Drop the bass! (Miami style)

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
I am now totally sold on Miami bass, after belatedly discovering it by following my way back through crunk's family tree. A lot of this stuff stands up really well when compared with the 'mainstream' hip-hop of the time, seemingly occurring contemporaneously in a parallel universe up north and out west. I'd always wondered what became of electro's innovations until Drexciya etc appeared to resurrect them in the '90s, and now I know. By part spooky electro, by part crazy party music, this stuff, well, rocks.

My tunes of choice:

DJ Magic Mike and MC Tomey B - Drop the Bass
Anything by Maggotron (including a crazy cover of Brian Wilson's 'Caroline, No')
Dynamix II - Just give the DJ a Break

and, I've just got hold of a Dynamix ii 'Electro Megamix' full-length that is blowing my mind as we speak. :)

Some of this stuff reminds me of 'ardkore reflected through a Floridian prism... it has the same 'throw everything together' vitality, absolute disregard for tastefulness, and the pursuit of the ultimate rush-trigger is mirrored in the pursuit of the deepest bass. Anyone else on here bitten by the Miami bass bug?
 

nomos

Administrator
I've got an AWOL set from 1993 that's pretty hectic and thrown together at times. GQ keeps saying "you'll never hear music like this again." At one point he shouts out to "the Miami crew" and says "when you go home you can tell your friends about this." I've always wondered if they did and if anything came of it.

Anyway, I've been getting interested in the Bass too, through various round about channels. I have no idea where to start though. Any suggestions would be welcomed.
 

blissblogger

Well-known member
florida

saw a documentary on MTV2 recently, on the history of Southern hip hop, and the most interesting bit for me was that they have pirate radio in Florida and it plays a big role with Miami bass.

There's pirate radio stations all over America but i've generally got the impression that they're mostly small-range leftist political ones, radio samizdat type thing. # these pirates in Miami are the only ones i've heard of in America that correspond to the role of pirates in the hardcore continuum sense London style. perhaps there are others though all over the dutty south and even in other places playing street beats type stuff that's not on the commercial radio stations. although the street rap end of things gets quite well catered for with Hot 95 being franchised all over the country so there's possibly not the structural need for pirates, plus radiospace being so hotly chased and so much money in it here that they really crack down on piracy i imagine.

# (there was a pirate in williamsburg in brooklyn actually that was music but that was more on the Resonance/esoteric college radio type vibe -- i djed on it once which was a buzz cos i could say 'i've djed on pirate radio' but it wasn't exactly the spliff haze/guys in bombers jackets with rottweilers fantasy i had in mind -- the guy before me was playing anthony braxton!)
 

redcrescent

Well-known member
The Ten Commandments of Bass. (Thank you, Tom!)

My top Miami Bass boys are Pretty Tony, MC ADE and DJ Magic Mike. And Luke Skyywalker, DXJ and Calvin Mills II as producers.

Full length: MC ADE's first album, Techmaster PEB's It came from outer bass (Newtone, 1990), Bose Rock the world (more electro than Bass, but dope), 2 Live Crew Is what we are (you gotta have it), MC Cool Rock & MC Chaszy C Boot the booty (Vision 1986, w. Half Pint and Magic Mike)...

Compilations (on Pandisc/Jamarc): The Bass that ate Miami , Miami Bass Wars and Miami Bass Express are all good.

Heard some DJ drop L'Trimm's "Cars that go boom" into his set a while ago and it sounded fresh still. The new/old Brazilian funky do morro stuff is fantastic, too. Infinitely preferable to things like DJ Assault/DJ Godfather/most "booty bass".
Anyone heard stuff on Touchin' Bass? Some absolutely lethal things (Chaotic State, Bass Junkie, Hydraulix...).

(I just remembered Dave Tompkins' immortal assertion that "Ass is such a big part of Bass." Brilliant.)
 

Hadean

10 below
Techmaster PEB = Patrick Baker - mad scotsman, part of Sarasota lore

he was recommending the first Run DMC and LL Cool J's <i>Radio</i> to me in 1984/85
soon he cofounded Newtown records and became one of the original BASS pioneers!

working in a phone shop when I first met him, everybody now: "I am the op-e-ra-tor..."
 

puretokyo

Mercury Blues
Ed DMX drops some great little gems on the Breakin' label, and Rephlex released a Dynamix II comp a few years back. Everything connects up, doesn't it?
 

machine hugger

(())(())((+))(())(())
Pandisc also USA released Dave Tipper "SOUND OFF"!!! Excellent choice of the time. I still put together the idea that him and Si Begg fronted the dubstep along with the garage-heads...especially if you check a track like the Tipper's Q-Project Champion Sound remix. Zinc must have heard that track at some point before forming his Jammin' personae. Tenuous and correct as far as I'm concerned.


Miami and not one mention of the Bass Mekanik. :rolleyes:

Andrea Parker has a special touch for the low-end electro style doesn't she?? Love Touchin' Bass from what I have.
 

Woebot

Well-known member
Dave Tompkins, who've i always found a bit of a headache as a writer, did an excellent Miami Bass Primer for The Wire. One of their weirder Primers. He did an accomppanying show on WMFU which is excellent. You need RealPlayer, but it's truly an excellent set...

http://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/4205

Cant figure out if it's still available to stream
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
puretokyo said:
Ed DMX drops some great little gems on the Breakin' label, and Rephlex released a Dynamix II comp a few years back. Everything connects up, doesn't it?

Yes, I loved 'Bodyrock' by DMX Krew (sort of an electro 'Don't You Want Me' with its parallel male/female narratives, I thought. At a stretch), and the Rephlex compilation is the 'Electro Megamix' thing I was talking about in my first post.

Also check: http://www.electroempire.com/miami.htm, and the host site, which is somehow affiliated to Bunker Records in the Netherlands, drawing further connecting lines among the worldwide electro diaspora. Cocadisco, Miami bass, Rephlex revivalism, Italo-disco...it all seems to be coming together.

Also, I must reiterate - Maggotron is the bomb. Guitar solos in Miami bass ('The Retun of the Bass That Ate Miami'; great title) -wtf? But it works.
 

mms

sometimes
bunker and especially an artist called luke eargoggle have a special place in their heart for the egyptian lover, eargoggle played at a night called cocodisco in the london wearing a lover t shirt and recently the egyptian lover has been playing out a bit.

dunno if u know this shop too , covers all of what baboon2004 is talking of
http://flexx.be/
 

Woebot

Well-known member
baboon2004 said:
Maggotron is the bomb. Guitar solos in Miami bass ('The Retun of the Bass That Ate Miami'; great title) -wtf? But it works.

Maggotron. I have a twelve of theirs. Nervous stream of sound-bytes over HUGE electro drums. The record almost a mix, rather than a distinct track. Maggotron are the quintessential post-Funkadelic act doncha think?
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Yeh, the soundbites he uses are pretty awesome too. Funkadelic? Exactly what I thought of upon hearing the guitar solo. And of course there is the strong suspicion that the name is a GC homage.

mms, I had loads of that Bunker stuff (plus Viewlexx etc) already, but through following up Hacker remixes and I-F associated leads more than anything else. Now a circle of sorts is complete.
 

bassnation

the abyss
baboon2004 said:
Some of this stuff reminds me of 'ardkore reflected through a Floridian prism... it has the same 'throw everything together' vitality, absolute disregard for tastefulness, and the pursuit of the ultimate rush-trigger is mirrored in the pursuit of the deepest bass. Anyone else on here bitten by the Miami bass bug?

yes, love the miami bass sound. theres some wicked bass heavy stuff out there that comes across as the perfect mix of electro and hip hop. as regards the rush, in my mind this stuff makes very good e music.

what a lot of people miss is how much booty house (or ghettotech as it is now known) is influenced by both the miami sound and the 'ardkore thing. i've got some fantastic dj godfather mixes where he plays sped up hip hop, miami bass and rnb acappellas over drum and bass, all at the 160bpm mark with scratching that would put dj hype to shame! if anyone wants them let me know and i'll post em up on my site for a few days.

i'd also check uncle luke, 2 live crew, techno bass crew, bass mekanik etc. uncle luke features some appallingly misogynicstic lyrics ("i want some head" being a prime offender) but its still rocking.

in fact, i tried to do my own uk version of the mixed up cross-genre ghetto thing which has some uncle luke and dj assault on it. it can be found here:
http://www.hyperdub.com/speedometer/breakz/elektro.asx

marc
 

bassnation

the abyss
absolutely t for tremendous

autonomicforthepeople said:
I've got an AWOL set from 1993 that's pretty hectic and thrown together at times. GQ keeps saying "you'll never hear music like this again." At one point he shouts out to "the Miami crew" and says "when you go home you can tell your friends about this." I've always wondered if they did and if anything came of it.

Anyway, I've been getting interested in the Bass too, through various round about channels. I have no idea where to start though. Any suggestions would be welcomed.

ah, i've got that one. its in four parts, kenny ken and dj randall - absolutely mind blowing, dark as fuck.

theres one tune on there i've been searching for - in fact it may even be the song where GQ says "you'll never hear music like this again.". don't know the name, label, artist or anything. i'll probably find it in ten years time just by accident, which is usually the way these things work!
 

nomos

Administrator
bassnation said:
if anyone wants them let me know and i'll post em up on my site for a few days.
oh god yes. please. that sounds amazing.

BTW, I've been loving your Old Skool Rewind sets + Nervous Ragga.
lighta.gif
 
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baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Thanks for all that info, Marc - will def check out your mix when i get the chance. The 'ardkore link is strengthened by the apparent fact that most MB tunes from 85-88 were based around cartoon/TV samples.
In fact quite a few bass tracks seem to be built not only around spoken-word samples, but also melodic samples (for example in 'Drop the Bass', it sounds very much as if they've filched a passage from an old electro record, a la Planet Rock).

Would love to get a hold of those Godfather mixes, if you could put them up (and the AWOL set, if you've got it!) on the site. Any mix with a catholic attitude towards genre very much appeals to me, which perhaps suggests an idea for a future thread, cos I'm having difficulty of thinking of too many off the bat.

BTw, thanks for turning me onto that Tanya Stephens album via that dancehall mix you posted up a while back - the first two tracks bring me out in goosepimples for being just the right kind of retro.
 

mms

sometimes
bassnation said:
what a lot of people miss is how much booty house (or ghettotech as it is now known) is influenced by both the miami sound and the 'ardkore thing. i've got some fantastic dj godfather mixes where he plays sped up hip hop, miami bass and rnb acappellas over drum and bass, all at the 160bpm mark with scratching that would put dj hype to shame! if anyone wants them let me know and i'll post em up on my site for a few days.

i'd also check uncle luke, 2 live crew, techno bass crew, bass mekanik etc. uncle luke features some appallingly misogynicstic lyrics ("i want some head" being a prime offender) but its still rocking./
yes please on the mix tip.
I've got a mate in detroit who makes ghetto tech stuff in detroit under the name starsky and clutch and also djs on radio shows there.
he reckons its black nightime music, the radio stations switch to it in the evenings, often playing direct from strip joints etc.
I like it, its all mentally fast grafted together stuff
as for the sexism, i think that stuff goes both ways, like in the the slackness of dancehall, women dissing men, men being dirty etc, its just filthy music.. the odd thing is if you go to booty nights, (i've seen godfather and also assault play, you do get alot more girls than say at d and b or other hardish fast music nights, it's sexy base/bass music.
I
 
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bassnation

the abyss
baboon2004 said:
BTw, thanks for turning me onto that Tanya Stephens album via that dancehall mix you posted up a while back - the first two tracks bring me out in goosepimples for being just the right kind of retro.

thats alright, always glad to turn people on to new (or old) music! the tanya stephens thing comes from Dj Red* though, i believe hes joined dissenus recently! :)
 
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