A Guy Called Gerald returns to Jungle!
- Thread starter Woebot
- Start date
Does anyone else feel that 'Black Secret Technology' has aged a lot less well than, say, 'Timeless' (which I think has held up remarkably well...stuff like 'Kemistry' still sounds absolutely thrilling to me)? I still occasionally listen to BST and I find it really tinny and the production values pretty muddy (although I understand that a remastered version was released a couple of years ago, so I guess that might be better than my thoroughly muddy-sounding original cd).
(sorry to wander off on a tangent)
(sorry to wander off on a tangent)
I think both BST and Timeless have held up remarkably well...so have the "other two" jungle artist LP's (Deepest Cut, Parallel Universe, smooth jazz sax break notwithstanding)...(I also have that crappy initial pressing of BST, which makes any stereo/iPod sound like a transistor radio)...I'm not so enthused about AGCG's return to jungle, though, no more than when any rocker says they're gonna ditch their big studios/production teams and get back to their 4-track garage roots...jungle was really of a time and place...not sure you can go back home...
henry s said:
yeah, but maybe he can take the sound in a new direction
especially as his stuff was always rather separate from most jungle anyway
(if you're bored with the 80s as the source for most of today's dance music, then what better place to look for inspiration than early 90s)
agreed...the early 90's mining is inevitable, and something to anticipate...I just think that the most interesting jungle recyclers will be those that didn't participate the first time around...(and I'm sure there will be a fair share of Killers and Kaiser Chiefs among them)...
if AGCG's recent track record were better, I would hold out more hope...maybe I've been let down this year by too many underwhelming supposed returns-to-form (Saint Etienne, Go-Betweens)...I think in general that musicians get 5 years of creativity, max, and then it's time to fire up the treadmill...
D
droid
Guest
The vast majority of Juicebox stuff is damn good - minus the trips into the early 90s UK rap/breakbeat crossover swamp (ala 'digital bad boy')
RE: The production on BST - sure its a bit rough in places - and Gerald was unique in how he cut up his breaks (very badly by all accounts) - but it was that difference in sound that struck me at the time - put this up against the 'other' jungle artist LPs (I would add Springheel Jacks' 'there are strings' to Henry S's list), and you notice that each is almost totally divergent in sound and approach from the other...
RE: The production on BST - sure its a bit rough in places - and Gerald was unique in how he cut up his breaks (very badly by all accounts) - but it was that difference in sound that struck me at the time - put this up against the 'other' jungle artist LPs (I would add Springheel Jacks' 'there are strings' to Henry S's list), and you notice that each is almost totally divergent in sound and approach from the other...
blissblogger
Well-known member
dominic said:
well, how about...
the....
PHUTURE
just an idea
Dubquixote
Submariner
blissblogger said:
Ha ha just wanted to say I had a nice laugh out loud at this one.
It's safe to say the acid house revival has already commenced, don't ya think?
Has anybody picked up that Soul Jazz "ACID" compilation? Amazing stuff.
D
droid
Guest
henry s said:
As long as the justly forgotten 'Automanikk' is never revived... can anyone explain just how this album managed to be SOOOO bad? I picked it up secondhand just after BST came out thinking that it would have to be good on the basis of the quality of the LPs that both precedded and followed it...
How wrong was I??
Gerald would have helped his case (whatever he was on about) in that bloated press release if he could back it up with quality product. As it is the track he's released is a pile of unmitiaged mediocrity. Contrary to what he thinks there ARE small groups of producers at least making intereasting music within the form, even if they aren't pushing the boundries at mid-90s hyperspeed.
Gerald is one of my all time favoutire producers. If you want to hear an example of well cut, prime mid-90s Gerald then "The Energy" (collab with Goldie) is the one to go for - preferably the version on one of the Enforcers picture discs and not on Juice Box as it is slightly different and better, and is cut better too.
As for BST not standing up, I kind of see the point. I've never heard the CD version but the original vinyl LP is really badly cut, so its difficult to work out if Gerald was not as good an engineer as (say) Rob Playford or Pete Parsons (the dons of mid-90s jungle mixdowns) or it was just that the vinyl was badly pressed.
IMO Gerald is up there with Goldie as a jungle tekno ideas man - but Goldie circa Timeless was developing a more focused, straight down the line attitude. With Gerald its much more sampladelic/cut and paste, still preserving elements of the 92-93 aesthetic, where as Goldie was moving slightly towards a more techno orientated approach with fewer elements in the mix (speaking relatively) on that album, apart from Angel. Which was made a year or two before the LP anyway.
Anyway back to Gerald - wish he would make more warm acid/techno. Recent stuff has been really nice.
Gerald is one of my all time favoutire producers. If you want to hear an example of well cut, prime mid-90s Gerald then "The Energy" (collab with Goldie) is the one to go for - preferably the version on one of the Enforcers picture discs and not on Juice Box as it is slightly different and better, and is cut better too.
As for BST not standing up, I kind of see the point. I've never heard the CD version but the original vinyl LP is really badly cut, so its difficult to work out if Gerald was not as good an engineer as (say) Rob Playford or Pete Parsons (the dons of mid-90s jungle mixdowns) or it was just that the vinyl was badly pressed.
IMO Gerald is up there with Goldie as a jungle tekno ideas man - but Goldie circa Timeless was developing a more focused, straight down the line attitude. With Gerald its much more sampladelic/cut and paste, still preserving elements of the 92-93 aesthetic, where as Goldie was moving slightly towards a more techno orientated approach with fewer elements in the mix (speaking relatively) on that album, apart from Angel. Which was made a year or two before the LP anyway.
Anyway back to Gerald - wish he would make more warm acid/techno. Recent stuff has been really nice.
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blissblogger said:
assuming that you're referring to something altogether new, as opposed to phuture/pierre, well yeah . . . .
except that everything new that's come down the pipe (reggaeton, grime) isn't nearly so appealing to moi as older sounds
it'd be brilliant if there were an altogether new set of sounds for dance music, but i doubt that's in the cards -- seems more realistic to hope for someone to pick-up the 92/93 pieces and take it in a relatively new direction than to hope for something altogether new
whether gerald's the man to do that is a different question -- he's done his share for dance music as things stand already
DigitalDjigit
Honky Tonk Woman
Don't forget the steady trickle of new acid house from the likes of Jesper Dahlback and Abe Duque.
Really does make you think that Dance music is in a 20 year loop. It's a bit weird with acid though, it never went away. Who here really heard any mention of Italo between '92 and '00? There were little acid revivals every couple of years.
It's too early for a jungle revival though. It's only been 14 years.
Really does make you think that Dance music is in a 20 year loop. It's a bit weird with acid though, it never went away. Who here really heard any mention of Italo between '92 and '00? There were little acid revivals every couple of years.
It's too early for a jungle revival though. It's only been 14 years.
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