THIS IS DUBSTEP

As with all emerging music, Dubstep took a while to show its face to the big public. Availability of albums within a certain genre is a clear indicator the genre is growing to adolescence, finding its way from the dancefloor into the home environment. In 2006 the release of three Dubstep albums made a big impact. The self titled album of Burial was a bomb widely recognized the most surprising new act and album of that year. Burial paved the way for Kode9 and the Space Ape to show that there was also a more vocal side of Dubstep. Today there are many albums by producers from that initial period. Artists like Horsepower productions, Benga Kaspa & Rusko Digital Mystics to name just a few, have albums out.

Dubstep is about as fast as Drum & Bass, about 140bpm, but stripped from essential beats it seems half as fast. The 'halftime' rhythm is what makes Dubstep so different: Crazy drum patterns with deep basses rolling like thunder. Frequencies of 40Hz and lower are no exception. It's all about the bass you can feel, not hear. Digital Mystikz calls it 'Come meditate on bass weight'.

Burial's album and 'Memories of the Future' by Kode9 both sound morbid and dark. Perhaps that's one of the aspects that is special about Dubstep as a whole. Inspired by a world past 9-11 a lot of Dubstep music is about paranoia, alienation and other fears of people who live in a big city. It is all about longing, both physical and psychological.

How big will it become? Except for the success of Dizzee Rascal, Grime didn't find its ways outside of London - but Dubstep is picked up by more DJ's worldwide every day. Even Britney Spears most recent album contains few tracks with a hint of Dubstep. New sub-genres of Dubstep start coming forward and cross-over dance remixes with other genres are no longer a rarity.

Something is new in British dance music. The best way to find out about Dubstep is listening to BBC's Radio One. Mary Ann Hobbs' radio show called 'Breezeblock' leaves hardly a question unanswered! She makes documentaries and short stories around Dubstep which she said is "the most exciting and renewing type of electronic dance music of the last ten years".

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