WOEBOT

I know I've been really skeptical about Dubstep, Martin and Steve must be sick to death of my moaning, but in the past couple of days the output of the DMZ label has been socking my rocks. I have listened to a man-sized share of Dubstep in the past, I don't take a deliberately pugilistic standpoint just for kicks, mine has never been an ill-informed perspective; but nothing with the exception of the tiniest fragments of the music have ever really got me going.

It's like back in the day when I was spliff-toting Jungle evangelist, anything whatsoever within the form, anything with rolling amen breaks at all, I thought was brilliant. The friend who I was living with hated jungle, he used to attend those awful TIP parties where a brand of very electronic Goa Trance ruled the day. Our mutual friend Simon Posford aka Hallucinogen was the ruling lord of the scene. I just thought it was a striktly Public School affair, for LSD-deranged trust-fund kids only, and I was really disparaging about it even as I had to endure my friends mixtapes every night. I got dragged along to one of their raves once, sat screwing my face up in the corner.

The only trance music I could tolerate was by this, I think German outfit, called Kox Box. Really amazing stuff. My friend had to concede that this was indeed, probably, the best thing the scene had to offer. He on the other hand was only really struck by Ruffige Cru's "Terminator", and I guess it had to hand it to him right back...

I don't know why it's taken me so long to discover the DMZ label? Until recently I've had a microscopic Dubstep collection on vinyl: The first Rephlex Grime LP, Kode 9's "Kingstown", Scream's "Midnight Request Line", Martin Clark's "Roots of Dubstep" LP, some stuff that Skull Disco sent me, and the Burial CD. That was it. Small but perfectly formed. But then I started stumbling across this Loefah and Digital Mystikz stuff. I don't like all of it, my favourites are Loefah's "Horror Show", Coki's "Mood Dub", Digital Mystikz "Neverland/Stuck", Loefah's "Goat Stare/Root" and his latest "Rufage/Mud". But that's quite a lot isn't it? Totally eclipsing the amount I previously owned.

I heard "Mud" when I went out with kek-w and I really liked it, though completely gave up the idea of ever being able to identify it. Such a lopsided rhythm and a really unusual feel for space. Unfortunately the rest of the night left me pretty cold, actually colder and colder until boredom set in. People have told me the DMZ night is better, but it's a bit late for all that now isn't it? The vibe probably isn't what it was.

If you'll tolerate an outsider's perspective I'll tell you what I think about Dubstep. It's caught between two "rhythmic pleasure tropes", on the one hand there's the satisfaction inherent in repetition. This is obviously something that the Rhythm and Sound posse excel in, them and Steve Reich. The repetition is lulling and narcotic. On the other hand, a vestige of Two-Step, it's locked into the vertical drama of funk. The problem being that in terms of pleasure-centre rapture ne'er the twain do meet*. The music can't be vertical and autobahn-motorik-horizontal. Therefore the best of this music, and the quality of the DMZ label's music has slowly improved, has in time made a pact with the infinite.

From what I understand the DMZ crew (that's Coki, Mala -together Digital Mystikz- and Loefah), came from slightly outside the scene. I suspect from the Aba-shanti Digital Steppers part of the world. Their tryst with Dub-proper has them keyed into the value of horizontal music. It's funny cos I've always remarked how Dubstep feels empty to me, but this doesn't matter in horizontal music, it's not an issue, vacuity is actually an asset. Furthermore the presence of song-form devices like chorus/bridge/intro only clog up a good riddim. From what I've heard though it doesn't seem like anyone else has a handle on how to create those fascinating, trickily-poised rhythmic patterns that lope inexorably forward like an unstoppable mechanical elephant. From what Gutter played me only the geezer Bounty Hunter can match the DMZ stuff.

Buy DMZ mp3s here...

*Detroit Techno also had the same issues with vertical and horizontal rhythm which it best resolved through rhythmic density (something like Rhythm is Rhythm's "The Beginning" or texturally in the barren timbres of "The Art of Stalking").

** To anyone left in the world who doesn't know by now....