Sweet Headache 005: “Slow but Loud”

February 11, 2010 2 Comments Author:marvis

Did you know that a track doesn’t have to be fast to kick ass? For quite a while, I thought that you needed a certain BPM count to make a good dance track. Then Dubstep came along, a fresh and different style from the UK. Dubstep is slow. Really slow. But with its intense basslines and fat beats, it somehow kept me interested – not enthusiastic, but it was enough to have me keep an eye on it.

However, what I didn’t like about many Dubstep productions is their exaggerated focus on wobbly basslines. I don’t mind a good, strong low frequency part in a track, but this alone isn’t enough to keep my interested.

Nevertheless, Dubstep matured over the last few years, and I have heard enough great productions that I decided to put ‘em all together in a mix and share the result with you.

This is not your typical Dubstep mix as it comes with a lot of melodies, vocals and different moods. If you are like me and you find Dubstep only interesting (in the same sense as you would call exotic, yucky food “interesting”), then this might be something for you.

Tracklist:

Little Boots – Remedy (Rusko’s Big Trainers Remix)
Joker – Do It (The Rap Pack Remix)
Indijinouz – Ayo Technology (bolly.Hood In.STRUMENTAL)
Justin Timberlake – My Love (Ruf Remix)
Rob Sparx – Independent Life
Dubblestandart feat. Lee Scratch Perry – Chase The Devil
José James – Blackmagic (Joy Orbison’s Remix)
Pinch feat. Ruday Lee – Step 2 It
Simian Mobile Disco – Cruel Intentions (Joker Remix)
Dub & Run – Young Folks
Don Goliath – Mrs. U (Remixed by Surje)
Boy Crisis – Dressed To Digress (Nero Remix)

Nerditional Information: Dubstep purists would probably kill me for calling this mix “Dubstep”. Many tracks in this mix do not sound anything like Dubstep in their original form (e.g., Simian Mobile Disco’s “Cruel Intentions” or Justin Timberlakes’s “My Love”), but hearing the remixes greatly helped me appreciate Dubstep as a whole.

“Ayo Technology” is also not really a Dubstep track, but rather a HipHop instrumental that just fit so nicely in here so that I decided to use it.

Some of you might also find the vocal in “Chase The Devil” familiar. The lyrics are originally from Max Romeo’s “Chase The Devil” that was later sampled by The Prodigy for “Out Of Space”.

I also included a remix by Joy Orbison for José James. I somehow got a feeling that Joy Orbison have a lot of potential and we might hear a lot more from them and their newly-founded Doldrums label in the near future.

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattohara/ / CC-by-nc

2 Comments to “Sweet Headache 005: “Slow but Loud””

Nils says:

February 11, 2010 at 7:17 pm

The interesting thing is that “Dubstep tracks are generally produced at a tempo of around 140 beats per minute” (source: wikipedia). It’s just that the rhythm is half-time. So it’s only slow when you base that observation on the beats. The bass line and other aspects of the song are often quite fast. Confusing, but kinda fun.

marvis says:

February 11, 2010 at 9:05 pm

This also confuses my DJ software quite frequently: Sometimes it detects around 70 BPM for a Dubstep track, sometimes it shows around 140.

Anyway, it still feels completely different than a techno track at 140 BPM.