'Dubstep' invading club scene
Published: Monday, February 28, 2011
Updated: Saturday, June 16, 2012 02:06
 "Photo: Courtesy of Mara Gruber")
Courtesy of Mara Gruber
Ohio State students dance at ColumBASS 2.0, a dubstep music event held at Bernie's on High Street. Glow sticks are in abundant supply at most dubstep functions.
After repeated attempts to describe the sound of dubstep, an electronic bass-heavy genre of music, most people give up and say, "You just have to listen to it." Dubstep has invaded the bars and clubs of Columbus in an explosive way.
To the untrained ear, dubstep can sound like a mess of noise that interrupts the otherwise upbeat song it sits on. It grinds the inner ear with industrial cacophony and heavy bass.
Ohio State's Electronic Music Club treasurer and "dubstep officer" Matt Weber, a third-year in fashion and retail studies, describes dubstep as slower than trance or electro-house music.
"You just have to play it, that's the easiest way to know what it is," he said. "Dubstep is dubstep. You can't describe it."
Sarah Hoyt, Weber's girlfriend and fellow electronic music enthusiast, said she's been listening to the genre for six or seven years and hasn't heard anything quite like dubstep.
"Dubstep itself has become a foundation, like a starting point for more dance music," she said.
Dubstep originated in the underground scene of London and, like many genres of underground music before it, seeped into America's music and club scene. Its influence can be heard in the work of many mainstream artists, including Britney Spears and 3OH!3. It started in the U.S. with the rave culture and is now splintering off into different subgenres.
"The growth of dubstep and the music scene is crazy. It's definitely a fad right now," said Scott Singerman, owner and creator of Ohio Stand Up, a collaboration of electronic music fans. "Britney's song arouses a lot of different opinions of that. It's a good sign for awareness of dubstep, but maybe not the longevity."
Local DJ Vince Frascello agreed.
"People have strong opinions about dubstep, because it's such a deep-rooted culture. There's always going to be music hipsters," he said. "I think Britney's song ("Hold It Against Me") is sweet. It's mainstream with dubstep influence."
The rise of the style in Columbus can be contributed to the many organizations that have banded together to make the music scene more cohesive for fans of dubstep.
Electronic music groups like My Best Friend's Party, Ohio Stand Up and OSU's Electronic Music Club, as well as venues such as Skully's, Circus and The Mansion, have had a hand in promoting the dubstep music scene.
"Ohio Stand Up is an off-shoot of C.O. Way, and we started this blog as a sort of hub for electronic music in Ohio. We want to write about artists and talk about events going on," local DJ Frankie Spontelli said. "We started out pretty simple. Every time we step on the scene now, its like we're at work."
C.O. Way is the blogging, entertainment supplement to the business part of Ohio Stand Up.
The dubstep scene has spawned styles of dress, photography and attitude. At ColumBASS 2.0, an event put on by Spontelli and Frascello at Bernie's, there were scores of people with glow sticks through their ears piercings, around their wrists, in their hair and around their necks.
One person stood out among the crowd. Mowglii Flows gets paid to dance at shows with giant glow sticks and flashing hula-hoops.
"A lot of the things I do are really about the illusion and captivating my audience," Flows said. "The mix between the music, the way I'm dancing, the way my lights and hoops glow and move with the music all come together nicely to create a pretty captivating light show."
The term "glow freak" was mentioned several times at the show, indicating the kids covered head to toe in glow sticks.
"You see all these people decorated in glow sticks and blinking lights and LED toys, and you know when you see them they are just all over the place dancing, having a great time, feeling the music," Flows said.
The vibe at the beginning of the night was mellow, but quickly headed in a more aggressive direction, causing Bernie's to stop letting in patrons under 21 years old.
"Whenever there's a lot of white people in the room, that have been drinking heavily, you have an untapped dubstep market," Singerman said, laughing. "Dubstep gives white people swag."
Often dubstep is associated with a drug culture because of how it was introduced in the U.S. with the rave scene. Dubstep fans have said over and over again that drugs are not what the music is about. Weber said despite the encroaching drug culture stigma that's been attached to the dubstep community, "peace, love, unity and respect" remains the mantra of the culture.
Unlike its musical counterparts, such as pop and hip-hop, the direction of dubstep in Columbus is more or less controlled by the fans that listen to it. As a whole, electronic music is handled by the trend-setters and the underground culture.
"I like to think of it as the new-age ‘hippie' movement. Everyone is really out for a good time, and for the most part you get nothing but smiles and dance partners," Flows said.
Many have differing opinions on how to describe the dubstep "scene."
"Its good to see it getting out there, but I think people are losing sight of it," Weber said. "It's turning into ‘bro-step' now. All they see is a fad."
Weber described ‘bro-step' as a subgenre of dubstep that is geared toward people who may not be familiar with the music and go to shows for the drugs and not the music.
21 comments
Anonymous
stop complaining about everything theres always been problems with every type of music that has ever come to the scene some people hate it some love it some times things get out of control thats just human nature and yes theres a lot of 'producers' out there that arent good yea maybe they will get a show or 2 but when it comes down to it thats all they will get you cant just put people down for trying to produce or else there wouldnt be any music if no one tried either like dubstep or just forget about it everybody just loves controversy
OSU Grad 2010
Since I've arrived in Columbus, I've noticed that the electronic music scene has grown quite a bit. The OSU electronic music club and a number of other groups such as Stand Up Ohio and My Best Friend's Party have done a lot to promote not just the local DJ's, but some of the best in the world. Like Marco and a few others commenting in this article, I would agree that we are sick of overplayed top-40 artists from the likes of Lady GaGa & Justin Bieber. When top name talent such as Paul van Dyk, Deadmau5, or Ferry Corsten come to Columbus, I am one of the first to buy pre-sale tickets (much cheaper than what one would pay in bigger cities such as New York or Chicago).I'm not one to make a blanket statement that dubstep (a.k.a. brostep) is entirely destroying and marginalizing the electronic music movement, but it seems to be problematic at times. I was one of the attendees at the Summer In The Winter at the Fort Rapids resort, which I initially thought was going to be a fun night about the music. After seeing walls smashed, fire alarms pulled, and passed drugged out people in the hallways to the sound of dubstep music, I lost a great deal of respect for dubstep music (and the $10k in damages to the Fort Rapids resort that night). At many of the dubstep events, it is nothing but a bunch of the bros just going to the show to be seen, and act like total idiots to DJs that think they are legit just by setting up their MacBook and Serato Scratch Live software program.Becoming a DJ takes a lot of hours to prepare into a set, and it takes a lot more than just $1000's of dollars worth of fancy equipment. A number of my good friends that DJ hate wannabe DJs that come onto the scene thinking the gear they bought (most likely with their parents' money) can rely solely on their software program for beat matching, and all other skills. They're the same type that get over inflated egos just because they can make a bunch of 18-20 year old clueless girls go crazy to a beat drop that essentially is nothing more than noise.I've heard some quality dubstep sets, yet at the same time it's easy to tell the difference between an artist that has put time into his/her set versus one that tries to appeal to PBR-drinking hipster fans that don't have the slightest clue about electronic music. If you've ever been to Ultra Music Festival or listened to quality labels such as Anjunabeats, you know exactly what I'm talking about in that dubstep can give electronic music a negative drug-scene stereotype. Like soccer, electronic music is still making progress from Europe here to the U.S. with crossover artists such as David Guetta & Afrojack. Include dubstep in the mix with other electronic genres such as trance, house, deep house, etc., but at the same time it's easy for even the most loyal of electronic music fans to have skepticism (esp. when I try to introduce my friends to electronic music).
Anonymous
This article is accurate, but poorly written. Who is Frascello? Who is Singerman? Even if this information is in the slideshow, you must report it in the writing. How was this even pressed? Shame on you, Ryan Book.
The girl in the black jacket
Dubstep sounds cool so deal with it :)
-buckeye dub
"We didnt write this article as a... Hey Look at us we know everything about dubstep - it was for the average student to pick up and read about what the dubstep craze is all about"-But that's why people are complaining about some parts of the article, because they are concerned that the average reader will be MIS-informed about certain elements of dubstep. Don't say you expected to receive criticism and then complain when people criticize! Ludicrous. You excessively highlight this whole "brostep" thing which no one can even define, and the drugs that you say go along with it. Drugs are part of every music scene. If you really wanted to focus on the music, then why even bring up the subject.
Tyler
Dear Jesus Christ:
That's kind of what the comment section is for.Dear people talking about Britney:
Perhaps you shouldn't...
*glasses*
hold it against her 8)But really, this "brostep" trend is at least a step (heh) in the right direction even if I don't necessarily enjoy it. I'm a hardcore/gabber junkie and always will be regardless of who is going to them, though I don't really see it gaining too much mainstream following due to its tiring pace (ITS HARD TO GRIND AT 180 BPM). Who knows, maybe more people will find it interesting thanks to this new opening
That's kind of what the comment section is for.Dear people talking about Britney:
Perhaps you shouldn't...
*glasses*
hold it against her 8)But really, this "brostep" trend is at least a step (heh) in the right direction even if I don't necessarily enjoy it. I'm a hardcore/gabber junkie and always will be regardless of who is going to them, though I don't really see it gaining too much mainstream following due to its tiring pace (ITS HARD TO GRIND AT 180 BPM). Who knows, maybe more people will find it interesting thanks to this new opening
CBUSDUB
i couldn't be more ashamed of Ohio Stand Up. this article is BS. learn what your talking about and think before you speak if your doing an interview. very disappointed in you guys.
Anonymous
Change Electronic Music Club to Electronic Music Hipsters that Argue will never be happy club. Please.
JesusChrist
All I have to say is...CERTAIN PEOPLE NOT NAMING NAMES - Care WAY TO MUCH ABOUT WHAT PEOPLE SAY OR THINK!!!Even if everyone one of those statements from every person - were NEUTRAL and NOT AB MUSIC OR GENRESyou all would still have something to say about it..Think about it like this... All of the people in the article were interviewed for a lengthy amount of time... And only certain statements were chose to be in this articleBasically what I am saying is... I know this article / interview was going to take much criticism.. but at the end of the day - this article wasn't written for you!!!We didnt write this article as a... Hey Look at us we know everything about dubstep - it was for the average student to pick up and read about what the dubstep craze is all aboutI will stick to one my famous statements: "there is always one (or two... or a few) Haters in every crowd... But if people are hating on you - that must mean your doing something right...."All I have to say is people care to much about GENRES and SUBGENRES and WHAT DUBSTEP really is... but at the end of the day its all Music homies -Hate it or Love itAnd expressing your OUTRIGHT HATE AND negative opinions continually after someone write a well informed article - isnt going to get you any where.... (YOU HEAR ME IT ISNT GOING TO GET YOU ANY WHERE!!!!)
I know this article was going to take much heat and criticism - but atleast the average student walking down high street may have some better idea about what Dubstep isAnd if you already know what it is - than enjoy it for yourself... stop hatingOne love - music - cant we all just spread that love?? At the end of the day, I bless the Lord for Haters like yourselves who NIT PICK every little bit of what people say.Thank-you Lord for giving us all Dubstep to argue over peace
I know this article was going to take much heat and criticism - but atleast the average student walking down high street may have some better idea about what Dubstep isAnd if you already know what it is - than enjoy it for yourself... stop hatingOne love - music - cant we all just spread that love?? At the end of the day, I bless the Lord for Haters like yourselves who NIT PICK every little bit of what people say.Thank-you Lord for giving us all Dubstep to argue over peace
Scott Singerman
My comment about everyone being able to make music was actually in reference to almost anyone being able to pick up a laptop and DJ. I was not referring to producing - that is a whole different story.I apologize for any misunderstanding - not trying to discredit any producers. Any time you are able to start with nothing and create something that is entirely your own, it is terribly impressive and no small feat no matter what art form you are involved with.
Khaze
Yo dawg I be makin' the dubstep now and lemme tell you it ain't be like this. It's a good article and I glad you be doin' it and spreadin' da word, but callin' stuff brostep is detrimental to the movement.I ain't sayin' that there ain't no controversy about genres and subgenres, but the point is that people are making music to listen to that's good. The whole "brostep" thing is a phrase concocted by people who are trying to illustrate that they're "true" dubstep fans, unlike the wave of new fans who don't know what the scene is really about.Brostep has nothing to do with drugs. Drugs have been on the rave scene forever, including dubstep now and in 2001. And anyone who tries to paint it like drugs are dangerous or detrimental are servants of fascist institutions and seek to oppress the masses. Clearly, everyone can choose for herself whether or not to do drugs.The music I write might be considered "brostep," but it's just a stylistic evolution and I can definitely appreciate older "less abrasive styles."There is no war, no conflict over styles. And the only reason anyone would think this is because this lie is being propagated non-stop.
Alan
I have no idea what the comment below is trying to say, nor what NF means or where getting laid came anywhere into the equation. After googling GEED, now I'm trying to figure out if Anonymous is calling out non-Greek people as... responsible for the label bro-step? If you're in a fraternity and take offense to the term bro-step, that's your own fault, you don't have to feel targeted by the term. Still confused on the getting laid part... dunno where that comes in.Anyways, I like the article though, and how it gets the dubstep genre out there to more people. All the events thrown by the groups mentioned in the article are also great to attend and party at. My only problem is that I very much disagree with Singerman's quote on producing: It is nothing near easy, and where he gets the word "simplicity" I am lost. And saying everyone and their best friend can make music... he must either have never opened up a DAW with some VST's and tried to even make a sound come out of the speakers, or be referring to DJ'ing, not producing; as 'everyone and their brother' can DJ nowadays with just a laptop and stolen music. I've been learning production for a year now, and it is extremely difficult technically, forget about the songwriting/creative aspect.Also... Britney Spears? I really can't understand that comment, it is a terrible song, but I understand the excitement about dubstep getting to the masses and how that can be a good thing as more people enjoy it.
David
I agree with Marco's point. For one, that britney spears song is awful and entirely misrepresentative of the genre. Next, it's nice to say dubstep is invading our club scene, which it is, but the club scene is still, as Marco said, primarily house and electro. To take dubstep's popularity out of the greater context ignores the rest of the EDM culture that has exploded around Columbus. As for the record label comment...every artist will belong to a label, and as marco said, the few major US labels tend not to sign EDM artists and therefore ignore the entire demand for EDM culture. The only relatively major EDM label in the US is Ultra records and I don't see the amount of albums they release dominating stores. Many EDM artists create their own labels, as Marco said, to promote the sound that they like... for instance, Steve Aoki founded Dim Mak records to promote his hard indie electro style which is represented by other artists on the label, such as The Bloody Beetroots. And these relationships are true for many other artists.Finally, I want to clarify a comment I saw in the article. Making good music is never easy, and yes, alot of really really bad music is created because so many people can more easily access the equipment they need to produce music than ever before. However, actually sitting down and making the music, and better yet, making good music, is an extremely time consuming and intensive process. Not only do producers have to create and synthesize their own unique sounds, but they also have to compose it and master it. I alone have spent 3-4 hours on several occasions fine tuning a synthesizer that I want in a song... and there is normally 10-15 synths in a single song. Then you need to make sure your drums are up to par, everything's balanced, transitions are good, everything crisp and balanced, and after you spend 2 weeks composing and coming back to the song to make edits, you have another 2 weeks of good solid mastering ahead of you to make sure it sounds great on live systems, and is full volume... It a much more intensive process than the average user thinks. Even making "brostep" is difficult, and a great amount of time is centered around sound synthesis to make a tremendously fat bassline with an acceptably loud and abrasive synth over top. And no, I'm not trying to bash Scott, I just wanted to further elaborate on his point.If you want to hear for yourself on the extreme's of dubstep, compare the sound of Skrillex to the sounds of Benga, Skream, and Jakwob... You'll notice, because of its heavy dub (ragga style) influence, which is much closer to the sound the genre originally championed, that Benga, Skream, and Jakwob have a much more tame sound as compared to Skrillex and Flux Pavilion. Benga and Skream still release music regularly and tour, but it's unfortunate that their music is overshadowed by the recent popularity of the dubstep (or brostep if youd prefer, though i don't like to use it because it's still dubstep) anthems from Skrillex and Flux Pavilion.The EDM scene has a genre and subgenre equivalent in style to any analogue type of music. Hardstyle/Hardcore/Gabber cater toward those who may have originally only like metal because of it's extremely high tempo and harsh, epic synths. Nu-jazz is a genre that makes parallels between older styles of jazz songwriting and EDM music. House music is an expansive genre that houses many subgenres to cater to people taste for harder styles, more relaxed styles or minimal styles, found in hard electro-house, tech house, and minimal. Theyre all there waiting to be explored and I wish that people more regularly took the initiative to explore this entirely different world of music which they tend to ignore just because it isn't played on the radio (i.e. "fed to them"). The internet is helping to bring EDM music to people but even then, it still travels mostly by experiences (either at music festivals or shows) or by word of mouth from friends. Nonetheless, I encourage people to go check out all of the genres that exist and see which one you like best.
Anonymous
Naming a poorly 'produced' subgenre of music 'bro-step' and associating it with drug use, clearly a GEED move. And yes, it does make people get crazy with a bunch of loud sounds; it makes the GIRLS go crazy. Getting laid is not your top priority. NF.
David
I agree with Marco's point. For one, that britney spears song is awful and entirely misrepresentative of the genre. Next, it's nice to say dubstep is invading our club scene, which it is, but the club scene is still, as Marco said, primarily house and electro. To take dubstep's popularity out of the greater context ignores the rest of the EDM culture that has exploded around Columbus. As for the record label comment...every artist will belong to a label, and as marco said, the few major US labels tend not to sign EDM artists and therefore ignore the entire demand for EDM culture. The only relatively major EDM label in the US is Ultra records and I don't see the amount of albums they release dominating stores. Many EDM artists create their own labels, as Marco said, to promote the sound that they like... for instance, Steve Aoki founded Dim Mak records to promote his hard indie electro style which is represented by other artists on the label, such as The Bloody Beetroots. And these relationships are true for many other artists.Finally, I want to clarify a comment I saw in the article. Making good music is never easy, and yes, alot of really really bad music is created because so many people can more easily access the equipment they need to produce music than ever before. However, actually sitting down and making the music, and better yet, making good music, is an extremely time consuming and intensive process. Not only do producers have to create and synthesize their own unique sounds, but they also have to compose it and master it. I alone have spent 3-4 hours on several occasions fine tuning a synthesizer that I want in a song... and there is normally 10-15 synths in a single song. Then you need to make sure your drums are up to par, everything's balanced, transitions are good, everything crisp and balanced, and after you spend 2 weeks composing and coming back to the song to make edits, you have another 2 weeks of good solid mastering ahead of you to make sure it sounds great on live systems, and is full volume... It a much more intensive process than the average user thinks. Even making "brostep" is difficult, and a great amount of time is centered around sound synthesis to make a tremendously fat bassline with an acceptably loud and abrasive synth over top. And no, I'm not trying to bash Scott, I just wanted to further elaborate on his point.If you want to hear for yourself on the extreme's of dubstep, compare the sound of Skrillex to the sounds of Benga, Skream, and Jakwob... You'll notice, because of its heavy dub (ragga style) influence, which is much closer to the sound the genre originally championed, that Benga, Skream, and Jakwob have a much more tame sound as compared to Skrillex and Flux Pavilion. Benga and Skream still release music regularly and tour, but it's unfortunate that their music is overshadowed by the recent popularity of the dubstep (or brostep if youd prefer, though i don't like to use it because it's still dubstep) anthems from Skrillex and Flux Pavilion.The EDM scene has a genre and subgenre equivalent in style to any analogue type of music. Hardstyle/Hardcore/Gabber cater toward those who may have originally only like metal because of it's extremely high tempo and harsh, epic synths. Nu-jazz is a genre that makes parallels between older styles of jazz songwriting and EDM music. House music is an expansive genre that houses many subgenres to cater to people taste for harder styles, more relaxed styles or minimal styles, found in hard electro-house, tech house, and minimal. Theyre all there waiting to be explored and I wish that people more regularly took the initiative to explore this entirely different world of music which they tend to ignore just because it isn't played on the radio (i.e. "fed to them"). The internet is helping to bring EDM music to people but even then, it still travels mostly by experiences (either at music festivals or shows) or by word of mouth from friends. Nonetheless, I encourage people to go check out all of the genres that exist and see which one you like best.
David
I agree with Marco's point. For one, that britney spears song is awful and entirely misrepresentative of the genre. Next, it's nice to say dubstep is invading our club scene, which it is, but the club scene is still, as Marco said, primarily house and electro. To take dubstep's popularity out of the greater context ignores the rest of the EDM culture that has exploded around Columbus. As for the record label comment...every artist will belong to a label, and as marco said, the few major US labels tend not to sign EDM artists and therefore ignore the entire demand for EDM culture. The only relatively major EDM label in the US is Ultra records and I don't see the amount of albums they release dominating stores. Many EDM artists create their own labels, as Marco said, to promote the sound that they like... for instance, Steve Aoki founded Dim Mak records to promote his hard indie electro style which is represented by other artists on the label, such as The Bloody Beetroots. And these relationships are true for many other artists.Finally, I want to clarify a comment I saw in the article. Making good music is never easy, and yes, alot of really really bad music is created because so many people can more easily access the equipment they need to produce music than ever before. However, actually sitting down and making the music, and better yet, making good music, is an extremely time consuming and intensive process. Not only do producers have to create and synthesize their own unique sounds, but they also have to compose it and master it. I alone have spent 3-4 hours on several occasions fine tuning a synthesizer that I want in a song... and there is normally 10-15 synths in a single song. Then you need to make sure your drums are up to par, everything's balanced, transitions are good, everything crisp and balanced, and after you spend 2 weeks composing and coming back to the song to make edits, you have another 2 weeks of good solid mastering ahead of you to make sure it sounds great on live systems, and is full volume... It a much more intensive process than the average user thinks. Even making "brostep" is difficult, and a great amount of time is centered around sound synthesis to make a tremendously fat bassline with an acceptably loud and abrasive synth over top. And no, I'm not trying to bash Scott, I just wanted to further elaborate on his point.If you want to hear for yourself on the extreme's of dubstep, compare the sound of Skrillex to the sounds of Benga, Skream, and Jakwob... You'll notice, because of its heavy dub (ragga style) influence, which is much closer to the sound the genre originally championed, that Benga, Skream, and Jakwob have a much more tame sound as compared to Skrillex and Flux Pavilion. Benga and Skream still release music regularly and tour, but it's unfortunate that their music is overshadowed by the recent popularity of the dubstep (or brostep if youd prefer, though i don't like to use it because it's still dubstep) anthems from Skrillex and Flux Pavilion.The EDM scene has a genre and subgenre equivalent in style to any analogue type of music. Hardstyle/Hardcore/Gabber cater toward those who may have originally only like metal because of it's extremely high tempo and harsh, epic synths. Nu-jazz is a genre that makes parallels between older styles of jazz songwriting and EDM music. House music is an expansive genre that houses many subgenres to cater to people taste for harder styles, more relaxed styles or minimal styles, found in hard electro-house, tech house, and minimal. Theyre all there waiting to be explored and I wish that people more regularly took the initiative to explore this entirely different world of music which they tend to ignore just because it isn't played on the radio (i.e. "fed to them"). The internet is helping to bring EDM music to people but even then, it still travels mostly by experiences (either at music festivals or shows) or by word of mouth from friends. Nonetheless, I encourage people to go check out all of the genres that exist and see which one you like best.
Wub whomp whoosh
"Singerman said the simplicity in making the music waters down the quality of the genre. 'With electronic music, the content is so rich. Everybody and their best friend can make music on their laptop nowadays, which is good and bad,' he said. 'It dilutes the quality of music when people put out s---, for lack of a better term.' "1. What!? Simplicity?! Has he ever even opened up a DAW, some synths, percussion racks, and learned about eq'ing, compressing or any other production techniques and learned the art of mixing? Forget songwriting ability, just being able to produce something well in a studio environment is challenging enough, and then there is songwriting ability after that.2. Everyone can make music? I don't understand the point of that statement. If anyone can make music, which dilutes the quality of the genre, what is the other side of the argument, that only major labels should release only big names? That's what happened with Britney Spears, and look at that shit. Maybe we need more simpleton's with their laptops diluting the music culture so we don't have to hear yet another crappy pop star ruin another genre3. Apart from that though, I'd say I agree with most everything else in the article though, even if I disagree with some of the comments made in it. I think it's great these events are being thrown, and it really gets the genre out there and lets everyone enjoy what dubstep, and also electronic dance music of all forms, is. The music is really catching on, and the PLUR lifestyle is really a good message, which unfortunately gets overshadowed by the drug stigma associated with the style of music. I'll be looking forward to the future events with Ohio Stand Up, and OSU's Electronic Music Club.
Tyler
Brostep
Wubstep
Wobblestep
Barfstep
I'm-drunk-and-falling-down-a-wellstephttp://www.discogs.com/label/Tectonic
Wubstep
Wobblestep
Barfstep
I'm-drunk-and-falling-down-a-wellstephttp://www.discogs.com/label/Tectonic
Marco
Kyle,My comment was not a complaint, merely a suggestion and my addition to the article. I thought the article was well written and focused, but I am one that likes to situate phenomena within a larger context, which is why I went on to give further background. You exaggerate my phrasing and no where did I say "This is too narrow!". And you're right, my use of the word "record labels" was too broad and open to criticism. I meant mainstream labels which seek to pick up on popular trends rather than finding creative musical talent that breaks the norm. Your listing of those various labels that Tiesto belonged to does nothing to add to your point, however. Black Hole Recordings was a record label that Tiesto co-founded, and thus he pioneered a creative sound using that label as a foundation. In the past few years, however, it is my opinion that his music has become rather commercialized in the sense that he himself is no longer a trend-setter, but a follower. Not that I don't think he still doesn't produce good music, it has just become ho-hum to me.
Kyle
Marco, it's OK to write -just- about dubstep for one article. Just because you write about something doesn't mean you're outright ignoring everything else. There'll be another paper tomorrow, and the day after that, so on. At some point, I'm sure they'll get to it.The complaint is like someone reading a review of a sushi restaurant and saying, "What about hibachi restaurants? What about Japanese culture in general? This is too narrow!"And speaking of record labels, here's the list of labels Tiesto has belonged to, according to Wikipedia:
Noculan (1994), Basic Beat (1994���1997), Lightning (1995���1996), XSV Music (1997), Black Hole (1997���2009), Ultra Records (2007-present), Musical Freedom (2009���present).So, let's forget about the whole label b.s. Just because you belong to a label doesn't mean you can't produce good music. Ask, say, Tiesto.
Noculan (1994), Basic Beat (1994���1997), Lightning (1995���1996), XSV Music (1997), Black Hole (1997���2009), Ultra Records (2007-present), Musical Freedom (2009���present).So, let's forget about the whole label b.s. Just because you belong to a label doesn't mean you can't produce good music. Ask, say, Tiesto.
is a member of the 
