Desi/Bhangra - Potential Hardcore Continuum Mutation?

Badga Tek

Flushing MCs down the loo
Does anyone else think there's still enormous potentiality for another major mutation evolving from the UK's (and particularly London) Asian community? I'm not gonna pretend to know that much about desi or bhangra but I've felt for a while that the Asian community has yet to have a significant impact on British dance music. The thing I'm not sure about is whether theres enough cross-pollenation right now. I'm wondering how many people from outside the Asian community are tuning into BBC's Asian Network radio and/or listening to desi/bhangra and to a lesser extent, how many people from this community are heavily into continuum sounds and bringing to bear cultural influences. Artists such as M.I.A., Bobby Friction and Nihal (I'm sure there are plenty of others amongst the various continuum scenes) and the use of Eastern samples in dubstep and grime is one thing but a large-scale fresh new sound is another. I feel its an avenue thats yet to truly be explored and one that may be ripe one day. What do people reckon?
 

dubble-u-c

Dorkus Maximus
In SF there is a monthly party (i djd at a in march) that is actively cultivating this process called- Surya dub. Blackdown mentions it in his latest pitchfork article.

but then it would no longer be london centric or part of a continuum
 
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sorry

original poster...I was just being honest

there are interesting possibilities here.

there are though and I'm sure I'll hear the good stuff when it comes...

erm original poster...if you a musician maybe you should start working on that and become the new wiley of that scene lol...or find some hot young talent and manage them in that direction...there's not a lot of fresh musical ground left to cover and this is a direction...you shouldn't even put it on the web as certain mans will jack that and run with it - true stories
 

gumdrops

Well-known member
forgive me if ive not heard the good tracks that use them but i generally abhor the use of 'eastern' and indian samples in dubstep. if all the stuff i read about dubstep is true, its meant to represent multicultural london, but to me, just represents not so good muzaky type of harmless cocktail bar fusion you hear in lounge bars (but with heavier bass obviously). it sounds too obviously tacked on as well, like a sarangi sample over a typical dubstep beat rather than actually integrating it into the body of the beat like say, timbaland did with get yo freak on or even some of wileys stuff (weirdly i was in a shisha bar on fri nite and heard some stuff that reminded me of some wiley and danny weed beats). its just not my thing i suppose.

as far as desi beats and all that, i dont see it joining in with the 'continuum' really. its got its own continuum anyway. i dont see it as part of the existing UK dance music one as defined by simon reynolds and the like. its got more to do with R&B and hip hop meeting in the middle with south asian styles, by and large, than the genres in the continuum (there was obviously the anokha and indian drum n bass stuff about a decade ago though, which i liked, but that was ages ago).

mr shabz might be an interesting guy to look at here, as he was so solids producer and asian. i think the guy who produced crazy titchs i can c u was asian too. nothing notably asian about their production though.
 
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zhao

there are no accidents
i've been thinking about this topic as well as new urban forms involving Arabic music, specifically Rai, for sometime too...
 

dubble-u-c

Dorkus Maximus
as far as desi beats and all that, i dont see it joining in with the 'continuum' really. its got its own continuum anyway. i dont see it as part of the existing one as defined by simon reynolds and the like.

i was sort of thinking the same thing. however there is a potential for some interesting combos to occur along these lines i believe.
There is always the risk that it turns out new agey or coffee tablish but that shouldn't discourage experimentation- imo.

Kush Arora has been experimenting to decent effect in this realm but I think he is drawing his influence more from jamaica than london(dubstep) -even though he has been influenced a bit by dubstep now from what i can hear in his newer music.
 

Badga Tek

Flushing MCs down the loo
as far as desi beats and all that, i dont see it joining in with the 'continuum' really. its got its own continuum anyway. i dont see it as part of the existing UK dance music one as defined by simon reynolds and the like. its got more to do with R&B and hip hop meeting in the middle with south asian styles, by and large, than the genres in the continuum (there was obviously the anokha and indian drum n bass stuff about a decade ago though, which i liked, but that was ages ago).

I agree with that but I think there must be great potential here, particularly when you consider the way that the continuum has appropriated so many sounds and techniques over the years in, of course, so many different ways. I think that the reference to desi and bhangra may be a red herring in a way but I use it as they seem to be the most identifiable strands of Asian music within the UK underground. I certainly believe that we haven't even scratched the surface in terms of cross-pollination between UK rave music and distinctly Asian flavours. And I agree that the Eastern-influenced dubstep material hasn't really hit the spot, as much as I like Loefah 'Indian Dub', Skream 'Korma' and Pinch 'Qawwali'.
 

Badga Tek

Flushing MCs down the loo
In SF there is a monthly party (i djd at a in march) that is actively cultivating this process called- Surya dub. Blackdown mentions it in his latest pitchfork article.

but then it would no longer be london centric or part of a continuum

Yeah I was interested to read about this. Does anybody know of any recorded sets from the night or any of the key DJs floating about?
 

Ach!

Turd on the Run
On a dubstep tip I thought Cyrus' 'Indian Stomp' used some Asian flavours very effectively, perhaps because they were fused within the rhythmic components alongside the musical ones.
 

straight

wings cru
desi is definitely something outside of the hardcore continuum, it seems to have a very different set of production values. to my ear it sounds extremely plastic sounding, quite tinny and harsh and has none of the bass science. i suppose this could be put down to the nature of asian instrumentation (ie instuments that are not equally tempered in western terms being used along with cubase/logic etc which are in standard western tunings leading to it sounding out of tune).
my experience of the music is really quite limited what i hear around rusholme and occasional radio 1 play. and i might be wrong but i think it tends to be centred round birmingham rather than london, theres a lot of large events that get advertised here.
 

Blackdown

nexKeysound
I'm listening to a lot of Indian/UK/desi stuff right now, particularly Punjabi Hit Squad on 1Xtra, and it strikes me how much it references US r&b (the boring end of it) and rap. There's NO desi/grime overlap the way there was a massive desi/jungle overlap - i've always thought this was odd, since the core 92 jungle demographic is essentially same as the 04 grime demographic.
 
lol

had you seriously never realised this before?

this poster has definitely highlighted an area of musical space...the dubstep efforts don't cut it yet...with many musicians on this forum I'm sure a more concerted effort will reach soon...which made me just think of something

alternative tunings...yum ;) !
 

zhao

there are no accidents
There's NO desi/grime overlap the way there was a massive desi/jungle overlap - i've always thought this was odd, since the core 92 jungle demographic is essentially same as the 04 grime demographic.

just speaking of form, and not politics or content, jungle as a style allows much more room for "fusion". it's easy to slap some vocals or sitars on top of D'n'B breaks... End User's break-core classic Bollywood Breaks is still awesome... not so sure if this is true of grime.
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
I'm listening to a lot of Indian/UK/desi stuff right now, particularly Punjabi Hit Squad on 1Xtra, and it strikes me how much it references US r&b (the boring end of it) and rap. There's NO desi/grime overlap the way there was a massive desi/jungle overlap - i've always thought this was odd, since the core 92 jungle demographic is essentially same as the 04 grime demographic.

Well, there was the Soma Family's 'Oi'.. which seemed to be a pretty massive tune at the time. I know it's only one, but still...
 
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