In the UK, dance music gets faster the further north you go...
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wonk_vitesse
radio eros
Hang on ! what about Wrongmusic of Brighton, current home of all things mentalist known for breaking the 200bpm barrier. This idea of Bristol being all down tempo 
I think the journo is not letting the facts get in the way of a good story.
I think the journo is not letting the facts get in the way of a good story.
Slothrop
Tight but Polite
If 'good story' is the phrase...Hang on ! what about Wrongmusic of Brighton, current home of all things mentalist known for breaking the 200bpm barrier. This idea of Bristol being all down tempo
The BBC have got an equally idiotic writeup of the thing. I'd like to see the original Uncut article to see whether that's balls too.
It's not a stupid idea for an article and is, in fact, true. the uncut article wasn't too in-depth but made sense. while i'm sure that there is someone making 666 bpm satanic shred metal/hi-energy/disco gabber fusions in putney, they won't be very popular and won't make much of a dent in mainstream of tastes, so throwing up examples of minority-interest scenes in contrary areas doesn't really make too much of a hole in the argument. The fact is that London and Bristol have more sizeable Jamaican communities than most other places in the country, therefore reggae has exerted a bigger influence on dance music, slowing the pace, at least at bassline level (c.f. jungle), and placing emphasis of bass pressure (c.f abso-bloody-lutely everything) in a distinctly jamaican soundsystem-influenced way. also, let's not discount the fact that they're two of the best places in britain to buy decent weed, too. in scottish urban areas, not many jamaicans, not much reggae, lots of white kids from economically challenged former industrial areas into stimulant drugs and booze = mental fast techno, much as it does in holland. it is general, but it works on the whole.
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mixed_biscuits
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The more emotionally 'North' you are - that is the colder and more detached your temperament - the quicker your preferred tempo too.
Northernness also correlates positively with size of anorak and quite coincidentally - because of cheaper rents - extent of record collection.
I think you'll find that Brighton is the exception that proves the rule.
Northernness also correlates positively with size of anorak and quite coincidentally - because of cheaper rents - extent of record collection.
I think you'll find that Brighton is the exception that proves the rule.
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straight
wings cru
well, i hate to argue with stelfox as it leaves me ripe for a dressing down but i think he's forgetting about the extent of the asain population in the midlands, anyone i know from brum says the cities all about garage and desi beats. Also, theres a massive carribean community in leeds and manchester.
theres a huge hole in this theory, no-one north of leeds (and in N.Ireland) actually wears a coat
theres a huge hole in this theory, no-one north of leeds (and in N.Ireland) actually wears a coat
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crackerjack
Well-known member
Not as big as those in London or Bristol, though, and unless things have changed since I left, black nights (ie nights largely run by and for black people) are effectively shut out of the city centre. Not to say black scenes don't exist there, but they tend to be marginalised and self-contained.
the self-containment is key here. liverpool, manchester, birmingham and leeds all have caribbean communities, but there's not the piled-on-top-of-each-other factor to working-class life that there is in london. this is what resulted in generations of kids growing up around reggae and what has done more to inform london music than anything else. meanwhile, bristol is just a great anomaly to everything. i love that place. re the midlands, missing out the importance of south asian music was a flaw, as leicester is soon to become britain's first majority non-white city. that's certainly worth talking about.
straight
wings cru
but surely that sounds exactly like the situation thats been described here concerning grime/dancehall events in London?
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
crackerjack
Well-known member
grime artists work with musicians from across the board, get to do gigs at places like the ica (police permitting) and find their aura of street cool (if not their records) in constant demand. clubs in MCR with a significant black clientele (Man Alive, Gallery) were gradually squeezed out of the city centre during the 90s, the city's black population hasn't produced an act of consequence since god knows when (Gerald?) (unless there's someone in the bassline scene).
this is all totally contrarian hair-splitting and diagreeing with something that's been in print for the sake of disagreeing with something that's been in print. the only thing i find shocking about the piece is that it's caused such a stir. it's premise is little more than basic common sense and its findings are blindingly obvious to anyone who ever travels anywhere outside of their own backyards. seriously, what is there to argue about here?
crackerjack
Well-known member
You have forgotten the first rule of dissensus: all music journalists are lying useless bastards.
mixed_biscuits
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There's a happy hardcore shop in the middle of Bedford - that's yet another exception that proves the rule.
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Slothrop
Tight but Polite
I don't think anyone disagrees with the idea that there are differences between the scenes in different cities / regions and that those differences are intertwined with the demographics, particularly with regards to class and race / immigration or that there's an interesting discussion to be had on that subject. I think the issue is that the article paints the picture with such absurdly broad brushstrokes ("South coast: Eurodisco, World Music. Yorkshire: Heavy metal in Sheffield, folk in Doncaster, goth in Bradford and Leeds.") and so little thought or analysis that it's essentially pointless.
of course these explanations don't rest solely on drugs (and i don't think i ever said that in the first place), that's why the story is about place. a location's social, cultural and economic factors, of which prevailing narcotic habits are a part, definitely figure in the music it produces/consumes, though. all these things play into regional music trends/preferences. after all place is not just about the climate or the togographic formation of the land, is it? it's about the shared experiences of people who live there. otherwise the only convincing reason for music being faster in scotland is to keep people warm, which is totally stupid. if that were the case canada would be making balistically fast music, equatorial african music would all be about 3bpm.
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mixed_biscuits
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The best way to settle this would be to have a 'musical preferences' section on the census form.