Shoestep/subgaze thoughts

So the shoestep virus is spreading. Although I'm tempted by the name subgaze instead. Here are a couple of choice comments, in various discussions from Dissensus:

"imagine a music that combined the oceanic aspects of something like shoegaze's curved chords with r and b's and timbaland style beats etc. that would be fucking immense." mms

"...treat dubstep itself as the starting point, not the end point, and subtract from that, a ghost of dubstep itself perhaps... which perversely pushes it ever further from "the song"...you could push further into sensual ghost-step/sub-gaze minimalism (which would also return to more alien-feminine properties, but instead of emphasising graceful movement- as in 2step UK Garage- it would rather emphasise the carnal properties of delicious undulating sound, with all the bass pressure of modern day dubstep but with the masculine jackboot aggression removed)" gek-opal

There's got to be someone somewhere making this stuff... cmon...

Losing my DMZ virginity

Finally made it to DMZ, at their new bigger venue in at Mass in Brixton (up from where they used to be a 3rd Bass). All my friends lamed out, so I spent most of the evening on my own, apart from bumping into Martin Blackdown. Although it seem's like everyone and their dog from Dissensus was there, lurking in the shadows round about the place.

I enjoyed most of it - Kode 9 & Spaceaape's set was great "jacking chrome-plated halfstep" as someone said on Dissensus, as was Skream's, but I found myself getting a bit bored during the 2 hours of Loefah and Mala. Some of the tunes were wicked - the more percussive, almost break-y stuff, but al ot of the halfstep left me a bit cold. I left midway through Distance's set, as I was knackered by then.

Everyone's been talking about how great the vibe was, and it was really relaxed and friendly, no trouble or attitudes at all it seemed. Zero drugs - I didn't see one person obviously high on anything but booze and weed (and no-one seemed particularly rowdy on those, either), but that left a slight insular feel. Non of the chatter and cross conversation's that I'm used to from attending E driven raves in the past. Everyone seemed to be emjoying with their friends, rather than the "all smiles, all easy, where you from and what you on" casual conversations. Nostalgia, I guess, maybe due to the fact I was on me own, and wouldn't have minded a bit of random chatter!
Still, everyone went absolutely mental to all the big dubs (request line, anti-war dub, skream's warrior queen collab etc), and really as one as a crowd too - infectious enthusiasm. I'm sure there's some stuff to be said about post-drug dance music genres here... is dubstep the first?

Funny shit - the bass in the toilets upstairs. There were standing waves set up in the urinal trough everytime I went in, and being in a cubicle was like being in a metal box with sub woofers attached to every face.