp's darling and Soundex Phoenetic. Prepare to dance. Soundhaus, G/asgow. Fri 72 Oct.
Wrong Island New night at Sleazy's and to prove they have excellent taste, Dave Clark. aka The Truffle Club will be playing live. Nice'N'S/eazy Glasgow. Sat 73 Oct.
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