Back in 2006, Mary Anne Hobbs, BBC Radio 1's champion of underground/experimental music, hosted Dubstep Warz and declared dubstep as one of the UK's most important musical movements since punk. Warz showcased the best dj's, producers and MC's in the scene at the time, most of them coming out of South London. Above is the so-called "Harlem Jazz" photo of dubstep in 2006, Mary Anne Hobbs at the center of the universe.Now, two years later, after South London hit critical mass, the fall out has spread across the UK, Europe and made some ground here in the US. A second city has sprung up in dubstep and is taking the sound to new, exciting places. This past week, Ms. Hobbs hosted "Bristol: Rise Up", putting Bristol back on the map. Not since the days of trip hop and drum n' bass has the city stood out from the rest. 12 producers got 9 and a half minutes each to showcase their sound and no one disappointed.
Ms. Hobbs also made a short video of Bristol featuring many of the artists from the show.
Earlier this year, Skull Disco head and Bristol local, Appleblim, had the honor of mixing Dubstep Allstars 06, an odd mix in the series but now standing out as the beginning of a new era in dubstep. His incredible mixes on podcasts for Resident Advisor and RinseFM (dubstep's flagship station) drew my interest, as well as many others.
The Bristol sound is less about the wobble and draws from so many influences, including Bristol's rich history of trip hop (Portishead, Massive Attack, Smith & Mighty) and drum n' bass (Roni Size, DJ Krust), but also techno, garage and reggae. The drawing from different influences into the dubstep template is what makes this sound so appealing, many of these producers and DJs are going to be better known soon enough, 2009 will be a big year for Bristol.
Every mix in the show is unique and cops its own style, Joker, Appleblim (pictured above), Gemmy, Komonazmuk and Headhunter being 5 of the standouts for me, but there's definitely something for everyone.
Hopefully many more of these guys will grace the decks at Dub War, Headhunter's set in October was fantastic.
"our next act of retaliation will be to destroy London"
