Ministry of Sound: Sound Of Dubstep

This post is sponsored in part by New York City's "Friday before a long weekend" rush hour.  

I had the pleasure of going to Riverhead, Long Island, NY this past weekend for Jerry & Deanna Ryan's wedding.  Deanna, Christine, Tim, Kenny, Laura, and I all went to music school together.  Kenny & I drove to NOVA and stayed with Tini & Mikey - the next morning we left for NY.  We were stuck in traffic from northern New Jersey to Exit 62 on the Long Island Expressway... and spent almost exactly an hour and a half trying to get through Queens.  I have a residual fear of heights, and there are a LOT of suspension bridges / tall overpasses during that particular leg of our journey.  Going 12 mph across these bridges, from which you can see directly down into the industrial / abandoned  neighborhoods or the river, is not my idea of fun.  To distract myself, I switched my iPod to the Ministry of Sound's "Sound of Dubstep" album.

Side note: If you aren't familiar with the Ministry of Sound, there's a lot you're missing.  Originally just a nightclub in London, the MoS expanded into a multinational corporation which includes a (literally) global record label, a separate MoS in Egypt, clothing lines, and some of the best club / underground electronic compilations I've ever heard.

"Sound of Dubstep" is a grimy, genre stretching, intense, yet slightly uneven album.  Tracks like "Bass Head" by Bassnectar and Doorly's "Raindrops" mix are now club standards.  There are others that are totally spin worthy, like the DJ Fresh / Nero mix of "Hypercaine", but don't get a lot of play.  Another example is Chasing Shadows' "Amirah".  I personally love "Hypercaine" because it's more of a house mix that displays evident influence of the  dubstep and bassline genres.  A real standout is the Bassline Smith & Drumsound dubstep mix "R U Ready?" - this track led Kenny to yell graphic statements describing how the music made him feel.  There are a few weaker tracks, which is to be expected in the company of such breakout and chronic standard artists.  The only thing I'll say about these tracks is that a duple followed by triple bass line does not a dubstep track make.  It's not just the rhythm; it's the overall mix and track blend which creates that unique sound.

Any album that can get you through New York City on a long weekend travel day at rush hour is clearly an instant classic and should be purchased immediately.  "Sound of Dubstep" is well worth retail for the  40+ underground and label artists' bass-heavy remixes.  In the words of Kenny... "This album is just, it is so highly, I cannot handle it right now!"

Judissimo!

The music world lost a sparkling gem this past August when Judith Lapple passed suddenly in her sleep.  George Mason University held a memorial concert for Judy 10/3/10, and the new deLaski concert space was standing room only.  It is nearly impossible for me to explain the impact of one life-changing experience, let alone the sustained influence of a life-changing force. "She never met a person she couldn't teach" - "vibrant" - "electric" - "generous" - "she was like my second mom" - these are all words and phrases associated with a soul untethered.  80-odd flutists joined in song yesterday... the first piece, Dawn Carol, is played by multiple flutists placed around the performance space.  A few began, then others entered, and it was, to the untrained ear, disorganized but "pretty".  In truth, it was evoking her very personality - seemingly chaotic with a rich, warm harmony emanating from within.  Rays of musical light begin to spin, colliding with each other and breaking into other pieces; and those shards coalesce into one choir full of joy and beauty so powerful that it takes you over completely.  The flutes played for Judy, because of Judy, and to Judy yesterday.  

The dedication that she applied to her teaching and performing was also the fabric of her family life.  She always drew an impenetrable line, shaking her head and setting her mouth - "Nope guys, sorry, my family comes first always, that's never going to change so just get used to it."  Her husband, 4 daughters, and mother shared her with us more than anyone else ever would have.  Bill, her husband, told me yesterday, "Well it's not like we had a choice (grin) - her students were her life and that was part of the deal.  That was the package, and I knew it, and I loved it."  


Jenny, her eldest, shared an e-mail with us that Judy wrote her during a trying time.      The phrase "those who choose to achieve" stuck out because it encapsulated Judy's theory:  If you choose to apply yourself diligently, honestly, and whole-heartedly, you WILL be the best; and you deserve nothing less than the best.  The last line read "You are my entire world."  This was exactly how she made each of her students feel about our 30 minutes a week, or 2 hrs every other week.  We fiercely guarded those lessons against last minute schedule changes and extra-credit activities, for we all loved our time with our teacher. Our teacher, our role model - the woman who was reading "How To Teach Genius" in her final days. 

We will always honor your memory, carry on your legacy, remember your love, share the music, and "smile, because it happened".