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So it's now been just over five years since I created this thread. Five years in dance music may as well be an eternity, so I decided to give us a bit of a makeover. Once again I like to welcome you to the UK Bass thread! Five years ago I said UK Bass wasn't exactly a genre in itself, rather more a describing term for a series of genres that have contributed to/spawned out of the whole 'UK Hardcore Continuum' (Google it). Of course like I mentioned things change quickly in dance music and the term 'Bass' has become a genre in it's own right, with many tunes described as such occupying a wonderful no-man's land between the likes of Dubstep, Grime, House and Techno, with some songs able to fit into any/all of those genres and more! Of course that doesn't mean that a lot of the individual genres I mentioned in the past have ceased to exist, oh no. Though some like Bassline and UK Funky are pretty much dead by this point, though their influence carries on! So why don't we take a look at the state of the scene as of mid-2016.  As I mentioned 'Bass' has become a genre in it's own right. Acting as an umbrella term for artists who aren't that easy to categorise, with many artists taking influence from every sound under the sun and producing bodies of work that could equally be classed under several genres, be it Dubstep, Techno. It could be a dark sound or light sounding track, it could have perfect heavenly vocals. Whatever! The one common link they all share however is in the name. Massive amounts of bass! Kowton – Scido Pearson Sound – Thaw Cycle Jessy Lanza – It Means I Love You Lone – Alpha Wheel MssingNo – Scope FaltyDL – Rich Prick Poor Dick  Dubstep is often thought of as the brother of Grime. Again developed out of UK Garage, Dubstep took the generally darker instrumental side of the 2-Step sound which was pioneered by the likes of El-B, Zed Bias, Darqwan and Horsepower Productions and added even more bass and giving the sound more space to breath, develop and do it's own thing, something that - at the time - was very lacking in other sounds like Drum & Bass. Despite what people commonly think Dubstep is not just about having the snare on 1 and 3. This beat is called half-step and just happened to be one of the most common sound when Dubstep first blew up worldwide. Since then many people sadly assume that that is how all Dubstep must be, leading to a very constrictive framework which has resulted in many formulaic tunes. Originally Dubstep was simply characterised by it's massive sub-bass and a tempo generally in the area of 140bpm. It was this original open ideal that would help develop the UK Bass scene as we know it today. Dubstep has had a rough couple of years (read half decade or so), so please be kind to it! Skream - Midnight Request Line Digital Mystikz - Anti-War Dub Benga & Coki – Night Ishan Sound – Namkha Jack Sparrow – Hold and Pull Kahn & Neek – Got My Ting  This sound developed out of 2-Step. Around the start of the millennium the sound of UK Garage started to mutate again. Slowly there began to be a increase in MCs and Crews in the scene, dominating the raves with their skilful, sometimes venomous and occasionally violent lyrical abilities. As the MC began to become the centre of the action, the actual music followed suit, becoming more stripped down, minimal and punchy in order to showcase the MC. Often Grime instrumentals can be mistaken for Dubstep. While closely related sound-wise, Grime music production generally features a fast attack, with no long stretched out pads or other flourishes in order to not take away from the vocals. Like a boxing match Grime is characterised by it's short, sharp punch, speed and ferocity. Recently – after many years in the wilderness – Grime has retaken the world by storm, with the likes of Skepta and Stormzy leading the way. And by that I mean only really the UK, though Drake does love BBK. Instrumental Grime has also become more of a thing over the past few years, with the likes of Mumdance and Logos pioneering their own style, though sadly weirdos have been trying to apply the term 'Weightless Grime' to that kind of thing. I'm not having none of it though! Big Narstie should also get some credit for A) Bringing Craig David back into the limelight, and B) entertaining us all with his Uncle Pain Youtube vids. Dizzee Rascal - I Luv U Wiley - Wot Du U Call It? Tempa T - Next Hype Stormzy – Shut Up Skepta – Man Novelist – Endz  This sound rose from the depths of Chicago to become one of the most trendiest sounds throughout the world, with the original Chicago DJs and producers spearheading the invasion (when they aren't busy being robbed or involved in car crashes). The past few years have seen a lot of UK/European artists jumping on the bandwagon, bringing their own unique twist on the sound. Special thanks to the likes of air- and Ivan Prisypkin for pointing to the newer stuff. Truthfully it's not a genre I'm personally super familiar of, but plenty of folk here know all about it so feel free to ask! Traxman - Were Your Gone Run Too Rashad - I Don't Give A gently caress RP Boo – Steamidity DJ Taye feat. DJ Paypal – Go Away RP Boo – Bangin' on King Street DJ Spinn – Off That Load  This sound was largely built off the back of Jungle pioneers 4Hero's fantastic sound, as well as the Acid Jazz and Nu-Jazz scenes of the 90s (not to mention a healthy dollop of House & Hip-Hop). This music generally features a more jazzy, soulful or funky sound with a heavily syncopated rhythm that gives the genre it's name. Broken Beat could be thought of as a prototype to the current scene, made up of many different types of artists who intitially came from a wide variety of scenes, from Jungle, UK garage, House, Acid Jazz and Hip-Hop. Each bringing their own tastes and knowledge into the sound and producing some unique music. Over the past few years the Broken Beat scene (you'll also find the term Bruk floating about to describe these kind of tracks) has received an amazing regeneration, with the likes of Eglo Records, Ninja Tune, Rhythm Section International and a revived 2000Black amongst others really bringing new life to the genre as well as giving it a modern twist! Personally I've been in a near constant state of ecstasy with the amount of amazing releases that have been released over the past 1-2 years. Dego - Dumped Funk 4Hero - Ways Of Thought (Restless Soul Mix) Bugz In The Attic - Move Aside Floating Points – King Bromeliad Henry Wu – Croydon Depot Max Graef & Glenn Astro – Magic Johnson  Yes I've slyly introduced House & Techno here too. Why? Well to be technical with the amount of overlap in the scenes I just think it makes sense. Plus to be honest the dedicated House and Techno threads both kinda suck and just plain ain't groovy and I'd quite like a cool place to talk about cool music. This ain't a place for shite Techno, IDM, Prog House, Electro-House or any of that pish. If you can't buy it on a vinyl record it's probably not for here. Use yer head! Seb Wildblood – U Mall Grab – French Girls HNNY – Tears Tessela – Bottom Out[/utl] [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8_UAZ4ZjfQ]Blawan – Say What You Want To Say Differ-Ent – M.O.M.  The majority of UK Bass music can still be had on physical format on Vinyl and CD, while if you really want to download I suggest avoiding horrible places like iTunes or Beatport (the HMV/Virgin Megastores of the digital world) and instead go to proper, independent download stores like Juno, Boomkat, Bleep or Hard Wax. But don't forget to check your local record store too in case they have what you want in stock. Support the independents! Juno and Juno Download Boomkat Bleep Redeye Records Rubadub Hardwax OYE-Records Rush Hour Clone Know of any other cool record shops? Let me know and I'll add them here!  For those of you interested in the history of UK Bass music I urge you to take a look at my Rough Guide To UK Bass History. Part of a continuing series, so here's what has been covered so far...         
28 Gun Bad Boy fucked around with this message at 23:19 on Jul 22, 2016 |
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Jun 22, 2011 02:29
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Welcome to the first part of my UK Bass history guide. I intend this to be a rough guide to the history of the current UK dance music scene. An attempt to educate and show people what came before. It's not meant to be a completely 100% accurate in-depth report of the sound and scene at the time, but is hopefully good enough that people will be able to understand and form the links in what has turned out to be a 20+ year old musical progression. First before I start I'd like to explain the genres what I currently call the UK Bass scene. UK Bass could be said to currently comprise of: Dubstep, Grime, Wonky(do people still call it that?), UK Funky/UK House and UK Garage/Future Garage(have I left anything out now?). If you listen to any of these genres then this may prove useful and interesting to you. Anyway without further ado...   Time Scale: Late 1989-Early 1992 Key Labels: Warp Records, Network Records, Bassic, Chill, Outer Rhythm Summer 1988. The Second Summer Of Love. After years bubbling away in the underground, House music(in particular the Roland TB-303 warped Acid style) exploded into the mainstream in the UK. Suddenly everyone - no matter their social class or the colour of their skin - seemed to be raving together, getting off their tits on Ecstasy and dancing the night away in old warehouses. The music played was generally American imports from Chicago, New York and Detroit. Indigenous UK-produced tracks were also around and sometimes just as big as their American counterparts, but at the time were fewer in number and never seemed quite as well put together as their American counterparts and were all-together more cheesy sounding. However what applies to the UK as a country also applies to its music scenes. That is; the ability to nick whatever they like the sound of, incorporate it with other foreign and homegrown elements and call it their own. This unique ability to smash and grab, then re-mould a vast array of different sounds and vibes continues to this day, in what is now called the Hardcore Continuum and UK Bass music. But all great lineages always have a starting point. In the case of the Hardcore Continuum/UK Bass scene it could be said that it's starting point was in 1989, in the North of England, in a towns such as Sheffield, Leeds and Bradford. This is Bleep 'n' Bass. But how did Bleep 'n' Bass as a unique genre begin? As mentioned above It's fairly simple. Obviously the U.S. House and Techno scene provides the biggest influence, but unlike those very 'purist' music scenes, we British have no problems incorporating other musical styles into the mix. In this case we added the breakbeat elements of Hip-Hop(which was massive in Britain in the 80s) as well as the bass weight and sonic space that features in the Jamaican Reggae and Dub scenes, the sound of which was initially brought over by Caribbean immigrants post-WW2. This mix of Chicago Acid House and Detroit Techno, Hip-Hop and Reggae/Dub has proved enduring and adaptable enough to survive in various forms into the present day. I think it's also important to point out the effect our superior independent record distribution network had on spreading and selling this new sound, with distros such as Rough Trade, Pinnacle, Spartan and then new kid on the block SRD having the financial depth, muscle and expertise to really make a proper sales chart impact. This wasn't a scene where selling just 500 or a 1000 copies was considered a success, instead acts like LFO were regularly selling into the five and even six digits mark. The reverberations of this musical scene can be felt to this very day, with nearly every Dubstep, Grime or UK Garage/UK House track almost sure to feature some element of Bleep 'n' Bass in it. Be it Dubsteps sub-bass pressure, Grimes reliance on low-attack high-frequency sonics to offset wild MCing, or UK Garages skippy drum sounds which owe just as much to the programmed breakbeats of Bleep 'n' Bass as it does to U.S. Garage. Don't worry if that brief historical overview has been too stressful or badly written for you to understand, because now we jump onto the good stuff, the actual music! EDIT: Now upgraded with handy Tube-Tape Playlist ! Why click twenty-one times when you can click once? Krush "Jack's Back" (Club/FON Records, 1987) This track isn't strictly what you'd call a Bleep 'n' Bass track. But it has a few key elements in what would become that scene. This track is the flip to Krush's 1987 House hit 'House Arrest' which hit number 3 in the charts(the real charts!), one of the first wave of UK produced House songs that became hits preceding the Summer 88 revolution alongside the likes of M/A/R/R/S and Coldcut. This track was produced by Rob Gordon and Mark Brydon at Fon Studios. Gordon would later become one of the founders of Warp Records, which was initially based out the FON record shop, as well as recording several Bleep anthems. I call this track a proto-Bleep track as it has several of the elements crucial to Bleep tracks with it's Hip-Hop swagger and energy as well as it's bleeps and bloops which would give the genre it's name. Unique 3 "The Theme" (Chill Records, 1988/Ten Records, 1989) This could be said to be the beginning of Bleep 'n' Bass proper. Even just the intro wipes out what came before with a vocoded message announcing "We are the original acid house creators/we hate all commercial house masterbaters". It doesn't look back at all, instead it grabs all it's influences, stuffs them in a cannon, cuts the mid-range out completely on the EQ and fires them forward full force into the future. Nothing but a solid, ecstasy grinder of a track. Full of unrelenting bass pressure and high frequency noise that not only gets you on your feet but keeps you on them. No wonder this track would help inspire a whole scene, doesn't it just makes you want to fire up a sequencer and tap on a drum machine? Something so simple shouldn't be so brilliant. On a related note if you pick up the 2xLP version of their LP "Jus' Unique" whoever cut that was a complete don, 3 tracks per side at 45rpm! gently caress me! Bet it was Rob Gordon himself. Forgemasters "Track With No Name" (Warp Records/Outer Rhythm, 1989) The Forgemasters were Rob Gordon alongside Sean Maher and Winston Hazel. This has it's reputation not only as a fantastic track, but also as Warp Records first ever release. A stuttery, rhythmic, industrial sounding release that punishes you with bass weight and drums that switch between having the kick boom like a Victorian-age steel press before breaking down into a Hip-Hop breakdown. Has been said to have a real Art Of Noise sound to it which could be true, especially since Rob Gordon did a remix of their track that appeared on a special FON remix album of AoN's work. Sweet Exorcist "Testone" (Warp Records, 1989/90) We even get a video directed by Jarvis Cocker for this one. How loving great is that!? Anyway Sweet Exorcist was Richard H Kirk and DJ Parrot(known to his maw as Richard Barratt). Kirk was a founder of early industrial and all round musical pioneers Cabaret Voltaire. CV probably had just as big an effect on the Sheffield scene as any house or hip-hop tune, especially when you consider them after their early Rough Trade/Indie days. Sadly the long trenchcoat wearing brigade started abandoning them after they began making truly danceable high impact music. High impact is what you could describe this track. This, probably more than the Forgemasters track, is probably what put Warp on the map. Simply a massive bassline and several notes of bleeps over a 909 percussion work out, the song is turned on it's head halfway through when a haunting pad melts into the background the the track, giving it what I think is a very dark and almost dangerous edge. LFO "LFO (Leeds Warehouse Mix)" (Warp Records, 1990) You had better have your speakers ALL the way up for this one. I don't care if it pisses off your maw, your dog, your granny or your neighbours this is how poo poo is done. This is the track that hit number 12 on the real charts, shifting an immense - even in those days - 130,000 copies and really giving Warp true national exposure. A real B-Boy drumbeat skitters under just some massive, massive bass. You don't know whether you want to breakdance to it or be broken by it. Epoch 90 "VLSI Heaven" (Oh'Zone Records, 1990) This track is actually one of my favourites of all time. A bit of a lesser known number, it appeared on Jazzy M's Oh'Zone Records who are probably more famous for putting out Orbital's first single. I feel this is actually a bit more fuller track, with more going on in the mid-range than most of Bleep tracks of the time. Uplifting xylophone-like tones and a swelling pad create a very psychedelic feeling on top of a boomy breakbeat and a walking bassline and the repetitious "VLSI Heaven!" sample. Ragga Twins "Hooligan 69" (Shut Up & Dance Records, 1990) Bleep 'n' Bass was definitely not just a Northern thing. Here London's MC heroes The Ragga Twins get in on the action with this Shut Up & Dance produced number. Definitely more emphasise on the breakbeat on this one - as per usual with a SUAD production - that points the way to Jungle, along with Flinty Badmans and Deman Rockers Dancehall vocals. Probably one of the best produced of the early SUAD stuff. Interestingly while this drumbeat is sampled - like you'd do in hip-hop - several Bleep tracks seem to have almost a programmed breakbeat, like it has been manually tuned instead of just a simply loop. Juno "Soul Thunder(Drillers Mix)" (Bassic, 1990) The second release on Bassic records who cropped up in 1990 and released just a handful of releases before disappearing into the nether. Possibly because they were distributed by Rough Trade who in early 1991 ceased trading and went bankrupt, owing a lot of people money. Maybe that's why Bassic only has 1 release from 1991? Anyway some may wonder why I didn't include Ital Rockers "Ital's Anthem". The reason is simply because I didn't want to. Both of these are classic, well known tracks but I much prefer this release to Ital's thing. It should be pointed out though that Ital Rockers would become mighty Steppers outfit Iration Steppas and go on to wow the world with their amazing sound system, so there's a link there. Juno meanwhile would disappear after this single release. The flip has an unusual Vocal mix that I have to say is one of the few vocal mixes I've seen in Bleep. Actually the way the vocals are sequenced slightly remind me of how vocal samples would be handled in the UK Garage days, being just another instrumental sound rather than the lead part of the song like in U.S. House and Garage. The Scientist "The Bee" (Kickin Records, 1990) The Scientist was Phil Sebastiane and future Jungle legend and original Shut Up & Dance member DJ Hype. Probably better known for their other hit "The Exorcist", but this is actually my favourite of their releases. I think it's a much more 'mature' sounding record compared to Exorcist with it's tinky-tonk piano lines and lightly warped bassline. Again another London track, this time on future Hardcore and Jungle powerhouse Kickin Records, and like the Ragga Twins track the drums feature a bit more prominantly than the Northern stuff in this. Kickin Records still exist but is a shadow of it's former self generally releasing pretty middle of the road techno and trance. Nexus 21 "Self-Hypnosis" (Network Records, 1990) Nexus 21 would later go on to bigger fame as rave pioneers Altern-8, but here they show off their original Techno roots with spacey drifting bleeps that send you into a trance and lets your body follow the wake left by the 50 fathoms deep bassline. Network Records is actually a very important label in the Bleep scene, as well as the Hardcore scene that came after. Originally started by Neil Rushden - who literally brought Detroit Techno to the shores of the UK via this classic compilation - who started it as an offshoot of his original Kool Kat Music which was the label that initially released all the classic Detroit stuff over here. However after realising Kool Kat was a terrible name he dumped that and decided to use Network as the vehicle to release homegrown UK talent. Tricky Disco "Tricky Disco" (Warp Records, 1990) Again another Warp classic. Warp Records really had the whole Bleep 'n' Bass scene sewn up, releasing nothing but gold all through the Bleep period. I honestly can't think of a single bad release they had during that time. A real light-hearted bleepy plodder of a tune - and I mean that in a good way! Pitched up vocals are not quite chipmunk in sound, but getting there, showing the way to what the future would be like. Tricky Disco also put out stuff under other names, the most well known was probably GTO who put stuff out on the React label, and as Church Of Extacy who had a complete acid burner on the ever great Rising High Record. Language "Renegade" (Boss Records, 1990) Another personal favourite of mine that I feel does not get the notice it deserves. Produced at Production House Studios by none other Mark Evans aka Bodysnatch(future Junglist don) this tune features a crackling stab of a synth that shoots down onto the rhythmic base like lightning. Sampled, stuttering ragga vocals fade into the background as strings enhance the sheer epicness of this track. Seriously go buy this tune now. If you had to pick any of the tracks on this list, this is it. K-Klass "Loafman" (F.R.O. Records, 1990) What's this you say? Commercial House giants and remixers extraordanaires made Bleep music!? Yes! Their first EP features four cuts of prime Bleep 'n' bass material. This track - Loafman - being the best I think. A fairly radical departure from what they would end up doing later I think, but it's included just to show you that you've always got to dig deep when it comes to music. Follow every label release, check the producers real name and see if it pops up on other single and you never know what interesting gem you'll find. Tuff Little Unit "Join The Future" (Warp Records, 1991) The year is 1991, will you join the future? Warp does it again with this classic piece of Bleep. And a very intriguing peace of work. It actually has vocals! Kind of. But it is a very different track I feel. A more mid-tempo number with some keys that give it a slight melancholic edge. Almost like it knows that 1991 will be the last year that Bleep really existed as a force in the UK music scene. Overall a simply fantastic track and I think one of Warps last truly great anthems. Oh Warp, remember when you used to be cool and relevant before you spent the best part of a decade putting out useless wankery electronic Prog albums that only resulted in a fatter wallet for you and boredom for the majority of us who like to dance. Finally note the name, Tuff Little Unit, a fairly masculine sounding name that really doesn't seem to initially fit the relaxed, almost feminine music. This kind of thing would crop up again in the UK Garage days were you'd have a real ruffneck artist name and when you put the needle on the record you could get the sweetest, most soulful, feminine pressure beat in the world. Sinewave "Sinewave" (Chill, 1991) Personally my favourite record on Luton-based label Chill. A full sounding track full of shuffling hi-hats, darting bleeps, bass and pads all reverberating around creating a real sense of depth and space that some other tracks can lack. You feel every inch of the sonic terrain in this track in being utilised to it's best advantage. Earth Leakage Trip "No Idea" (Moving Shadow, 1991) The first ever release on future Jungle leader Moving Shadow records. This is almost the epitome of a Bleep 'n' Bass track. A deep, subby bassline rolls out of the dark depths of the track while floaty bleeps keep you from escaping higher up, compressing you in between them while dark, Omen-like chanting and psychedelic samples really gently caress with your head. Hope you're not tripping your face off in a dance when this cuts in, nowhere to hide in the middle of the dance floor. Man Machine "Shout (The Communicator)" (Outer Rhythm, 1991) A euphoric sounding bleep-line keeps your spirits up over an otherwise absolute grinder of a track. Sometimes almost vaguely Industrial sounding in some ways ala Nine Inch Nails first album, it's backbone being solidly of a hip-hop foundation stops it from straying too much into that territory. Tribal chants and deep, almost prehistoric growls of sound really live up to the tracks name, shouting above a dark rumbling pad. Perfect dancing fodder, it's communicating through you by overriding your brain, getting a direct feed straight to your body. XON "Dissonance" (Network Records, 1991) What happens when you put Rob Gordon and Richard H Kirk in a studio together? You get this fantastic track. It was around this time that Rob Gordon sadly split rather acrimoniously with Warp Records, leaving Warp without their best, most talented producer and A&R man. Regrouping Warp would eventually do their Artificial Intelligence series and begin what is the mostly dire world of IDM. But enough of that, this is a great track and is pretty much a culmination of nearly 2 years of Bleep 'n' Bass. You can almost hear the tinges of regret, anger and broken dreams in the sad pads and snapping percussion. By 1991 it was clear Bleep 'n' Bass was a dying breed, slowly being usurped and remodelled into the Breakbeat Hardcore Rave scene. The sample of Cybotron's(Juan Atkin's first musical project) "Techno City" seems like a failed attempt to remind folk then of their history, an attempt to remind them that all this wouldn't be possible without the futuristic sound of Detroit Techno. Cabaret Voltaire "No Resistance" (Les Disques Du Crepescule, 1991) Industrial pioneers Cabaret Voltaire were made up of Richard H Kirk and vocalist Stephen Mallinder. During the late 70s they release a couple of records on Rough Trade, but really hit their stride when they signed to Virgin and later EMI/Parlophone and produced some really wonderful, wonderful, wonderful tracks that greatly influenced a lot of what folk in the US were doing. In 1989 they had a House inspired album out that was produced by Rob Gordon, sadly it was a failure commercially and critically(naturally I love it!) but they regrouped immediately and began producing more Bleep and Techno inspired work. This piece is off their Body & Soul album, the last that features Mallinders singing. Similar to what Kirk was putting out under the Sweet Exorcist and other names it features fantastic drums that will surely keep the b-boys doing their thing, alongside a simply massive ironclad dreadnought of a bassline. CV would to another 2 or 3 albums before disbanding, all in this kind of techno style and either on Kirk's own Plastex label or on R&S ambient sublabel Apollo. N.R.G. "The Terminator" (Chill, 1991) Yes by 1991 things had started changing. The UK Bass scene doesn't stay in one place for long, but it's never a sudden change. You can always see the gradual changes in sounds before the energy and inspiration switches. If you're smart and/or lucky you'll pick up on this and follow it, it will always lead you to goodness. Here's one of those gradual changes. A good, if fairly standard, Bleep track at first glance. But look closely, the breakbeat is a lot rougher than the normal slickly produced Bleep 'n' Bass track. More like the kind of sound they get down in London rather than Sheffield. While the actual song seems constructed around the sample ("Terminator is out there...") rather than the sample merely being an extension of the central musical core of the song. "You gotta take a trip" indeed. Rhythmatic "Wind Me Up" (Network Records, 1991) Now here's where things start to get a little more interesting. Rhythmatic had been in the Bleep 'n' Bass business since their first 12-inch dropped in 1990. All their other tracks are classic Bleep songs. But this is slightly different. More upbeat, more bouncy, with more vocal samples. The bass as well has changed as well, not being quite as deep, instead it's gained more of a mid-range, a more buzzing, growling thing that energises rather than envelopes. Here we can see the start of a new genre of music. Breakbeat Hardcore, or sometimes better known as simply Hardcore Rave. And there we have it. A brief introduction to Bleep 'n' Bass, the first in a line of continuous musical genetic mutations. I hope this will be useful to you, and maybe help you understand what the roots of the current UK Bass scene are and where it is coming from(and maybe even make you begin to think where it is possibly going!). At the very least I hope it has exposed you to some new(but old) tracks that maybe will have a positive effect on your mind, your body and your soul. Maybe it will inspire you to produce and create songs and reach new heights in your song writing ability. Or maybe it just gives you more stuff you can get plastered, dance to and chat up girls too. If that can happen to just one of you I'll feel as if the large amount of time and energy that has went into this was worth it, even with my newly formed carpal tunnel syndrome. Additional & Recommended Listening: Sadly Bleep 'n' Bass isn't widely represented compilations wise. The most recent being the first two volumes in Warp's 10+1 series. Influences and Classics. Both are obviously easy to get new. The other best sources are sadly period compilations. Network put out two releases in their BioRhythm series. Lucky the first one was repressed by Neil Rushden/Network in 2xLP form just a few years ago, along with other repressings of some of the classic tracks I spoke about above. Rushden also released on his newest Endulge label a great 5CD boxset. Along with some great writing, each CD chronicles a different style in Networks history. Starting with the original Kool Kat Detroit releases, to the Bleep stuff, to the Rave stuff to finally their fantastic US Garage stuff. I really suggest picking it up. Finally there is Rumour Records Breaks, Bass & Bleeps series. This spanned 4 volumes and while later ones mix in a lot of Hardcore with it, is still a great series that's sadly not so easy to find nor cheap to pick up. Oh and one word of advice. If you plan on picking up any of these releases, or pretty much any other Bleep track in original 12-inch form, don't pay too much for it. Most of the releases sold absolute pot loads and with one or two exceptions can generally be had for just a couple of pound each at the very most. 28 Gun Bad Boy fucked around with this message at 02:14 on Jul 4, 2016 |
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Jun 22, 2011 02:29
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This is really awesome, thanks a bunch!
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Jun 22, 2011 03:09
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I don't know if this is technically UK bass but it's pretty grimey and he is from the UK: Hudson Mohawke - Thunder Bay. His new EP drops in a month, Butter was so-so but I like the sound of this so far. e: anthem for this new thread https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-pLVMQxS54 GET MONEY fucked around with this message at 06:24 on Jun 22, 2011 |
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Jun 22, 2011 04:11
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Welcome to the second part of my UK Bass history guide. I intend this to be a rough guide to the history of the current UK dance music scene. An attempt to educate and show people what came before. It's not meant to be a completely 100% accurate in-depth report of the sound and scene at the time, but is hopefully good enough that people will be able to understand and form the links in what has turned out to be a 20+ year old musical scene. Timescale: Early 1991-Mid/Late 1992 Key Labels: Kickin Records, R&S Records, ZTT, XL Recordings, Network Records, Suburban Base, Jumpin' & Pumpin' Last time in my UK Bass History guide I left you at the tail end of what could be said to be the first modern UK electronic bass music scene: Bleep 'N' Bass. Combining the breakbeats of Hip-Hop, the bass pressure of Jamaican music and the production values and frequencies of Detroit Techno, Bleep 'N' Bass mutated quickly in it's roughly 2 year long lifespan. As the sound of the music progressed so did the tempo, quickly increasing from early 1991 onwards from the roughly 120bpm of contemporary Techno up towards the 130/140bpm mark and above. Featuring a greater emphasis on the breakbeats and slightly less on the bass, the Hardcore sound would incorporate a greater variety of samples than Bleep 'N' Bass did, some tracks actually using the samples as the central theme of the song with the rest of the elements spun around it. This increase in tempo and further experimentation with the as yet under-utilised mid-range sonic frequencies would create one of the most popular musical explosions of the 21st century and it would be called Hardcore. While Bleep 'N' Bass was actually largely a very slick, professional take on bass music, Hardcore (also known as Breakbeat Hardcore, Hardcore Rave, or simply Rave music) was often a more bedroom affair. With producers writing, producing and recording their own tracks, utilising old Amiga and Atari computers together with then-fairly primitive but user friendly sequencer software. An explosion in cheap hardware samplers in the late 80s - such Akai's S-series samplers, Ensoniq's Mirage and EPS, and E-Mu's Emax series and many others - helped to fuel this developing sound and allow it to incorporate new techniques and sounds that were maybe rough, but nevertheless very unique. For this section I have split the content into 2 parts. In this part I will show some of the more mainstream and commercial sounding tunes and producers, their impact in the music charts and how far their popularity reached. In Part B however I will show the flipside to this mainstream popularity. How even within such a popular genre people still made deeper, darker, rougher and perhaps more future friendly tracks than what I am about to present to you. Both sides of the record are very important so I urge you to take a good listen to both parts in order to understand the differences - as well as similarities - between the overground sound and the underground sound. As usual enough with the talking, onto the music! Tube-Tape Playlist Link Altern-8 "Infiltrate 202" (Network Records, 1991) Peak Chart Position(P.C.P.): 28 An early Rave classic, though neither the first single nor highest charting release(their anthem Activ-8 hit #3 in late 91) by Altern-8(also known as Nexus 21 and C&M Connection). It's probably one of the earliest and best tracks I can think of to show the difference between Hardcore and Bleep 'N' Bass. A faster affair than anything Mark Archer and Chris Peat released as Nexus 21, it still keeps a good dollop of sub-bass but lines it up next to samples of cheering crowds, a whole section 808 States classic "Pacific" and a female vocalist. All of these just keep the track spinning in perpetual motion, gathering and gathering energy with no end in sight. A chunky lead brings that jump up swagger many rave tunes would come to have, keeping the ecstasy fueled punters moving their feet all night long. Shades Of Rhythm "The Sound Of Eden" (ZTT, 1991) P.C.P. 35 SoR were a 3-piece from Peterborough and signed to ZTT Records who you'll probably know from their success with Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Propaganda and 808 State. This is a classic track of theirs, taking just as much influence from the piano and vocal driven House scene as it does with Bleep 'N' Bass. A completely uplifting anthem with a vocal line that just soars above the clouds, dragging you with it and into the stratosphere, bouncey piano chords following up in the rear just making sure you don't fall off the ride. An interesting showcase of the more 'fuller' sound Hardcore has. You have the bass and the bleepy highs as before, but cutting chunks into the mid-range you have the soulful vocals and keyboards. Shades Of Rhythm were one of the many acts who would follow the continuum into Jungle as well as House. Oh and just look at the record cover, as if the track title didn't give you a massive hint it's a bloody snake. At least Adam and Eve didn't need to put up with poorly cut MDMA, all they had was a simply Granny Smith! Unity "Unity (Future Sound Of London Piano Mix)" (Union City Recordings, 1991) P.C.P. 64 Oh my days! You want piano here's some piano! This is probably the most famous version of this track which was originally released in the US on Cardiac Records. Speeding up the breaks and piano of the original this is probably one of the first genuinely original remixes I can think of, just showing off the skill that is FSOL. Pitchshifting breaks gives this track a kind of proto-Jungle motif, but the ultra fast, ultra bouncey piano line leaves it firmly in Hardcore territory. As for chart position it's typical of a lot of popular tracks of the time. Some made big gains in the chart race, reaching the Top 40 and spending some amount of time there, while others were like a bullet, a quick hit into the 50s and 60s and out again. But hitting number 64 in 1991 when people were still actually buying music was some feat. The Prodigy "Charly (Trip Into Drum & Bass Mix)" (XL Recordings, 1991) P.C.P. 3 Now I know what you're thinking, why the album version and not the original that burst into the top 3 in August 91? Well I'll tell you why this version just loving rocks and makes a mockery of the now admittedly outdated and even slightly cheesy original. A complete one shot injection of euphoria and energy. A pounding breakbeat just makes you legs and arms spazz out while a massive hoover of a bassline melts your brain, leaving you a complete puppet for the tune to have it's way with you and pull your strings and watch you dance. The Prodigy are obviously still about and still selling records like crazy. But their first few singles and the first album are what really put them on the map, as well as bringing in enough money to make XL the complete indie powerhouse it is today. Second Phase "Mentasm" (R&S, 1991) P.C.P. 48 Second Phase was New Yorkers Joey Beltram and Mundo Muzique. A more Techno affair than other songs here (as you would expect with a Beltram release) the tune was still a massive track in the raves of the day. But the main reason this release is here is because of the bassline. What sounds like some kind of demonic Hoover would eventually be called just that - The Hoover bassline, probably one of the more common basslines in electronic music nowadays(alongside the ubiquitous stretched 808 and Reese bassline), as well as going on to feature in many of the Hardcore tunes of the day. R&S is an interesting label as well. A Belgium label it spearheaded a brief but successful wave of Belgian tunes in the UK market. Eventually though many UK producers would grow tired of the attention paid to the Belgium contingent, and they would swing away from that sound becoming some of the first artist to create what would eventually become known as Jungle. The Hypnotist "The House Is Mine (Rising High Records, 1991) P.C.P. 65 Another tune that made a brief, but significant, stab into the music charts. The Hypnotist was Peter Smith and Casper Pound who founded Rising High Records. A more Techno tune like the above Second Phase release, more closely related to the early Bleep 'N' Bass sound with it's Strings Of Life sampled piano and acidic 303 bassline. However it fits in well with the Hardcore sound and it was tracks like this and others on labels like Rising High that would become the basis and influence for what we now call Trance(seriously folks laugh at Trance but a lot of the early German stuff on the likes of MFS are cracking, the Goa-esque stuff sadly not so much). Congress "40 Miles (Vocal Version)" (Inner Rhythm, 1991) P.C.P. 26 Now after that brief detour through some more Techno orientated affairs, here we come right back to classic Hardcore territory. It pretty much has everything you traditionally associate with Hardcore. A bouncey piano line, a simple breakbeat, a swaggering, walking bassline and some diva-ish vocals. Congress was comprised of Danny Matlock and Danny Harrison. Now in an effort to show you again how often folk follow the musical flow of the hardcore continuum, Danny Harrison might be better known to you as one half of UK Garage legends 187 Lockdown / Nu-Birth, as well as half of dark Garage/proto-Dubstep unit Menta alongside Arthur Smith aka Artwork aka that other guy in Magnetic Man. SL2 "Way In My Brain" (XL Recordings, 1991) P.C.P. 11 While not quite the chart stormer as their other big tune On A Ragga Trip(which hit #2) this tune shows the more rougher, Ragga influenced side of Hardcore coming out. With the bassline and vocal sampled straight out of original Ragga hit Under Me Sleng Ting by Wayne Smith, this tune melds that with the rough breaks and brings back a real skanking, smoked out riddim that hadn't been seen since the previous year. 2 Bad Mice "Bombscare" (Moving Shadow, 1992) P.C.P. 48 What a way to bring in 1992! 2 Bad Mice continue where SL2 left off, bringing a more rougher, bassier sound to the mainstream, providing a good bridge between the underground and the overground mainstream sound. Seriously try to find a Hardcore compilation put out by any major label that doesn't have this on it. Engineered by Moving Shadow supremo Rob Playford(who would later engineer a lot of Goldie's stuff), a more cut-up at times, changing breakbeat points the way to the future while still retaining that Hardcore swaggering lead synth. Rumbling sub-bass takes care of the low end. Sampled explosions that explain the track name litter the tune alongside the (now dated) scratching samples filling up the rest of the mid-range. 2 Bad Mice would continue on the Hardcore tip over the next few years under various names before splitting up, with one half going on to create this massive Jungle anthem. Sonz Of A Loop Da Loop Era "Far Out" (Suburban Base Records, 1992) P.C.P. 36 Some tunes are just Hardcore through and through. This is one of those tunes. It cannot be confused with anything else. All it is is Hardcore. Piano lines bounce all over the shop like a guy E'd off his nut while a vocal sample sings "lift yourself". Even the scratching (apparently actually live rather than straight off a sample CD) don't sound dated on this one. The slow rising pad that comes in now and then just takes the biscuit. Dear oh dear. Interestingly Suburban Base is probably more remembered nowadays for their long association with Jungle(though they had a fantastic UKG label called Quench you should check out as well), it shouldn't be forgotten that Sub-Base put out a lot of utter shite. They get one permanent black mark for putting out the Smart-Es novelty track "Sesame's Treat" that inspired a heap of poorly made copycat tunes that would help take the wind out of Hardcore's sail. The Spongebob of it's generation. DJ Seduction "Hardcore Heaven (Heaven Mix)" (FFRR, 1992) P.C.P. 26 Another complete anthem. Just listen to that intro melody line and don't tell me you don't just want to stick your hands in the air like you just don't care! One thing this tune has going for it is it's actually quite a well produced, slick tune in comparison to some Hardcore tunes which can be rough as anything. This lack of production quality really hurt Hardcore at the time. Much like nowadays on the one hand people being able to fairly easily afford the equipment meant those who normally wouldn't have the chance to got make a track, but on the other hand those who shouldn't have the chance to got to make a track. The smarter ones went to a real studio to lay down their beats. Like DJ Seduction who's early tracks were all engineered at Monroe Studios by Pete Parsons who would engineer for many future Jungle stars and labels as well as doing his own stuff. DJ Seduction meanwhile would follow the Hardcore Continuum like the others, but would go down the Happy Hardcore route instead of the Jungle route. M.A.N.I.C. "I'm Coming Hardcore" (Union City Recordings, 1992) P.C.P. 60 Okay you got me, this tune did originally come out in 91 but was released a few months later in 92 on Union City. But try find the original compared to the UCR cut! Anyway this is a truly fantastic tune. Arpeggiated notes drift out to the void at warp speed while that drat piano just want stop speeding along, while the vocal sample of lifted from Hip-House star Tyree. And no, don't ask me why I know that. It's not like I have a secret love for Hip-House. Union City Recordings is actually a favourite of mine. A sub-label of Circa it's kind of forgotten about nowadays, meaning you can find their releases cheap as! Mainly focusing on releasing some great House tunes, the label also played host to Sasha's first release, as well as this fantastic, well-produced possibly Dubby, Trancey, Junglistic-esque oddity. The Future Sound Of London "Papua New Guinea (Jumpin' & Pumpin', 1992) P.C.P. 22 This is probably FSOLs most famous tune, and for good reasons. Quite simply this tune is breath taking. It's Hardcore but with a quick stop at Ambient and Trance town. Not only that it's top of the line, well produced Hardcore. It just blows pretty much everything else out there out of the water production wise. Shiny smooth layer upon layer, breakbeat under booming Reggae bassline under haunting reverberating voices under spacey galaxy wide bleeps. It's got everything. With this tune you can see how the future panned out. Tunes were either going to be rough, stripped down and ready, or sharp, clear and busy. There has been a lot of remixes, but unless they're on the original 1992 7-track Jumpin & Pumpin release forget about it. It's like Nero's Sincere remix, don't touch the sheer genius it'll just end up destroyed. Shut Up & Dance "Raving I'm Raving" (Shut Up & Dance Records, 1992) P.C.P. 2 A massive, massive hit that should've made a much bigger splash. Unfortunately some Hardcore(and let's be honest other dance acts) suffered the same way a lot of Hip-Hop productions suffered. People claiming copywrite on uncleared samples. Managing to smash it's way to number 2 before having to be pulled because of an uncleared Marc Cohn sample. Because of this the single quickly fell back down the charts and the profits had to be given to charity. Now how unfair is that?(Well I'm sure the orphans enjoyed it) If there was ever a group who deserves a lot more attention(and money) layed on them it's Shut Up & Dance who practically invented Breakbeat Hardcore. SUAD continue to make great records to this day(unlike Marc Cohn) and I suggest you pick them up quick sharp to see how the Breaks scene is today. Urban Shakedown "Some Justice (Concrete Jungle Mix)" (Urban Shakedown, 1992) P.C.P. 23 If there is one thing you've noticed reading this list, I hope it's that you've seen how most of these records were put out by small, independent labels. It's amazing to think the reach and impact these labels had on the music charts at the time. I mean where else could you regularly see indie labels constantly outstrip big major labels in sales figures? It seems incredible even nowadays where the indie label has even more power behind them than they did then. Anyway, this track falls along the lines of 2 Bad Mices "Bombscare" and more rougher and streetwise sound with massive bass and some great (if simple to modern ears) drum workouts. Urban Shakedown are probably better known for being the alias of Gavin King aka future jump up Jungle star Aphrodite. The other guy behind Urban Shakedown ended up making Progressive Trance which probably sums that career up really. Messiah "Temple Of Dreams" (Kickin Records, 1992) P.C.P. 20 I hope you didn't forget Kickin Records now? Kickin during the early 90s somehow managed to keep one foot in the more commercial, mainstream side of things, and the other foot in the underground scene. Giving them the underground coolness factor but the monetary muscle and increased brand awareness. Messiah were one of the more profitable acts for Kickin. Starting with such a fantastic intro that shows one of the better sides of Hardcore, an ability to laugh and have a joke. The Running Man sample blends in with a Monty Python line which launches into a shuffling mess of squelching acidic synth lines and euphoric vocals. Again that other classic aspect of Hardcore is captured perfectly. That sense of rising euphoria. The vocals wail out upward, in a grand mockery of some late night, warehouse Gregorian chant religious ceremony. Here though you worship the bassline and the almighty E. Acen "Trip II The Moon (Part 1)" (Production House, 1992) P.C.P. 38 Speaking of indie labels ending up with more power than the majors, the most positive example of that has to be Production House who in the early 90s had a bigger cut of the dance market than Sony. Think about that for a moment. Now Trip II The Moon. Maybe it's just me but this tune has always seemed to much darker and more bleak than other Hardcore tunes. The song just seems to claustrophobic and paranoid to me. It's almost like it senses the whole scene had gone too far with it's chants of "Music takes me higher/more than ever before/I can't believe these feelings". Like it's a heroin addict who finally realises he's so far gone but just can't seem to pull out of the nose dive. Just one more push, one more rush, one more hyper experience. This tune stands at the edge of the boat, one foot on the gangplank, contemplating whether to get off the boat. Into the Darkness. Into the Jungle. And there we go! Part A of Hardcore done. Keep watching this space for the B-Side where we delve into underground sound that was developing at the same time as the above tunes. Additional & Recommended Listening: Luckily the more mainstream side of Hardcore Rave/Breakbeat Hardcore is very well complemented in terms of compilations. Each year there is several new ones released on the likes of Ministry Of Sound and other similar big labels. Occasionally featuring some real duffers, generally they're not too bad. Just don't expect any real surprises in them. As for period compilations that's easy as well. Rave sold by the bucket load as folks crammed into 50,000 capacity arenas or fields to hear the music. Classic compilations includes Telstar's(R.I.P. You cheap crappy compilation label) Kaos Theory series which had almost a half dozen releases. Rumour Records Breaks, Bass & Bleep series focused on rave for their last two volumes of that series, and their Warehouse Raves series continued with that tradition. Two great volumes that are sadly a bit on the pricey side nowadays are Kickin's Hardcore(Leaders Of The New School) and Hardcore Leaders - Vol 2. Both feature a bit more underground tunes as well as whatever acts Kickin were pushing at the time. Finally Jumpin' & Pumpin' released 3 volumes of their Noise series that like the Hardcore Leaders series featured the underground stuff mixed in with more mainstream sounds. On the plus side they're easy and cheap to pick up and I recommend them as well. Like Bleep 'N' Bass don't pay too much for these releases if you're contemplating on picking them up on vinyl. These commercially successful records sold like crazy and aren't rare in the slightest. Many even came out in CD single form if you swing that way. 28 Gun Bad Boy fucked around with this message at 02:20 on Jul 4, 2016 |
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Jun 22, 2011 04:19
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Thanks for the thread 28! great write-up!. Like the poster before me here are just some decent tunes to get going and a bit of a look back at general tunes form some specific labels. With zomby releasing new material here is some of his old tracks that ive liked *Digital Fauna - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nunqq5FIHLk *Need Your Lovin' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-Nw_a1Y5ic&feature=related The Bug is probably one of my favourites and some of his biggest tracks have been done with flowdan. *Skeng - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwmUOJR-GwA *Run - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnUFTe2DfU0 These days i have big love for Night Slugs at the moment and the sound they are putting out. Ran by L-Vis 1990 and Bok-bok. *Jam city - 2Hot http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1yAEtm-X1U *Girl unit - Showstoppa http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFiG0nNoaTs *L- vis 1990 - Compass http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktE9LJN_5cU *Jam city - Barely a Track http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gRlBdhWsFk&feature=related I've liked Instra:mental and Dbridge for a time now and they have a wealth of great free mixes at their Autonomic *Instra:mental - From The Start http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3BlDvf1CWs *Dbrdige - Rendezvous http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8b50weVo34 *Riya - Seems like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVZH6B8Je-Y *Instramental - Delta Zone (advance) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jttPunNogKw As far as the funkier side of bass music goes (i mean as in to hear them, im poo poo with genres) ive always liked these ones: *N-Type -Early Door Jaw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrUcvoxw7sQ Nothing new but Thats kinda just a bit of a brief overview of some stuff. (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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Jun 22, 2011 04:19
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Could we not do the "Here's a dozen tracks I won't talk about except to say they're good" poo poo? You don't have to do long writeups or whatever but just something about the music.
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Jun 22, 2011 04:45
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Here's a bit about instrumental grime and the current grime scene in general since I didn't see it covered too much in the OP. Keep in mind this is all from a non-londoner's perspective and I'm no expert, so feel free to correct/add to this wherever. First, Grime is historically tied to London, more so than a lot of other genres. It started there, and spread through raves and pirate stations with tiny broadcast ranges, not big releases. A lot of the scene's developments make more sense in light of that. And going along with that, the best ways to listen to the music are either at a rave or in sets, rather than singles or albums. This is a really cool history of pirate tapes that helps fill in some background stuff http://www.thewire.co.uk/articles/6769/ The mainstream dance sounds that 28 Gun Bad Boy talked about in the OP was an attempt by some of the bigger grime MCs to get signed to major labels in 2006-7. It kind of goes back to (and definitely includes) Dizzee Rascal, who was the first big star in the scene. He's a great MC, but he went on to record some pretty lame pop albums after getting signed and has mostly left the scene behind. A lot of artists tried to follow him, and that led to some less "underground" music, and a lot of the time the crossover albums weren't good anyway. Part of the problem was the focus in grime had shifted from DJs and sets to MCs and mixtapes, with the musical quality suffering. At the same time, funky getting popular, and pulling crowds with women in them where people actually danced (grime was only getting tougher and more masculine), a lot of producers and MCs went over to that scene. Both these things made the scene implode a bit in the past couple of years. As a reaction, there's a "new wave" of grime MCs that take a purist approach, with a lot of lyrics about making grime and not liking funky. PC by Merky Ace is a good example. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZOgYSenmlw Merky Ace - PC There's also instrumental grime, which was sort of spearheaded by Elijah and Skilliam, who went on to start Butterz. They tried to bring back the focus to the DJs and the music, where it was before the MCs and lyrics, and make it dancey and fun instead of tough and serious. Butterz has put out a ton of great music in the past year and a half, but they're not the only ones doing it. Here's Boo You, which came out recently on Butterz. It's got an old skool grime sound, going back to the garage days, and its much more happy than most grime coming out (though still definitely dark and punchy like grime should be). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3fhax1NlrM P Money and Blacks feat Slickman - Boo You The instrumental stuff tends to have more synth work going on to make up for the missing MC, but grime has such a big sonic palette that it's more of a direction than a distinction. These are the 3 biggest releases on Butterz before Boo You, which was Butterz's first vocal release. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voJznH9JMxU Swindle- Mood Swings http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO43mtxdyYU D.O.K.- Chemical Planet http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRNP6jp1UbQ Royal-T - Orangeade Spartan, by Spooky, also has that sound, though it's more of a riddim than a song. Here's Kozzie on it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75nkUensTUU Kozzie- Destruction Here's another looped riddim with the same upbeat, dancey synth work (by the guy that did Next Hype) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwos4aFieyA Darq E Freaker- Cherryade The riddim/song distinction is a result of people making tracks without MCs. Without the bars, the song needs more structure to stay interesting. Butterz recently answered a question about limiters with a rant about boring, poorly mixed, and looped songs on their tumblr that called out lazy producers, but it's since been deleted, probably for the best. But that might mean a move in grime towards more song structure. Other than Butterz, the best labels for instrumental grime are Harddrive, which is Terror Danjah's label, and Hyperdub, which put out a Terror Danjah compilation that helped kickstart the whole thing. Harddrive has some of the funky/grime hybrids that came out of the grime scene jumping ship in 2007, as well as some amazing straight up grime. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdssG1hBSCo Champion- Motherboard http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bze6cGA0f4A D.O.K. and Sir Spyro- Missing Step http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT7RdUSgdfo Joker and Terror Danjah- Gully Goon Estate That last one is an update of this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1HnatIMFOs Joker- Gully Brook Lane Joker's been doing this forever. And here's my favorite Terror Danjah Hyperdub release http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lkv5s3INZyg Terror Danjah- Minimal Dub There's also some overlap with the Night Slugs crew. Bok Bok's latest ep has some pretty grimey tracks on it, and Jam City's talked about it being an influence. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bwrO23csTs&feature=related Bok Bok- Silo Pass And other than Harddrive and Hyperdub (which has grime releases pretty rarely), Oil Gang and No Hats No Hoods are good to check for quality grime instrumentals that can stand on their own. Also, Elijah and Skilliam's rinse shows (they almost always have 2 a week at least) are good places to hear new stuff. This ended up a bit longer than I thought it would! Take all of this with a grain of salt- it's an incomplete list and I'm pretty far removed from the scene location wise.
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Jun 22, 2011 06:15
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Okay I had a really nice, non-PYF post written up but accidentally deleted it and went to a diff page so I couldn't ctrl+Z it back. Basically - 28 Gun Bad Boy - favorite UK Bass/Hardcore Continuum writer, ever (prob even more than Blackdown/Martin Clark). It's clear that you have experience and a love for the genre, which I love. I love Martin Clark, don't get me wrong, but I feel like I know you more than I know Blackdown, and I've exchanged emails with him. Like, this week has been good: I got a James Blake/Harmonimix white label in the mail yesterday, I have a Ramadanman Fall Short/Work Them 12", Jamie xx - Far Nearer, Footcrab, CMYK, another James Blake 10" coming in the mail (not all at once), got the Jackmaster Fabriclive 57 CD in the mail today, bought the mp3 for Oneman's Rinse 11 mix (which is great btw), but this just sent it over the top. Like, nobody has inspired me to buy music more than 28GBB somehow (*corndog alert*), which is a good thing. I used to buy music all the time in high school, but since getting to uni, it's been significantly less, and it kinda sucks with all the overseas to the US shipping. I know that a lot of the tracks I'm playing have been heavily rinsed out, but I'm fine with that, I don't buy them to play out necessarily, but just to make sure I support the artists. Q: Altern 8 - Infiltrate 202 : is that the first time that vocal had been used? Tiga uses the same lyrics on his song of the same name. I went out and found a copy of Ramadanman's Grab Somebody after I heard it on the Fabriclive 56 mix, by the way.
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Jun 22, 2011 06:20
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28 Gun Bad Boy posted:Welcome to the second part of my UK Bass history guide. Fantastic post, some of my all time favorite tracks. Great to see that there is a new thread too, there has been so much cool poo poo coming out recently. I just got these tunes in the mail today, not brand spanking new by any means but good golly these are gonna be fun to play: Horsepower Productions - Let's Dance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJES8ffap14 Julio Bashmore - Father Father [Instrumental] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEwlTong3Uo Julio Bashmore - Craboon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViVs42YzBF8
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Jun 22, 2011 07:08
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Excellent and informative as always, 28GBB! Beats the poo poo out of Ishkur, that's for loving sure. As of now, as I said in the old thread, I'm really digging that my favorite sorta Dub Techno/House label Millions of Moments is moving into Garage territory with their new MOMUK subsidiary. They've started out with two EPs, the former from Lostlojic and Bisweed and the latter from Lostlojic solo. Both are out digitally as of yesterday but MOM puts out great vinyl, as always. Check out the solo A. Also got the new Blawan single on repeat. With that and TEETH it looks like chopping up R&B divas is a thing (I guess it always was? I don't know)
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Jun 22, 2011 08:23
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Also Bass Clef just dropped a single on Punch Drunk and it is pretty boss. Minimalist but not macho.
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Jun 22, 2011 09:13
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^^^ Bass Clef is a great guy. It's great to see him play live, since he actually does play live completely, down to the trombone and whistle. It's a good change to see someone not hidden behind a laptop making music, he's also a lovely guy to boot.28 Gun Bad Boy posted:HARDCORE I loving love you for this post, most of these tracks are still on my mp3 player in my cheese folder.
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Jun 22, 2011 11:05
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a milk crime posted:Okay I had a really nice, non-PYF post written up but accidentally deleted it and went to a diff page so I couldn't ctrl+Z it back. Well thanks for the love, though better than Martin Clark I don't know haha. He was one of the only writers I ever bothered to read. I mean he's been in the scene so long, way WAY longer than I have. I mean think of all the free records he must be getting(god dammit that's about the only thing I wish for in life. Not world peace, and end to poverty in Africa no. I just want free records man). Though on the negative side you could kinda blame him slightly(and I don't really mean blame like we should string him up) for the sharp rise and quick fall of Dubstep. He was one of the main guys to really bring it out of the UK via the internet and give it global exposure. Maybe a bit too quickly really. And man Uni is when you should be buying more records! Christ that's one reason I loved art school! The government kept giving me money and I kept spending it on upfront white labels. Hurrah socialism! Oh and if you're meaning the female vocals it's actually a sample from Candi Staton. Though everyone probably just samples that from Altern-8 now rather than the original. JamesKPolk posted:Grime stuff Great write up man! Obviously I had to keep most of the facts out of the OP to keep it lean and basic(seriously condensing stuff down into a paragraph is hard), so stuff like this expanding on things is always welcome.
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Jun 22, 2011 11:39
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The new Eski LP is solid as always, but what happened to the two singles that came out a few weeks ago? I guess they were too pop for this record? e: oh he has another album out next month 
Ras Het fucked around with this message at 12:39 on Jun 22, 2011 |
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Jun 22, 2011 12:20
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het posted:This is really awesome, thanks a bunch! Agreed, definitely like the guide being the first thing people will find.
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Jun 22, 2011 13:15
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Ok that basically covered everything you could have wanted in the mainstream hardcore sense except maybe Awesome 3 - Don't Go which felt like it was the biggest of all (played in like EVERY set that i've heard). Now it'll be interesting to see the other side of things,cause there's too much to cover. Acen was definitely dark stuff, and from what i read in surprisingly some random Amazon comments is that it was about a girl called Faustine he was with. When Faustine and Acen were still together, his music retained the ethereal and dreamy quality I had come to love. On the night that Acen found Faustine in a drug-induced coma outside Ministry of Sound, he came to my house in Leicester Square and recorded Window in the Sky in Faustine's memory. I sang the vocals. Yes, that night, Faustine had passed through the window in the sky and entered another dimension of New Beat, a dimension in which Acen and I were not welcome. Their relationship ended soon after Faustine awoke in the hospital. It was hard for Acen to accept the fact that Faustine was no longer the carefree little girl from Rotterdam we had all grown to love. She was now distant and cold, always dancing by herself or with her pet owl in the balcony of Camden Palace. I think Acen's pain is reflected in much of the tracks on 75 Minutes, especially Window in the Sky. ---Chippewa von Furstenberg
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Jun 22, 2011 14:06
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Hot drat. Nice thread! This is quite embarrasing but I've listened to T2 - Heartbroken (Ft. Jodie) probably 10 times in a row. 
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Jun 22, 2011 14:15
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infinity2005 posted:Ok that basically covered everything you could have wanted in the mainstream hardcore sense except maybe Awesome 3 - Don't Go which felt like it was the biggest of all (played in like EVERY set that i've heard). Now it'll be interesting to see the other side of things,cause there's too much to cover.  Wow! That Amazon review is like, I don't know, the start of some Lovecraft tale or something. Acen was definitely a good producer, and Window In The Sky is my favourite track of his, but I never listen to any mix other than the Kingdom Of Light mix nowadays. That mix has aged the best.I'm glad you enjoyed it since I know you're a bit of a breakbeat buff. Obviously you could probably find a lot of holes and errors, but as a general rough thing I think it does the job. The next part is basically going to be from the same time period, so 91 to around mid-92. I might end it on Terminator as it's a good lead in to the Darkside Jungle stuff. So mid-92 to mid-93, then we can just lump in 94/95 as purely 'Jungle' I think. Well, I'll figure it out when I get to it. Regarding the Awesome 3 track, unfortunately I couldn't include every track due to space and what not. Some may say I'm just using that as an excuse because I completely forgot about that track and it's existance. Is that the truth? Maybe, maybe not. I guess we'll never find out. Ola Ugh posted:Hot drat. Nice thread! This is quite embarrasing but I've listened to T2 - Heartbroken (Ft. Jodie) probably 10 times in a row. Nothing to be embarassed about, that song really is a classic. So, so good despite how played out and old(in scene terms at least) it is now. 28 Gun Bad Boy fucked around with this message at 14:38 on Jun 22, 2011 |
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Jun 22, 2011 14:34
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infinity2005 posted:Ok that basically covered everything you could have wanted in the mainstream hardcore sense except maybe Awesome 3 - Don't Go which felt like it was the biggest of all (played in like EVERY set that i've heard). Now it'll be interesting to see the other side of things,cause there's too much to cover. Hahahhahaa why is someone writing fanfic about kitchy 90s hardcore? "My house in Leicester Square"...
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Jun 22, 2011 14:38
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I dunno about the fluffy writing and who that guy is but Acen's breakup with that girl is definite fact and he's said it's affected the music from the time. It always felt to me Acen's music and particularly 1993 releases were much more emotionally charged than the other music of the time; stuff like SMD 1 which was just total impersonal dancefloor bangers.
infinity2005 fucked around with this message at 15:52 on Jun 22, 2011 |
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Jun 22, 2011 15:49
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Here's the transcript of Simon Reynolds talking at FACT about the 'hardcore continuum', and here's a series of Simon Reynolds articles on various facets of the continuum, each written as they were really coming into their own: Hardcore Rave (1992) Ambient Jungle (1994) The State of Drum 'n' Bass (1995) Hardstep, Jump-Up, Techstep (1996) Neurofunk Drum 'n' Bass vs. Speed Garage (1997) Two-Step Garage (1999) Grime (And a Little Dubstep) (2005) Could probably go in the OP.
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Jun 22, 2011 19:33
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Gamest Mook posted:Here's the transcript of Simon Reynolds talking at FACT about the 'hardcore continuum', and here's a series of Simon Reynolds articles on various facets of the continuum, each written as they were really coming into their own: Simon Reynolds is one of those writers I actually respect and will listen too. And the number of those isn't very high. One reason why is the fact he was actually there, enveloped in the scene. He wasn't some guy who came along after it blew up, after the buzz had reached a certain level, like you saw with say Dubstep where no-one outside members of the scene were writing about it before it became the 'in thing', safe enough that lesser talented and least involved folk could go "Oh this is big now. Other people have said it's got a buzz about it I'll do this now". I mean not being there at day 1 isn't a crime, but as far as I'm concerned if you're gonna come into something else show some proper respect and pay the tribute. That's one reason why people like me hated it when you suddenly got folks like Black Sun Empire, Nero, Chase & Status jumping on the Dubstep bandwagon thinking they were it (and the fact D&B sales were falling and the scenes star falling, while Dubsteps sales and prestige were rising rapidly, didn't play a part in it at all. Nope. Not one bit). Just because they were kings in there own house didn't mean they could just swagger in and expect VIP treatment. What they did in D&B had no translation into what we were doing. C&S get not quite a by, but a bit of one since to be fair they did have some early 140-ish stuff on Bingo/Vehicle. People who did it the correct way like Martyn, Tech Itch, Rob Smith etc etc got the props they deserved because they were respectful and understood the situation as well as the groove. Anyway, Reynolds yeah, good writer. Wierdly I don't actually own or have read Energy Flash which is his big dance opus thing. I've got some of his other writing though and it's good. Definitely shows his Oxford/Cambridge journalism/writing background at times though. The way he writes is just totally alien to me and not how I like to write(and I've done dissertations before and once was told while my writing was good it was too 'tabloidy'. In retrospect I guess I shouldn't have put the naked girl on page 3.), however he's the one with many books published and is a successful freelance writer so I guess I can't complain. Oh and definitely quoting this for truth. Simon Reynolds posted:But even through all this cyborg manipulation which it's always fun to talk about, always there is this soul power --a kind of hypersoul, maybe -- and that runs through the whole continuum, from hardcore to bassline -- and for various cultural reasons that are interesting to think about, it's the female voice that is the privileged representation of bliss -- so we have this current of feminine pressure running through the continuum -- indeed when the voices start to drop out of the music completely, then I think we're in trouble, then it's starting to be a river branching off the continuum, as with drum and bass, as with dubstep. Then it starts to have international appeal, the less soulful it is -- funnily enough. Your international white boys contingent don't like the divas, it doesn't compute for them, they think that kind of singing makes it pop music, or R&B. And they probably haven't done enough Ecstasy to feel that hypersoul rush. e: And this as well. I forgot how good the content in that transcription was. Wish I could've actually seen him speak. Simon Reynolds posted:So I would further argue that a healthy musical continuum is one where everyone involved is listening to everybody else very closely, but they're not ONLY listening to people inside the scene. They're tuned to stuff outside it, and then they use that stuff from outside as part of their arsenal against the other producers within the scene who are their rivals. Pure truth. 28 Gun Bad Boy fucked around with this message at 20:47 on Jun 22, 2011 |
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Jun 22, 2011 20:37
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thepopstalinist posted:
Yeah I love this one onna Todd Edwards vibe. Blawan has such an awesome sense of rhythm - makes sense he is a drummer (i think). And someone earlier was blaming dizzee for blowing grime open to the top 40 - not quite right when... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQxjbofGO-o It was none other than the godfather himself who opened the door. 28b - you'd love energy flash so much, i reckon it will get a repress soon though, what with his latest book (retromania) out last month, which by the way is really good too. people have been cussing its premise but it is still an amazing history of pop music if nothing else.
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Jun 22, 2011 21:28
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Hardrive has some test presses (edition of 8!) of Mz Bratt's new EP on Hardrive. I grabbed one because it comes from the Butterz camp and if anybody deserves my money at this point it's those boys. Got a tee, too. Over at the boutique if you want one. Hurry quick!
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Jun 22, 2011 21:30
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28 Gun Bad Boy posted:
http://www.fact.tv/videos/watch/518
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Jun 22, 2011 21:32
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Managed to get another test press today from Butterz, this time it's HDR005 from Danjah's label though. Still pretty sweet. Looks like im gonna spend a lot of money again this week. I just wish i could get around to selling some of the less than decent stuff i got to pay for new records. I got lots of new only played once records i need to get rid of, but it's such a hassle dealing with discogs and the like, i don't have the time. Is there any regular vinyl seller here in the UK who would work out a bulk deals for the ones i don't want maybe? A lot is straight up 2011 stuff probably easy to sell. I don't mind losing a couple of quid on those. I don't want to be dropping down to a quid-a-record prices when it's acutally good records played only once (basically bought them to rip for other people). Edit: ah not surprised thepopstalinist got one straight away too :p
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Jun 22, 2011 21:34
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mr box posted:Yeah I love this one onna Todd Edwards vibe. Blawan has such an awesome sense of rhythm - makes sense he is a drummer (i think). If you like Todd Edwards stuff you really need to check out MK. He was like a proto-Todd Edwards. TE kind of took the cut-up kind of thing MK was doing and just took it to another level. Burning, Somebody New I'll happily put my hands in the air and say I loved Rolex when it came out. It was a real breath of fresh air for the scene. Maybe it got a bit too much and overplayed and copied but whatever. Thanks for that video by the way, never thought to actually check if it was recorded or not.
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Jun 22, 2011 21:56
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28 Gun Bad Boy posted:Great write up man! Obviously I had to keep most of the facts out of the OP to keep it lean and basic(seriously condensing stuff down into a paragraph is hard), so stuff like this expanding on things is always welcome. Thanks! That means a lot coming from you. I meant it to be more of a tide over/modern look on a specific side of the scene til your grime feature (and I tried to keep it more modern focussed so as not to step on your toes!) but I got kinda carried away and it ended up bigger longer. Also you should definitely check out Energy Flash. I'll send you my copy once I can get it back from my friend if nothing else. mr box posted:
Oh yeah Wiley's definitely to blame too, but it seems to me like Dizzee got that ball rolling earlier, even just by releasing Boy In Da Corner on XL. Although I'm sure Wiley wasn't totally innocent in all that either. thepopstalinist posted:Hardrive has some test presses (edition of 8!) of Mz Bratt's new EP on Hardrive. I grabbed one because it comes from the Butterz camp and if anybody deserves my money at this point it's those boys. Got a tee, too. This was gone fast! I was gonna grab this one too. Anything special about the test presses other than them being ~super limited~ and ahead of time?
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Jun 23, 2011 00:49
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JamesKPolk posted:Oh yeah Wiley's definitely to blame too, but it seems to me like Dizzee got that ball rolling earlier, even just by releasing Boy In Da Corner on XL. Although I'm sure Wiley wasn't totally innocent in all that either. I think the difference is, while both Dizzee and Wiley first moved up the leagues in signing with XL, they both did it on 'merit' as it were. Like both those albums(BIDC and Thin Ice) were just grime. But because they did it that way - and I remember when this was happening - everyone else tried to get signed doing just pure grime. But despite Dizzees(remember as good as that first Wiley album was it wasn't a chart buster like BIDC or Showtime) success no majors were really looking. I mean Doogz got signed and just put on the shelf really. So everyone was looking up to the stars with pound signs in their eyes, but not actually looking at what they were doing with their hands, at their actual work, which suffered. A lot of that pent up energy just ended up going to an aggressive place. I mean is it any wonder one than a few MCs ended up in jail around that time? All that frustration and energy had to come out somewhere, somehow. Wierdly you mention mixtapes, which turned out to be both like the disease and the cure. Mixtapes around 2004/05, man I remember a lot of them were just poo poo. There would be a couple of good tracks out of like 20 on the disc and that would be it. But then though when all the MCs hit the ground again with a big thump after failing to put their name to a line, they really put all that rejected energy into the mixtapes. Really making them something. I really put a lot of that success on The Movement who at the time I thought(and still do) were really keeping the scene as it should be, showing it how it should be done. If we're going to blame anyone you're best sticking the ball at Dizzee circa 2007. I mean Maths+English had Lily Allen and should've had Joss Stone on them. Nothing wrong with either of them but I remember at the time I just didn't know where they fit into the scheme of things. What was their place on a grime album? They weren't even like Gemma Fox or whoever, someone who had underground and street pedigree.
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Jun 23, 2011 01:28
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I hope this thread takes off. I've been really enjoying releases from Hotflush and L2S over the past year. Songs like this or anything by Mount Kimbie have been my fix for a while now. Can't say I'm a fan of discussing what genre is what, though. That seems pretty rampant with music like this. Checkers Langley fucked around with this message at 02:41 on Jun 23, 2011 |
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Jun 23, 2011 02:39
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I thought this track was pretty interesting to I picked up the EP and unfortunately it was still the only one I liked out of the three. I'm not really sure how to describe it other than it's dark and it gets me moving. Migrant - Pipe Club As a side question, why do people download vinyl rips? I thought the point of having vinyl was that the quality of analogue was so much better than digital.
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Jun 23, 2011 03:34
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HatchetDown posted:I thought this track was pretty interesting to I picked up the EP and unfortunately it was still the only one I liked out of the three. I'm not really sure how to describe it other than it's dark and it gets me moving. Believe it or not there are still some artists who don't release everything as an MP3.
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Jun 23, 2011 07:03
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Even when they do, a lot of people prefer a decent vinyl rip. There's a few reasons rather than just nostalgia, It still gives some added reason to buy the vinyl yourself for a start, there's zero reason to purchase a digital once you have it. And a vinyl rip isn't lost amongst the one-click download digital-only label lineup of complete poo poo, there's geniunely quality control for it to get on a record in the first place. There's also tradition... everyone into dnb knows the ripping group sour, they did everything, and basically proved vinyl-ripping was a valuable promotion tool for DnB. You could rely on something done by then as a benchmark straight away (and they even rated it musically themselves in nfo's). Now instead of waiting for a real quality group rip which is a piece of work, now its just WHEREZ DA 320 and people posting massive lists of mostly poo poo digi's. Digital doesn't even do better for sales than records, infact it has absolutely pathetic sales figures. People sharing 320's seconds after they go on sale is no promotion effect or any good effect at all. I loving hate the 'digital revolution'. Now sour is on the slide and genres like house are already completely hosed in that regard, flooded among total crap every day. Digital codes when you buy a vinyl, that's fair and a nice bonus which i like. Digital releases aren't working as originally intended except for maybe the top few on beatport. Those people STILL would have sold more vinyl or CD back in the day and made more money. infinity2005 fucked around with this message at 13:02 on Jun 23, 2011 |
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Jun 23, 2011 12:58
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Love the new thread. Somehow I had missed bassline up until now, and I've been jamming DJ Q/MC Bones - You Wot and T2 feat Jodie - Heartbroken on repeat for 20 minutes now. Are there any decent bassline mixes, or is it one of those genres where everythings on album?
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Jun 23, 2011 16:37
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Dramatika posted:Love the new thread. Somehow I had missed bassline up until now, and I've been jamming DJ Q/MC Bones - You Wot and T2 feat Jodie - Heartbroken on repeat for 20 minutes now. Are there any decent bassline mixes, or is it one of those genres where everythings on album? Check this Chrissy Murderbot mix http://www.mixcloud.com/ChrissyMurderbot/my-year-of-mixtapes-week-29-bassline-house/
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Jun 23, 2011 17:06
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p00p posted:Check this Chrissy Murderbot mix loving awesome. I love Murderbot, I need to sit down and grab his entire archive one of these days. Every mix I hear of his is awesome, and he and Headhunter got me into the entire juke movement. Thanks man! 
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Jun 23, 2011 17:22
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Dramatika posted:Love the new thread. Somehow I had missed bassline up until now, and I've been jamming DJ Q/MC Bones - You Wot and T2 feat Jodie - Heartbroken on repeat for 20 minutes now. Are there any decent bassline mixes, or is it one of those genres where everythings on album? Bassline used to have stuff coming out on vinyl all the time, but that's died a complete death by and large sadly. Though check that mix up above as it's great(listening to it the now). Otherwise get your hands on Paleface's Rinse mix CD(Rinse 5? Or 6 maybe? Cannae remember). A few years old now but still good. I used to love Bassline though the past few years my interest has gone down a bit, for no real reason. But bizarrely despite loving it I never really downloaded mixes or anything really so I'll need to try remember any mix sites for you. If you really want to stick some money on it Bassline was really always a CD pack thing, I loved them. That's what I got instead of downloading mixes. 5-6 CDs for like £15 or something. ukrecordshop.com has a bunch in stock. Plus the covers are fantastic. They're proper dance covers, nothing but a hot girl with graphics and text just exploding everywhere around the girl. loving great.
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Jun 23, 2011 17:24
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I'm unemployed right now so I can't be spending money on music sadly... I think the prevalence of mixes is what got me into bass music to begin with. I'll definitely the Paleface Rinse cd on my list of poo poo to buy once I have cashflow again though. I'm also going to get whatever Butterz vinyl is new when it happens because god drat do they deserve my money.
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Jun 23, 2011 17:32
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