THE UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN’S MAIN CAMPUS IS SITUATED ON TREATY 6 TERRITORY AND THE HOMELAND OF THE MÉTIS.
THE UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN’S MAIN CAMPUS IS SITUATED ON TREATY 6 TERRITORY AND THE HOMELAND OF THE MÉTIS.
PHILIP MOYDL
Nexus (Camosun College)
VICTORIA (CUP) — Dubstep, unfortunately, has been gaining popularity in Canada’s electronic music scene.
Raves and music festivals were the first to showcase dubstep, and now even mainstream artists like Deadmau5 and Britney Spears have jumped on the bandwagon.
Dubstep music primarily consists of extended bass notes manipulated beyond recognition and rhythm, alongside random samples from other artists. This fad has exploded in Canada and it seems you can’t go to an electronic show anymore without enduring a three-hour set of “braps” and “womps.”
Dancing to this slow-tempo, jerky-rhythmed noise would mirror that of an enraged orangutan with a degenerative bone disease.
Aside from the obvious fact that the average person can’t dance to dubstep, most dubstep tracks are mundane and bland in terms of musical composition. This is due to the lack of variations in the drums and bassline. In turn, the entire song is predictable and lacks any real energy.
No one should enjoy hearing the first 30 seconds of a song knowing that’s all they’re going to hear for another four or five minutes.
Of course, this monotony isn’t a problem for anyone on a mind-altering substance, which is what you would need in order to enjoy this kind of music.
While there are dubstep tracks that change direction and offer, in the parlance of those who partake, “wicked funky bass,” this is only good for anyone who enjoys ear-shattering noise similar to that of a steel mill undergoing an emergency shutdown.
Another trend with dubstep music is that many songs use unnecessary, ludicrous samples — anywhere from Stewie Griffin’s lines on Family Guy to clips from Thundercats — not joking.
What compels dubstep composers to take cheesy samples from movies and TV shows, add a bass drop with some “wobbles,” and call it a “dubstep remix?” Maybe it’s because they can’t see what they’re doing on their computer screen past their shutter-shades, or maybe it’s out of sheer boredom. Either way, it makes it hard to take the genre seriously.
Unfortunately for hipsters everywhere, dubstep’s musical presence will be about as long-lived as Lou Bega’s “Mambo No. 5.”
It’s only a matter of time before another subgenre of electronic music becomes popular, tosses dubstep to the curb, and starts burrowing its way into everyone’s stereos.
Just like trance, electro and a dozen other genres had their 15 minutes of fame, so will dubstep.