Dark and eerie, with plumes of smoke lingering on the floor to mask the mass amounts of dancing feet that filled up Smart Bar for their weekly Dubstep/heavy Bass Thursday lineup the Chicago underground music scene has grown to know and love. This week, March 25th was a special day. Although the other events are growing in numbers as the popularity for the bass driven music genre is growing, this week in specific had a special guest. Coming all the way from the UK to blow the speakers and minds of local music enthusiasts, the dubstep DJ, DubPolice and Dubsoldiers founder, Caspa arrived ready to impress.
Spinning some old school classics, along with his personal favorites that he has grown to be known for, the dubstep DJ was a force to be reckoned with. Having done tracks with multiple worldwide artists such as Rusko and Deadmou5. Local favorite, Kid Sister was in the mix adding a guest appearance and vocals to an already mind blowing experience that would not be soon forgotten.
With the twirling of glow sticks, dancing of the full crowd, and sea of smiling faces, its amazing how quickly the new genre that is known for the skull crushing bass, wobble that makes the weak of heart dizzy, and overall mood of the songs, attract the most diverse crowd, from a multitude of different genres of music. All one can truly say is that each and every show is a great experience, accompanied by great people just looking to be moved by music like they have never been moved before. Welcome to the world of Dubstep.

Story by, Chris Hemstreet

Check out the rest of Caspa’s tunes at:
myspace.com/caspadubstep

as well as the local openers and residents for the Smart Bar event at:
Phaded:
myspace.com/sosophaded

Special Guest, MC Zulu:
myspace.com/zulumusic

Dark and loud, the pulsing of the heavy bass that made your chest feel like it was caving in, seemed to surround the room no matter where you were standing. The sound system at smart bar, dwarfing any other venue trying to have a clean, but heavy, heart pounding musical experience was evident. With the dance floor full of eager on lookers on March 11th at local heavy bass Thursday venue, Smart bar, were awaiting the fast approaching moment when the Canadian dubstep child prodigy, Excision, would take the stage, and the turntables.
A vastly unique style of laid back hip/hop vocals, mixed impeccably together with metal riffs and heavy bass lines, made the listening experience one of a kind. Making even the most passive on looker want to bounce around to the heavy style that Excision is known for. Track after track, anthems were dropped and all that could be heard over the loud roar of the audio system were yells of excitement followed by what seemed like the entire crowd head banging to the rhythm.
Arms positioned above their heads, crossed at the forearm to form the unmistakable “X” that signified none other than Excision, the crowd was just as excited as Excision seemed to be. The, what seemed like perfect flow of fast mixed with slow, hard with soft, and happy followed by angry, formed one solid cohesive set, that would have impressed even the most skeptical audience members, for what will be known to the event goers as, “The Day Excision Took Over Chicago”, and leave anyone that missed the epic showcase of the bass heavy, Canadian superstar clear and certain of one thing, a show like this will never be missed again.

Story By: Chris Hemstreet

For a chance to check out some of the tunes played at the show, or to see what you missed, check out the MySpace for Excision as well as the local openers for the night:

Excision:
http://www.myspace.com/excision
Dj Belly:
http://www.myspace.com/kevstoast
Akademy:
http://www.myspace.com/akademydub
Phaded:
http://www.myspace.com/sosophaded

A list of future dubstep events at Smart Bar, in Chicago, IL can be found at:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=272865832050&ref=ts

Electro Vs Dubstep

Just like the miracle of chocolate and peanut butter, Calvin and Hobbs, and Jack and Coke, there hasn’t been a better mashup of music like the announced, Electro Vs Dubstep show at the Portage Theater, in Chicago, IL.  Bringing together the best of both worlds, well known, electronic sing-a-long dabce tracks that have reached extraordinary levels of popularity in the past few years from artists such as, Chromeo, The Bloody Beetroots, Daft Punk, Girl Talk, and Boyz Noize amongst too many others to name.  The genre brings together fast paced music, with interesting melodies that make people want to dance.

On the other end of the spectrum you have the newer sensation that is dubstep.  Heavy hitting, large drop’s, and more wobble than you can handle.  The genre is picking up steam with artists such as, Benga, Rusko, Caspa, Excision and many others leading the pack at the forefront.  The popularity of the genre is becoming recognized by electronic music festivals all over the world, with Ultra and Coachella just among a few that has added dubstep artists to their lineup for 2010.

Saturday, March 6^th will be one show to remember, giving again the best of both worlds from local Chicago electronic scene DJ’s, such as, Midnight Conspiracy, Phaded, Nameloc, Solo, Broken Disco 1980, Action Adventure and Destruction, along with live visuals to finish off a night, full of what will surely be an intense array of dancing, drinking, partying, and being exposed to new music at this months 18+ showcase at the Portage Theater. There’s nothing left to say besides, don’t miss out on the opportunity to expose yourself to what truly moves the youth of today, a never ending array of diverse and different music.  See you on the dance floor.

Story by, Chris Hemstreet

Check out the artists playing at, Electro Vs Dubstep online:

Electro:

Midnight Conspiracy: http://www.myspace.com/midnightconspiracy

Broken Disco 1980: http://CustomVibes.com

Action Adventure: http://soundcloud.com/action-adventure

Destruction: http://www.myspace.com/thedjdestructionproject

Dubstep:

Phaded: http://www.myspace.com/sosophaded

Nameloc: http://www.myspace.com/namelocmusic

Solo: http://www.myspace.com/iscratchrecords

Find the event page on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=266525074648&ref=ts