dubplatestyle
Well-known member
okay, so i think the basic opinion is that late 2-step (2001 to early 2002, before the "garage rap" takeover completely displaced the dancefloor) is a fall from grace akin to neurofunk. simon (and matt?) have both said that 2001 was, in their opinion, the lowest ebb for uk pirate music since the pre-acid days. (i may be slightly misquoting here.) the general consensus is that it was some sort of transition period between ukg and grime. and i can understand this to some extent. the whole "blokestep"/breakbeat garage vibe was obviously a blind dead end (that killed ukg's girls appeal more than grime?); while zinc produced a number of good tunes, that first bingo beats comp is just so drearily, dreadfully dull that it made me want to turn in my garridge badge. (the second, though, is still tops. crucially this was mixed and selected by zed bias.) and has there ever been a more over-hyped without the goods act than the stanton warriors?
HOWEVER
there was some great garage made in this period! even leaving aside the oxide&neutrino/pay as u go/so solid proto-grime stuff, the brief interzone between ukg and dubstep (which i now i realize i "get" but will never love, at least on record and not in da club) produced a number of great tunes with really rattling percussion, slinking syncopations, and bassline warps. sure, the whole mood is a bit more "masculine" and ganja addled than the previous three or four years, but the tunes! menta's "sound of the future" and their "tonka" remix. the early horsepower stuff. bias' "ring the alarm" and his maddslinky and daluq sides. artwork's "red". the first sticky tunes before he realized the future was in grime. hype's "pussy track" (maybe the nastiest sub-bass ever on a garage track?) even the early darqwan stuff.
the socatronic percussion! the dred chants! the almost comically portentious basslines! i have been listening to this mix cd oris jay and j da flex did for sleazenation (!) all weekend called "future garage" and it's great. fuck the haters.
no, really, this is where you tell me i'm nuts and why, or you tell me i'm right and tell me good tunes i may have missed.
p.s. no, i know this stuff still isn't a patch on the 98-00 stuff.
p.p.s. i know matt hates the term "2-step". please don't banish me, master!
HOWEVER
there was some great garage made in this period! even leaving aside the oxide&neutrino/pay as u go/so solid proto-grime stuff, the brief interzone between ukg and dubstep (which i now i realize i "get" but will never love, at least on record and not in da club) produced a number of great tunes with really rattling percussion, slinking syncopations, and bassline warps. sure, the whole mood is a bit more "masculine" and ganja addled than the previous three or four years, but the tunes! menta's "sound of the future" and their "tonka" remix. the early horsepower stuff. bias' "ring the alarm" and his maddslinky and daluq sides. artwork's "red". the first sticky tunes before he realized the future was in grime. hype's "pussy track" (maybe the nastiest sub-bass ever on a garage track?) even the early darqwan stuff.
the socatronic percussion! the dred chants! the almost comically portentious basslines! i have been listening to this mix cd oris jay and j da flex did for sleazenation (!) all weekend called "future garage" and it's great. fuck the haters.
no, really, this is where you tell me i'm nuts and why, or you tell me i'm right and tell me good tunes i may have missed.
p.s. no, i know this stuff still isn't a patch on the 98-00 stuff.
p.p.s. i know matt hates the term "2-step". please don't banish me, master!
Last edited: