Dubstep Pioneer MALA Takes Control of Goodlife, Tonight, 8.19.11

Image source: http://www.clashmusic.com/

Get your earplugs and drinking shoes shined up tonight and head over to Goodlife (28 Kingston St, Boston) to catch a dubstep legend take control of the decks in the basement, thanks to Bassic. Mala, one third of the Digital Mystikz and part owner of the highly revered DMZ record label, is coming to town. If you know who he is, you’ve already had your entire summer planned around this. If you haven’t, he’s kind of a big deal, and it would behoove you to get there early so you won’t be screwed when Damien comes out holding up the “we’re at capacity” sign!

Mala was making dubstep before people were calling it “dubstep”. Between 2003-05, he was very heavily involved in helping spread the sound in the UK, mainly through traditional channels. Along with partners Lofeh and Coki, they began hosting their now-legendary DMZ parties in Brixton, but promoted them mainly via word of mouth. You sort of had to be “in the know” to come check them out. The sound systems at their night were customized for maximum low end, and all of their music was played on dubplates. During that time, dubstep was evolving so rapidly that a lot of their music was never even released, so you actually had to come to the party to hear it. There was no sitting at home and listening to the songs on YouTube to make up for it…and Mala wouldn’t want it any other way. Proper exposure to these sounds is key for him.

Right now dubstep is undergoing changes in tempo, song structure, and then some, to the point where people (thankfully) aren’t even giving the sound a genre label to define it anymore. You can guarantee that Mala will continue to be at the forefront of this evolution. His back catalogue is scarce, with only a few releases each year with his labelmates, but each one is pure quality and the vast majority are only available on vinyl. Mala is not someone you get to see every day, so come down to Goodlife to check him out. It’s a guarantee he will have plenty of unreleased dubplates to play for the hardcore fans too.

Basement support: C-Dubs, Scotch 1 & Damian Silva
Upstairs: The Thickness featuring Evaredy and Frank White

Goodlife Bar, 28 Kingston St, Boston. $10. 21+