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Hunter T Wolfe wrote:
It does seem to be all the rage with the kids, though- certainly in Brighton it's been the drug of choice among 18-20 year olds for the past few years, wonky or otherwise.
BTW, wonky as a dubstep subgenre does predate Simon Reynold's article- I've seen a few references to it in print in the last couple of months and even the music makers themselves placing their work in that category- though I'm far from knowing what I'm talking about in this area. In fact, it could all be a scam to get sad old gits like me asking their friends' kids if they know where they can get any 'wonky donkey' -cue scornful laughter, a barrage of agist abuse and any blunt objects to hand...
You're right - I looked up Wonky on Wikipedia, and according to them the term has existed for a year or so now (along with Crunk, Hyphy, and Chiptune, allegedly - "do you have any Cake?" indeed). I'm a little pre-conditioned towards skepticism about any new genre Simon reynolds wqrites about ever since I read an article he wrote in the Mixmag about grindie (supposedly a mixture of grime-oriented beats and streetwise lyrics with searing, trippy indie guitars). I thought it sounded right up my street so I went into IMO Records in Wimbledon - and they're REALLY hardcore rave trainspotters in there - and asked if they had any grindie, and the manager behind the counter just looked at me uncomprehendingly and said "any what?!"
I have actually been to a few dupstep nights, as there are some good (and relatively cheap) ones in Brixton clubs like the Mass - and the atmosphere there is generally much more peacable than any of the more comercial raves I've attended lately. Which brings me to...
You may well be right about Ketamine being the drug of choice for 18-20 year olds in Brighton, but the substance that seems to have made the biggest (and most unwelcome, IMO) comeback in London clubs over the last ten years or so has been coke. I don't go to clubs like Turnmills or Pascha anymore because since the late 90s their clientele has changed from loved-up pillheads to paranoid, coked-up a-holes with really bad, aggressive attitudes. If that's the alternative, then ketamine is fine by me!
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