Distort - "Oil and Collage on Sign" - 2007

On Saturday an unexpected gem of an event played host to further evidence of dubstep’s creeping influence on New York’s musical inclinations. The event was a monthly electronic jump off called Synctank, which took a deep look into itself and found it was capable of darker depths of sonic exploration. That realization spawned a guest appearance by the Code of Arms crew, who spun a blend of their own locally produced dubstep with some of the more recognizable names of the genre.

The night started off on a very different note, when Caitlyn Hessell filled the room with her acoustic guitar and melancholy voice. But her sound was akin to the eye of a storm, and any stragglers who were lured in by her comfortable wallowing were certainly surprised when the rain hit in the form of wobbly bass.

Bar on A, where Synctank is held, has the feel of a place that pines for the Village of the ’60s. But nobody came asking that the bass be turned down, and the system there is certainly better than anybody has at home (audiophiles not included).

The host of the event, DJ Slouch, got it in as well with his new mix. He took a decidedly bass heavy turn, and blessed the crowd with a mash up of deep, recognizable instrumentals, bursts of ’90s hip hop, and original production.

You can catch Slouch again at Out of Sequence on Thursday at Karma Lounge. Staten Island’s own Udachi will be a guest there, as will Peter Kirn on the visual tip. Udachi, who was at Trouble and Bass on Saturday while we kicked it at Synctank, takes the bassline thing to even speedier realms. Kirn is the founder of Create Digital Music and an all around smart guy. (Peep this ridiculous video he posted a minute ago.)

The Code of Arms boys can be heard again on Thanksgiving Eve at Greenpoint’s Europa.

"God damn dubstep."

That about sums up how I’ve felt about this British style for a while now. It caused me spasms; teasing me with   its possibilities, but forcing a landfill of trash through my headphones. Maybe it was just ‘cuz I’m in here in New York, not London.

The latest DubWar poster. By Miss Ashes 57. Cop a limited edition print here.

Well, now the DubWar heads are pounding the concrete streets of NYC, and I finally got a real taste of the style with the party they threw last night.

I didn’t really know what I was getting into, but from some of the mixes I heard on their website, I suspected it might be what’s up.

See, I’ve heard dubstep mixes where I had to suffer through twenty minutes of monotony before I heard a decent dub. Whole sets where I didn’t hear one minute of melody or complexity. I couldn’t even tell whether or not I was listening to different songs because they were all so similar as to be identical. It’s almost as if a lot of the heads in the scene are more concerned with identifying with a genre then they are with making good music - like so many of the purists in the prolific variety of electronic sub-genres.

But it’s a style that appeals to me with its forward looking attitude, as my man Blackdown is fond of saying, who was present last night. Dubstep caught my interest since I first heard some random snippets of its bomb-raid-like bass and rusty metal electronicness. I’ve been eagerly  waiting to find examples of the style that pushed beyond the excessive loopyness and simplicity to attain the title of "music," and DubWar brought that shit.

I’m not sure who I heard - whether it was the Bomb Squad, (the production team behind Public Enemy who performed live last night), Loefah, Dusk & Blackdown, or any number of the resident DJ crew. But I do know that I most definitely came away feelin’ like the music I heard was worth the scraps of cash left in my hole strewn pockets.

DubWar definitely filled the emptiness my fiendin’ for good dubstep caused, but it took more than that to get my sleep deprived ass outta bed and into last night’s  freezing wind. It was also the chance to hear this ish on a good system. I wanted the bass to rumble everything around me like the subway. And dudes did their best to provide.

Unfortunately, the police showed up and made them turn it down.

Killed the whole night.

In fact, the whole club - called Love, of all things - was hurtin’. The place was underground, and after you entered, you descended a flight of stairs that looked like a five year old’s idea of hell, what with its black light toy graffiti, grimy corners and all. They had this lounge that was pretty fly, with two open stories of loft spaces that held beds inside little caves. But the whole area was damp from this waterfall that took up a big part of the room. I couldn’t help but think about how bad the mold looked once you turned the lights on. Besides the water, you couldn’t really hear the music in there either. The only speakers were on the dance floor, and there were none in any of the other rooms.

Six dollars for a Red Bull with no alcohol? Riiiiight.

If this night is going to blow up, they’ll have to find a new spot. But keep your eyes on the DubWar cypher, ‘cuz they just might bring the fifteenth British Invasion.

Since Culture System did an earlier post on the Chicago electro-rockers Walter Meego a few months back, I figured it would be appropriate to let you know that they are coming to Brooklyn on August 30th at Studio B.

My Open Bar, everybody’s favorite cheap drunks, are putting together this electro night, which will be headlined by VHS or Beta and include a Deejay set by Finger on the Pulse. Team Robespierre will also perform.

If you RSVP through Going.com, you can avoid the steep cover charge that Studio B has been known to level people with.

Skroop!

UPDATE: The Meego afterparty will be at Home Sweet Home.

(Due to Bike vs. Car related injuries, Culture System has seen a bit of slacking in posts, but should pick back up shortly.)

In an indie-dance phenomena, Daft Punk and The Rapture have begun ravaging the country together with their infectious electro goodness. I have to say, the pairing of these two was a great decision. If you can’t get up and dance to this, I probably shouldn’t make fun of you because you’re likely to be in a wheelchair or on crutches.

But while the concerts have garnered fever inducing attention, the after parties might just steal the show. For those of you who prefer the club scene than the live concert (or simply missed your chance to get tickets for the shows before they sold out), this is for you. And the best part is, you can get in free…

If you’re in NYC, just RSVP through Going.com here,  then show up at Studio B on August 9th and you’re straight… Assuming you can afford anything once inside. I’d guess you’d need to show up much earlier than the 10PM start time to get in.

For rest of y’all not in NYC, visit MasBlog for details on your city of choice  - and thank them for throwing these parties.

"People don’t dance no more/They just stand there like this/They cross their arms and stare you down and drink and moan and dissss"

Damn, M.I.A. is taking this 90’s thing full throttle. Not only is every body in her new video (filmed in Jamaica) dipped in 90’s throwback, her video and web stuff is all full of bad 90’s web design.

The video is a promo for her new single, "Boyz", which drops tomorrow, and the song is definitely a club banger. This joint is thumpin’, but after a while, I’m ready for it to be over. It really doesn’t do much. But, as I was reading the lyrics - which say things like "How many no money boys are Rowdy/ How many boys are Raw? How many no money boys are crazy? How many start a war?" - I was struck by her delivery, even if it is lacking in subject matter.

Maya is scheduled to perform in Brooklyn on two dates: on July 21 at the Village Voice’s Siren Festival, and July 25, at Studio B. These would be good places to listen to "Boyz", rather than here on your laptop.

She’s had a history of difficulties getting into the States and missing shows, though. Will this be any different?

The girl has quite the story, which might have something to do with her troubles. As a little girl in Sri Lanka, her father was part of an organization the US labels as a terrorist. And her song "Sunshowers" probably didn’t help, what with lyrics like: " You wanna go?/You wanna win a war?/Like P.L.O. I don’t surrendo," and " Its a bomb yo/So run yo/Put away your stupid gun yo/’Cos we see through like a protocol call/Thats why we blow it up ‘fore we go."

But she argues that she was only trying to show people around the world what things are like in Sri Lanka.

"When I did it, I felt, ‘Am I seriously imposing some weird, strange way of seeing things on people?’ " she told the Washington Post. "Now it feels I was right all along. It’s totally relevant, and it’s what’s going on, and if that was the most shocking, outrageous thing, then look what’s happening every day. . . . It’s not that I’m shocking and injecting into society some strange concept. I’m just reflecting, piecing it together in one piece of work so you can acquire it and hear it. All that information floats around where we are — the images, the opinions, the discussions, the feelings — they all exist, and I felt someone had to do something about it because I can’t live in this world where we pretend nothing really matters.

"I have to show people what’s going on in Sri Lanka. It’s much better than me banging on about myself and where I get my hair done. It seemed more of a useful thing to do with my music."

While Tiesto, "The Picasso of Trance", might not usually fall under the spectrum of topics Culture System would cover; concert riots, fleeing thieves, and no-show DJs would catch anybodys attention.

When Tiesto failed to show up at a show in Bahrain, the audience went on a rampage and tore up the venue, attacked the opening acts, and looted equipment until the police arrived, according to a local paper. Tiesto refused to perform because organizers tried to pay him in Bahraini Dinars, the paper said.

But Tiesto says the event promoter tried to run of with all of the ticket money, and was still stuck at his hotel by the time the police showed up at the venue.

<Via Beatporter>

I’m sure you’ve seen them everywhere: The AM New York leaflets left out for the "Make Music New York" on the weekend.

Lots of stuff, but not much I’d go out on a limb and see. This here is a little list of some of the more interesting jump offs.

Update: Hopefully none of you took any of this info too seriously or anything, because apparently, neither did the organizers of "Make Music NY". I only know about the shows I worte about here, but two of those four had the wrong listings. The Morningside event was nowhere to be found, and the Cave show didn’t start until sundown (that was a mission of a bike ride for nothing!)

In other corrections today - this one my own fault - the Cave Art Space is named after a natural cave, you know, like a hole in a wall? Nothing to do with virtual environments.

Aight, fuck y’all in advance. And with that said: Hip house is some cool shit.

I’m surprised it never picked up more.

The prolific DJ Ayres and Cosmo Baker flip some of that for us with this 12″. It’s got two remixes on it, a Blackalicious cut and a Missy Eliott song, with lyrics that are sped up a bit and laced over some classic house thumpiness. Both known to have quality deliveries, the DJ’s made a good choice in picking them. After all, house is a genre meant to be danced to.

The Blackalicious is expectedly smooth, so using the word butter is the only proper way to praise it. And the Missy track is also what you would expect for her: dark and crunchy.

For what it is, these dudes do it nicely with these two remixes (but I can’t vouch for the rest of their hip house CD, which is like 25 songs long)

Sorry, no MP3, but the link has got Real Audio files to listen to.

Also, if you’re diggin it, these two dudes and their boy (together, the trio is called the Rub) will help you shake your booty, if you’re so inclined, right here in Brooklyn at the venerable SouthPaw not too far in the distant future.

Sat, May 5th
10 pm - 21 and over
125 Fifth Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11217
718 230 0236

I hope this happens in the States:

Oh, and spam of the day:
Subject - I want to be your whore, MikeM.