Since the inception of the 'dubstep' genre around 2000, forming like a phoenix out of the ashes of the dark garage scene, it has had a profound impact on the surrounding landscape of underground dance music. Originally emanating from a small group of like minded-people in Croydon, the emergence, and subsequent explosion, of the nascent dubstep scene has far exceeded what anyone could have predicted.

The exponential proliferation of the genre has seen it become an international phenomenon that has infiltrated just about every facet of underground (and even commercial) music. The freedom of a sound that has no real definition or constrictions past a bpm template has allowed producers coming from all kinds of musical backgrounds to bring their own unique set of influences to flesh out its skeletal form. In this way, it has unwittingly instigated a new era of cross-scene dialogue, deconstruction of boundaries and musical innovation that transcends any genre or scene divides.

As dubstep has continued to mutate, filtered through an array of different elements, we have seen it coalesce with everything from house and techno to drum and bass and hip hop. In its short lifespan it has already spawned a number of different sub-genres from future-garage to wonky to brostep. Fortunately, such is the rapid pace at which the sound is evolving that it is outstripping any attempt to pigeon hole and segregate it.

The new Elevator Music Vol. 1 compilation from the musical institution that is Fabric succeeds in capturing perfectly this current mood of diversity, exploration and experimentation. The CD showcases a variety of different artists, both established and relatively unknown, with no prerequisites other than an unhealthy preoccupation with bass weight and the ability to demolish a dancefloor.

It is testament to the health of the scene and the receptiveness and open-mindedness of the audience at the moment that such disparate sounds at Untold, Martyn, Starkey and Caspa can all reside on the same CD. In fact, it was the sheer volume of talented producers out there that impelled Fabric to embark upon this new project.

"Around August last year we realized we had a pile of great unreleased material from people we were working with via our publishing company," Graham from Fabric explains. "About the same time a bunch of us were hearing a ton of amazing stuff from producers who'd never put a record out and it just clicked that we could use Fabric Records to do something that would show off some of the artists we'd been working with and give a bit of a platform to people we wanted to support."

The finished product is packed full of exclusive tracks from the cream of the bass music crop, playing host to a number of the different permutations of the sound as it is twisted and contorted by each different artist and is imbued with a constant sense of exploration and experimentation. Listening to the CD you are taken on a journey through the murky depths of bass music, tasting the delicacies of everything from variant strains of house to the most recent mutations of garage and even grime on the way, and every single track is to be savoured.

Each artist has approached the sound from a different angle and this ensures that the results are consistently both progressive and unique. "As a new producer, if the ideas are strong you can come in from any angle," explains Untold. "It's no longer about making carbon-copy tunes to get a break. It's about making music."

For Untold, who had left his previous forays into production behind only to return to production in recent years, the answer to what it is that impelled him to return is clear and simple: "The physicality of the bass and the sense of unexplored territory" that he heard in dubstep. With this one sentence he succinctly penetrates to the core of what this CD is all about.

Tied together only by a predilection for bassweight and a rough bpm template, the producers are free to take the sound in any direction they wish. The innumerable prospects that this allows for are in evidence throughout the CD, from the tough UK funky of Doc Daneeka's Drums In The Deep to the stripped back grime of Untold's Bad Girls to the expansive 4x4 of Starkey's Black Monolith.

This focus on forward-thinking music and the abandonment of restrictive concepts of genre is captured perfectly by Elevator Music and its inclusive music policy. "I think the way traditional genre divides have begun to break down is really important to how underground dance music has developed over the last eighteen months, especially in the UK and I hope we've done a reasonable job of reflecting that with Elevator Music," Graham from Fabric reflects.

The CD captures a snapshot in time that encapsulates the depth and breadth of music around at the moment but that simultaneously urges forward the continuing progression of the music. As contributor Mosca expands, "It's still in that potential stage so it's still exciting. I love this stage, thinking that in six months time loads of stuff could have changed, seeing producers who are just OK now but will be heavy in a year or so. I love that underdog feeling. I'd hate to feel that we've ever mastered our game here."

The key to the continuing progression of the sound remains firmly outside of it and this is the fuel that must fire its evolution. As Untold says, "As long as producers keep taking inspiration from outside of the scene then we can have another vintage year."

It is when a scene becomes enclosed, purist and introspective that it stagnates, as we have seen numerous times in the past with electronic music, and it is this that needs to be avoided.

No one could possibly predict what lies ahead for 2010 in the world of bass music and the scene is all the richer for that fact. As Graham from Fabric said when asked about it, "I have no idea, which is great! Things are splintering in so many different directions that it'd be dumb to try and predict where it's going to go."

So for now, let us revel in the here and now and the "beautiful mess" that is bass music, as Untold so aptly puts it.

Words: Sam Collenette

Due to the recent adverse weather forcing the pressing plant Fabric use to close the CD release of Elevator Music: Vol. 1 has been delayed until February 8th.  In case you can't wait here's a free minimix of the album.

 

 

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• Fabric
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• Mosca
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• Untold

Related Links:

• Untold Talks Plug-ins & Top Tips
• Untold Dubstep Producer Sample Pack
• Hessle Audio Announce 116 & Rising LP
• Soul Jazz Prepare Future Bass
• Fabric For Sale

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