THE DROP: Dirty South Joe and Flufftronix prepare for LUVSTEP 2 on Valentine’s Day, 2011!

http://player.vimeo.com/video/17844215

Luvstep 2 Teaser from flufftronix on Vimeo.

2010 was the year that the internet imploded. Man gained mastery of the medium, and in the case of the music industry, the deluge of content caused record sales to plummet, and micogenres like our beloved moombahton to be invented, develop, replicate and almost reach the mainstream without a commercial release. Of note as well is the development of mixes and mixtape culture. With the advent of Soundcloud, mixtapes and mixes reached a fever point in 2010. Every DJ has them, and dependent upon genre, they usually feature almost precisely the same content and are a case of sound and fury, ultimately signifying nothing. Save one.

In February 2010, I stated that Dirty South Joe and Flufftronix’s melodic, slow tempo “Luvstep” dubstep compilation “will make everyone fall in love with dubstep. Really. Even you. Yes you… Dirty South Joe and Flufftronix’s Luvstep mix succeeds in making the genre tolerable, entertaining and *gasp* fun.” Luvstep met and exceeded that expectation. By October, the combination of dubstep and heavy bass practitioners Skream, Artwork and Benga were united as championship trio Magnetic Man, and alongside the angelic vocals of Katy B released an album that is a major pop success and entirely erred on the side of romantic and emotive melody with a handful of bass and spoonful of wobble.

The Mad Decent related Philadelphia combination are at it again on February 14, 2011. If history is a judge, fully expect that their mix will once again prove prescient, and be the forward thinking destination of the progression of dubstep as a genre and significant cultural standout. Visit Luvstep.com for last year’s standout compilation and celebrate this coming year’s Valentine’s Day with a musical gift that keeps on giving.

THE DROP: Luvstep Live at the Mad Decent Block Party

As I walked up 12th Street in Philadelphia on my way to the Mad Decent Block Party, I heard the unmistakable, soothing sounds of luvstep. The set marked the live debut of luvstep, the dubstep subgenre identified by Dirty South Joe and Flufftronix earlier this year on their mix of the same name. It was one of the many can’t-miss sets during the day. Luckily for those who missed it, the proverbial tape was running and the set is now available for download.

http://fairtilizer.com/track/139810?fairplayer=large

An introduction from Ten Things I Hate About You sets the tone: melancholic, bittersweet, and teeming with raw emotion. The 30-minute mix kicks off strong with tracks by Sky Ferreira and Nero, before revisiting essential tracks (Caspa’s remix of the Deadmau5 & Kaskade collab “I Remember”) and dropping new popstep heat (the trio of “Hold On,” “I Need Air,” and “Katy on a Mission”).

“PClart” by Kavsrave has been floating around for a few months; the female vocals and wonky bass are a perfect fit for the mix. The same is true of the “Edge of Seventeen”-sampling “Days Go By” by the Boogaloo Crew (who now are part of Future Grooves featuree Dark Sky). The mix closes with some Don Juan DeMarco:

“There are only four questions of value in life, Don Octavio. What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for, and what is worth dying for? The answer to each is the same: only love.”

For dubstep, a genre derided for its harsh sounds and bromantic attitude, only luvstep can save it.

Tracklist for Luvstep Live at the Mad Decent Block Party
Introduction: KATARINA
Sky Ferreira – One (Bar9 Remix)
Nero – Innocence
Deadmau5 – I Remember (Caspa Remix)
Rusko – Hold On (feat Amber Coffman)
Magnetic Man – I Need Air
Katy B – Katy On A Mission
Professor Green ft Lily Allen – Just Be Good To Me (Joker Remix – Fluff’s Greenless Dub)
M83 – We Own The Sky (Udachi Remix)
Kavsrave – PClart
Bobby Caldwell – What You Won’t Do For Love (DZ Remix)
Guido – Mad Sax
The Boogaloo Crew – Days Go By
The Living Graham Bond – Winter Hunter ft Fiona Bevan (Bare Noize Remix)
Epilogue: DON JUAN

LeninsTomb presents… Dubstep Dossier

This year, Valentine’s Day meant more than just flowers, chocolates and ham-fisted attempts at romance. It also marked the release of Luvstep, a long-awaited mixtape by Dirty South Joe and Flufftronix on the Mad Decent Radio podcast. The Luvstep mix codified a developing trend in dubstep and bass sounds, away from the metallic and industrial and towards the melodic and orchestral. Introducing the mix was Philadelphia’s Starkey, a DJ/producer whose sonic output fully fits within the luvstep realm, even if he opts for the grimier “street bass” descriptor.

Starkey’s debut full-length, Ear Drums and Black Holes, released last month on Planet Mu, is a monument to how far dubstep has come. Throughout its 15 songs, Starkey pays tribute to two-step, garage, grime, and all the musical seeds that have cross-pollinated to form dubstep in 2010.

On opening track “OK Luv,” waves of shimmering synths and chiptune effects build over a stuttering shuffle, a pattern that repeats on tracks like “11th Hour” and “Four Dimension.” “Stars,” the first single from Ear Drums, puts the warbling synths and vocals by Anneka in the front of the mix for a chilled-out feel. Starkey does get grimey, too, opting for pnuematic, grinding bass and epic, siren-like instrumentation on tracks like “Spacecraft.”

http://www.youtube.com/v/x3UHYpDvRWk&hl=en_US&fs=1&

Rappers Cerebral Vortex and P-Money turn the clock back to the grime glory days, reminding rappers, both underground and mainstream, that these gurgling instrumentals are the perfect complement to rhymes, once you master the two-step rhythms. Starkey proved this on his remix of Gorilla Zoe’s “Lost” for the ATL RMX album.

http://www.youtube.com/v/GysWv0O1KQM&hl=en_US&fs=1&

With dubstep producers like Rusko and Skream bringing back the rave, the scene needs a producer to advocate for luvstep. If Ear Drums and Black Holes is any indication, Starkey is more than capable. And remember, don’t fear the wobble.