This is more or less the question posed by our pals at PBS’ Idea Channel in a new video, and if anyone out there remembers “old dubstep,” it’s kind of confounding. Because dubstep at its genesis was actually a way exciting avant-garde genre of music on its own terms. Like, in the actual spirit of the avant-garde — experimental, new — and not in the sense of sharing characteristics with historical movements. (The old dubstep does share those characteristics, of course, but that’s not it’s claim to being avant-garde.) This is more what the Idea Channel is getting at, comparing Skrillex-style dubstep, ringtone dubstep, with the proto-noise of Italy’s Futurists.That’s fine — I think most everyone is tired of arguing about the dubstep nomenclature, but it is still frustrating to think of that early dubstep movement made up of brains like Burial and Shackleton being forgotten because of genre tag squatting. This is more or less what happened to screamo, that other genre Sonny Moore, aka Skrillex, used to squat in. What was once an experimental variant of hardcore is now the thing that probably pops into your head when you hear “screamo,” e.g. dudes with feathery hair and really unfortunate facial piercings aimlessly screaming over Guitar Center riffs.Anyhow, the video is worth watching, at least for the history lesson.Reach this writer at michaelb@motherboard.tv.
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