A while out the game

Sorry about the lack of updates, only a handful of people read this stuff anyway....

Of late two things have stuck out to me: One, dubstep is pretty much done. Two, Ricardo Villalobos is possibly the most exceptional artist of the decade.

First things first, dubstep. In 2005/6 it was without question the most exciting thing in the world of electronic music. Guys like Skream, Loefah and Shackleton's application of a minimalist aesthetic (especially the latter) to the 2 x 4 template of UKG and Grime created a sonic landscape of distinctly British sound. The clubs were drenched in sweat and the bass was deafening at times but the energy and intensity of the music was something else. But now? The most exciting producers still associated with dubstep (Bok Bok, Dead Boy, Jam City, Oneman etc) are moving into new territories way down at 130-136 bpm, whilst the void up at 140 seems almost solely occupied by sub-wobble donk for students and cheap soundsystems. Plastic horns coupled with the 'womp' of Caspa, Rusko, 16 Bit etc has essentially created the lowest common denominator of the 'ardcor Continuum. It's sad but it's becoming unlistenable. Basically dubstep seems to have become everything which is wrong about drum and bass, and drum and bass fans in particular (no offence to any on here, but post-97 it's all a bit.....rubbish)

Two (far more uplifting)

fabric celebrated it's 10th brithday bash of late with quite honestly the mother of all shindigs. For a full 32 hours the club was going all guns blazing (and for a fair few more on Monday morning in chill out mode). I was only there for Sunday afternoon/evening but it was undoubtedly one of the most uplifting experiences of my life. The crowd was superb: up for it, unpretencious and teeming with pretty girls with smeared mascara...nice. The real draw though was the music: Ivan Smagghe, Steve 'The General Bug', Rub-n-Tug, Daniel Bell, Daniel Wang, Nacho etc were all straight fire but one man above all made it the great event it was: Ricardo Villalobos.

Villalobos is without a question the most innovative man in dance music over the past few years. His dancefloor productions (MDMA, Lugohitz etc) are impeccable but anyone can make a dancefloor banger these days. What really sets him apart are the dynamic shifts and subtleties within his music, whether remixing Shackleton or blurring the lines between Berlin MnMl and Chilian Folk he is always in total control. In all honesty I was a little worse for wear during his set but the mixing and track selection was impeccable. I've been to fabric mulitple times but no-one has worked the dancefloor like that. Majestic, the subpar dubstep boys could learn a lot.

Upcoming in the next few? Dead Prez/K-Lash at Koko next Friday followied by the Trouble and Bass Crew at Fabric with Herve and Zombie Disco Squad. Missed Nat Self at T-Bar this weekend (did see Anja Schneider though, wicked set how anyone can make 'Diva' sound fresh again has got to have something going for them) so really up for ZDS.

Also tracked this down: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I05QvTXMys it's by Luciano and is without question one of the biggest dancefloor bootlegs I've heard in ages. It really stands out from the Michael Jackson refixs coming out left, right and centre.

Villalobos: The Film

Arguably the most important man in techno over the past 10-15 years Ricardo Villalobos is to be immortalised in film by German director Romuald Karmakar. Karmakar whose previous works include '196 BPM' (a biopic, single take look at 2002's Love Parade in Berlin) and 'Between the Devil and the Wide Blue Sea' (an exploration of the techno/house scenes in Ibiza and Berlin) announced via his website that the film's premier would take place at the 66th Venice International Film Festival in September. Like much of Karmakar's work the film will be a documentary; showing Villalobos at work in Berlin's Panorama Bar and during his stay in Ibiza last year interspersed with interviews with the Chilean techno producer "on how he thinks, how he hears and how he produces his music".

Check the trailer