The slowhouse upsurge.

[Jubz]

Can anyone explain to me what the appeal is? It seems like recently this kind of house is enjoying a lot of attention and I don't quite understand why. It can be great listening music but it almost never gives me the urge to dance. As a resident in china I am far removed from this music as club music - is it really being played in clubs and are a lot of people getting down to it? What do you like/dislike about? Creatively is it just a dead-end? Do you think it's innovative, or just a nice change from recent trends in music? I feel a disconnect both geographically and emotionally from this stuff; it's not fast enough to have that nervous tension that makes me want to dance and retains a pretty pedestrian feel that greater syncopation at this bpm could disspell. Give me your views, I'm all ears.

[dj_donga]

i guess you like what you like

in the same way you feel disconnected and uninspired by these grooves i often stop dancing and feel desolate when people start ramping up the energy again and again and again. i think its necessary to have music that caters for all moods and perhaps this is music to sway and hug yer lady too??

by the way how would geography have any impact on this sort of a matter? i like music from all over the world based purely on instinctive emotional response. where it comes from is often of some secondary interest but its seldom a factor in why i wouldnt like something.

[incnic]

more danceable
more girls
more 'fun' / something different
less relentless banging noises/robotic goose vibes

can mix into house, hiphop, rnb, pop, electrpnica etc etc.

dunno tbh , think i just like it and have for a while

did this mix yesterday 3rd over teh last couple years - not ''pure" slowhouse but a relative of:
http://www.dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=210878

[Jubz]

i guess you like what you like

in the same way you feel disconnected and uninspired by these grooves i often stop dancing and feel desolate when people start ramping up the energy again and again and again. i think its necessary to have music that caters for all moods and perhaps this is music to sway and hug yer lady too??

by the way how would geography have any impact on this sort of a matter? i like music from all over the world based purely on instinctive emotional response. where it comes from is often of some secondary interest but its seldom a factor in why i wouldnt like something.

I know, different strokes for different folks and all that, but that approach comes from the assumption that someone's taste is static. Mine isn't, so when I come across something I don't immediately like, I want to know what other people see in it. It's equally possible that I will never like it or that I will go on to really enjoy it, but what I don't want to do is discredit something because I don't immediately feel emotionally invested in it.

The only reason geography has an impact in this case is that I do not have the opportunity to experience this music in a club. The club is a different context for the music and often helps me realise whether or not I really like something. I agree where music comes from is only of secondary interest.

Incnic, I have already downloaded your mix today and I'm looking forward to giving it a listen, can you tell me what you find more danceable and fun about this music?

[dj_donga]

i guess you like what you like

in the same way you feel disconnected and uninspired by these grooves i often stop dancing and feel desolate when people start ramping up the energy again and again and again. i think its necessary to have music that caters for all moods and perhaps this is music to sway and hug yer lady too??

by the way how would geography have any impact on this sort of a matter? i like music from all over the world based purely on instinctive emotional response. where it comes from is often of some secondary interest but its seldom a factor in why i wouldnt like something.

I know, different strokes for different folks and all that, but that approach comes from the assumption that someone's taste is static. Mine isn't, so when I come across something I don't immediately like, I want to know what other people see in it. It's equally possible that I will never like it or that I will go on to really enjoy it, but what I don't want to do is discredit something because I don't immediately feel emotionally invested in it.

The only reason geography has an impact in this case is that I do not have the opportunity to experience this music in a club. The club is a different context for the music and often helps me realise whether or not I really like something. I agree where music comes from is only of secondary interest.

Incnic, I have already downloaded your mix today and I'm looking forward to giving it a listen, can you tell me what you find more danceable and fun about this music?

certainly my taste is far from static also - in fact i'll admit openly to having contradicted myself at times. but i think one's own response is all that matters. i got the feeling through your original post that you were basically critical on a level that it lacks energy 'in the club'. but 'here's a blatant build up - now everyone go nutz at exactly the same time' is such a standard dynamic that for some people that equates to being quite uninspiring. this is just slower music. if u like slower music u may wish to move your body to it. you will probably enjoy at home and in the club. i hate all these distinctions. what 'works in the club'. there's too many 'rules'. sorry - digressing a bit

[raboonthebaboon]

i can groove way better around 110 than i can around 125

[bassmusic]

it's (as usual) a combination of everything! even with danceability, it's a combination of being actually danceable for many (hip hop and salsa, to give two random examples, are perfectly danceable around 90 - 110bpm) and of just liking the sound and thus wanting to find something danceable in that tempo. I remember hearing Horror Show in 2004 and wandering how on earth anyone could dance to it, while my friends were coming back from FWD>> and telling me that the place was going mad for it... i figured it out eventually!

but yeah, so i've seen tracks at 109BPM absolutely smack it, and i've seen sets of this stuff echo harshly around empty clubs while a handful of label owners and producers nod their heads politely at the side...

i think there's also just a desire to find something new and interesting, and this tempo is doing it for a lot of people. for a lot of people (tokers especially) the advent of dubstep was amazing - so much space, all that bass, a lack of big buildups and obvious signifiers - and these days they're starting to feel like dubstep has been taken away from them a bit. that doesn't really apply to most dubstep now. so some of these people want something new etc etc.

and as nic says, you can play it with various different stuff - it fits in with some hip hop, RnB, electronica - sounds you haven't really heard in a uk club music context for a while. and yeah definitely when i hear a standard noisy wobbler in the club these days i just have to sigh with boredom, even when all around me students are pulling screwfaces, putting up gunfingers and climbing all over each other.

oh yeah, and girls like it too

[Tropical]

for a lot of people (tokers especially) the advent of dubstep was amazing - so much space, all that bass, a lack of big buildups and obvious signifiers - and these days they're starting to feel like dubstep has been taken away from them a bit. that doesn't really apply to most dubstep now. so some of these people want something new etc etc.

oh yeah, and girls like it too

[BASED]

ketamine crushin

[joeki]

I still feel most comfortable in the 122-130 bpm area if I'm honest. But I enjoy the slower stuff as well.
It's all about the vibes.

I loved dubstep because of: the space, the sub bass, the minimalist approach of the early years. (not that it HAS to be minimal, I can perfectly enjoy the splendour of producers like Hyetal or Girl Unit too...).
But that monotonous vibe of wave after wave of deep bass hitting you, numbing you, makes you focus on a different kind of energy. An energy that can be enjoyed individually: just you and the music. Not all constant building up towards climax after climax after climax where people are feeding of eachothers energy rather than the music...which is basically what a lot of dubstep does nowadays.

This is a vibe you find very much in slower House and techno today. And though the patterns and BPM's might be different, that doesn't apply to the atmosphere for me. That is why I like house, techno and all variants that are getting some popularity right now. And I mean some, because it isn't that popular yet as you make it out to be (at least not where I am, where dubstep has completely taken over the roll wobble and jump-up d&b had for few years in the 2000' era...).

[contakt321]

There's no upsurge and it's not new, house has always existed at this tempo.

Just every 5-10 years people (journalists, artists, etc) think it's noteworthy to talk about it and pretend like it's new.

Last time I remember people were making a big deal was when Mike Clark was calling slow Detroit house "Beat Down" house maybe 10 years ago or so.

[baseband]

not 'slowhouse', but this thread reminds me of the that recent numbers show where jamie from the xx did a guest mix with many steel drums. played footcrab over far nearer at 33. blew my mind

[Jubz]

There's no upsurge and it's not new, house has always existed at this tempo.

Just every 5-10 years people (journalists, artists, etc) think it's noteworthy to talk about it and pretend like it's new.

Last time I remember people were making a big deal was when Mike Clark was calling slow Detroit house "Beat Down" house maybe 10 years ago or so.

But really nothing is new etc etc blah-dy blah. So what you like about it?

The upsurge is relative to this forum's focus, which seems to me to be mostly the post-dubstep lot and their future garage/faux funky/housey plinkery plonkery.

@ donga, I'm not critical that it lacks energy in a club, it's just that I have no idea what it's club dynamics are like because it's impossible to set my foot in one to hear it, due to my location. There are a variety of tempos and sonic devices that work for me in a club, 'club' music all depends on which club, which night and which crowd, y'know? I want people to articulate that side of things for me as I won't get an opportunity to experience it for a while.

[tomre]

But really nothing is new etc etc blah-dy blah. So what you like about it?

The upsurge is relative to this forum's focus, which seems to me to be mostly the post-dubstep lot and their future garage/faux funky/housey plinkery plonkery.

This is still the dubstepforum you know.


And, does music have to be new to be liked ?

[Jubz]

But really nothing is new etc etc blah-dy blah. So what you like about it?

The upsurge is relative to this forum's focus, which seems to me to be mostly the post-dubstep lot and their future garage/faux funky/housey plinkery plonkery.

This is still the dubstepforum you know.


And, does music have to be new to be liked ?

I don't see the relevance of what you've said, to what you've quoted?

I'm just trying to encourage some discussion on this board, there is no angriness or mal-intent behind my posts.

[bassmusic]

There's no upsurge and it's not new, house has always existed at this tempo.

Just every 5-10 years people (journalists, artists, etc) think it's noteworthy to talk about it and pretend like it's new.

there is an upsurge, especially within the UK bass lot. Last month at Dubloaded (arguably Bristol's best and most well known dubstep night) the headliner Om Unit played a set of 85 - 105BPM house and killed it - it was one of the busiest events for months. on bassmusicblog, one of the most popular mixes we've ever had was one of the recent 'slow house' series - more popular than Von D, Julio Bashmore or DJ Madd. Until recently I'd never seen a peak time house set below 110BPM in a club - this year alone I've seen loads.

that's not to say it's brand new or not a cyclical thing - but from this perspective we're definitely on an upcycle...

[node]

Yeah, I've heard similar stuff for years but theres still a vibe to things coming out that's different recently and there def is an upsurge in it that I've witnessed but on a general tip the resurgence in relaxing the genre boundaries is what is REALLY healthy and at times is getting those Acid House times when people weren't too caught up in exactly what sommat had to be called before they would give it the time of day. If we can get to a place where peeps tolerate house, techno, garage, 2-step, bass music all round the UK that'd be absolutly buzzin

[contakt321]

there is an upsurge, especially within the UK bass lot.

that's not to say it's brand new or not a cyclical thing - but from this perspective we're definitely on an upcycle...

I mean that's what it is - this crowd/generation has become interested/aware of it, my point is - just b/c it's new to this crowd, doesn't mean it's new or an upsurge.

Outside this audience, it's been going and going, DJs have been making records, playing house at this tempo, etc.

Essentially I am just commenting that - just b/c it's new to "bass music" / "post-dubstep" / "future-whatever" (whatever terrible genre name we are using) artists/djs/fans, doesn't mean it's new, and that if you look outside this microcosm, you will see a scene ("normal house"?) that's existed and flourished for decades.

[joeki]

And also, producers that have come from within this generation that were previously active within other genre's and have now committed themselves to the music in question:
They have taken some of their past with them into this already existing style. You can still hear instra:mental for example in both Boddika and Convex (I know, an example not exactly relevant to the issue at hand but you get the idea...)

It's not just genre "hopping" you know. It's always a journey that spans multiple "generations, "genre's" and backgrounds and some listeners followed that journey and are exploring a whole new world that was there all along, just that there weren't any real bridges towards it before.

If you call that an upsurge, fine. Surely, we can all agree that at any rate, this isn't a bad thing.

[dj_donga]

If you call that an upsurge, fine. Surely, we can all agree that at any rate, this isn't a bad thing.