Looking back, there's no doubt that dubstep has not only been a outright success but has indeed led to a craze and a music revolution. With its trademark basslines and jerky, catchy rhythms, no one could have missed its huge effect on recent chart music. Ever since Skream's La Roux remix became a surprise viral sensation last year, hit after hit and remix after remix from newer, emerging DJs have surfaced online, ready for immediate listening by youtube-addicted pre-pubescents. Chase and Status have sold out venues across the UK and collaborated with the likes of Snoop Dogg, Plan B and Dizzee Rascal. And Benga, Skream and Artwork have formed Magnetic Man, the world's first Dubstep supergroup, who now stand poised to reach mega-stardom time upon the release of their debut album.
But there must be only so much of this we can take? Surely the same old same old duh duh da da dubudbudbubd dah dah featured in the majority of dubstep tunes will eventually seem rather boring? A large proportion of the public is in the same frame of mind as me... while MM might be faring well at the moment and Joker might stand a chance of selling a few recs over the coming year, neither is likely to sell many copies of a follow-up are they? What possibly could they do which they hadn't done already, without moving away from the dubstep genre altogether?
Our growing disappreciation for the genre is represented by compilation albums being released, already, such as "Dubstep Classics vol. 2". The best dubstep tunes have already been made (See Joker - Stuck in the System or Appleblim- Vansan). It's a true fact, I'm afraid to say.
So, what's next for Dubstep? Can this craze be developed into something more cutting-edge and modern in the future?
Well.. Yes it can... the answer, my anticipated friends, is POST-DUBSTEP. If you have not already heard en then you may be thinking "in the name of Zeus, already?! I only just purchased tickets for my friends and I to go to the Chase and Status mega-show featuring special guests at the local medium-sized music dive, but now that my favourite dubstep murderers seem to have gone out of fashion, maybe I should return them", but there is no need to worry so frantically; Post-Dubstep is still in its very early stages.
You may have read my earlier ramblings, promoting such innovative darlings as Mount Kimbie and one James Blake (who actually actually used to be a touring member with the former). What they both produce is original, technical, ambience, using samples and loops to the max. Forget pounding basslines, think laid back soundscapes that you can actually do your homework to or play in the car without running over that poor paperboy on his bicycle. Usually its female voices which are sampled and and overlayed with the oddest thumps/clunks/noises/stumblebums that you could possibly think of. It's music in a similar vein to Germany's fantastic Pantha du Prince (pictured below), who has created one of the year's greatest works by way of Black Noise. PdP hasn't be coined as Post-dubstep as such but that's probably because he's been making music since way before the preceding genre began to flourish.
Another record I loved this year is by the aforementioned Mount Kimbie, an album called Crooks & Lovers. Contained in it are 11 songs: some very short, some slightly longer. In fact, it's a rather short album altogether. But its flowing syncopation and astounding ingenuity bewilders me. This is the music that Magnetic Man would've had to have made on their second release in order to prove to me that Dubstep has a future. Dubstep does have a future. And Mount Kimbie's post-dubstep is it.
*UPDATE* listen to James Blake's fantastic new song Klavierwerke:
