Slothrop
Tight but Polite
My girlfriend once summed up why she wasn't impressed by a 60's psych / garage night as "but it doesn't have tunes OR bass!"
Funky/London/UK House
Benny Bunter
Well-known member
Anyway, here's the most recent G Smalls/Krispy set I said I'd up earlier, its great and I caught the whole show this time.
http://www.mediafire.com/?ak6y8wgwk9aunfx
COR BLIMEY WOWZERS!
http://www.mediafire.com/?ak6y8wgwk9aunfx
COR BLIMEY WOWZERS!
Maybe you could do a piece about funky radio sets. Some new sets to download and general information what's going down.
Slothrop
Tight but Polite
Agree!
Benny Bunter
Well-known member
Check out the 'Devil mixes' about half an hour in. Then he mixes straight into Flatbeat!
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For the record, the only reason I raised the "African Warrior" remix is that I remember how many times I read/heard people say "oh yeah some of this funky stuff is actually good, I really like that "African Warrior" tune though I hate the vocal version", so I chuckled in recognition when I saw that Soul Jazz had included it on their comp which is clearly aimed at targeting that kind of listener - it's what I would have done if I'd been charged with assembling a compilation along those lines.
Tentative Andy
I'm in the Meal Deal
Ooops almost missed this - iirc it's new-ish but not totally brand new. Solid tune anyway.
^Going to stay out of the more general debate for the next wee while because I was already getting to the stage of making points for the sake of making them, if you see what I mean.
Tentative Andy
I'm in the Meal Deal
Cheers buddy, downloading now.
Tentative Andy
I'm in the Meal Deal
Also almost forgot to say that you can download Drew Austin's excellent remix of Deuces by Ciara for free via his soundcloud page:
thinking a bit about this discussion of track dynamism vs. mix dynamism and where all funky is at right now (and i haven't followed closely enough lately to know, tbh):
i'm tempted to use Yellowtail as some kind of litmus from time to time. it took me many many spottings to ever feel like i heard every element at work in that song--it's not that the track switches up entirely on itself constantly, but i would say it's a pretty decent example of what is probably regarded as a definitive funky track that possesses this inner dynamism. so if people are tempted to say that funky (at its 'core' if you care to speak about it that way) tracks are somewhat toolish in nature these days, it feels like a decent example to the contrary.
i'm not even saying any of this to champion the idea of complexity over (whatever) or that funky as manifest in a Petchy set is inferior to this, but i do have to wonder if a track like Yellowtail reads differently within the context of Funky (funky history?) differently now than it might have, say a year ago... partly given that this other thing happening at 130 is starting to become more established as an entity at least partly discrete from 'funky proper' maybe?
anyhow, just a thought. i'm posing it only as a question because i feel like i am behind on a lot of the stuff that people have been gushing about recently (although keen to catch myself up again).
i'm tempted to use Yellowtail as some kind of litmus from time to time. it took me many many spottings to ever feel like i heard every element at work in that song--it's not that the track switches up entirely on itself constantly, but i would say it's a pretty decent example of what is probably regarded as a definitive funky track that possesses this inner dynamism. so if people are tempted to say that funky (at its 'core' if you care to speak about it that way) tracks are somewhat toolish in nature these days, it feels like a decent example to the contrary.
i'm not even saying any of this to champion the idea of complexity over (whatever) or that funky as manifest in a Petchy set is inferior to this, but i do have to wonder if a track like Yellowtail reads differently within the context of Funky (funky history?) differently now than it might have, say a year ago... partly given that this other thing happening at 130 is starting to become more established as an entity at least partly discrete from 'funky proper' maybe?
anyhow, just a thought. i'm posing it only as a question because i feel like i am behind on a lot of the stuff that people have been gushing about recently (although keen to catch myself up again).
Actually "Yellowtail" seems relatively tool-ish to me though not at all in a bad way - I would say it was pretty influential! Although it's not like it was the only 07/08 track to sound like that.
The tunes that (weirdly) no one talks about it but I think are a really telling example of where funky is "at" (to the extent that it can be at one place) are the Marcus Nasty / Bassboy collabos - "Shitta", "Let's Get Nasty", "Stamp", "Drip", "Shut Up" etc.
These are all (effectively) instrumental tunes for MCs with fairly recognisable hooks, but they really get funky's core DNA: the rhythms are always distinct from house but never terribly busy or complex, just these really compulsive get-under-your-skin syncopated patterns whose entire purpose is to function as a counterpoint to the (by comparison) rhythmic consistency of the MC.
They don't really work as instrumental standalones, not because there isn't any internal development over the course of the track - there is, or at least about as much as "Yellowtail" - but because they've been intentionally set up to function in the mix with MCs, to provoke a smile of recognition as their elements start to push their way up from within the preceding track, to support and complement the MC's performance.
In a funny way I'm reminded of the Neptunes' (2000 - 2003) productions, that air of a "changing same", that same sense that while there's rarely any ostentatious avant-ism going on, there's a sly, instinctive rhythmic science at work. But I never wanted to listen to instrumentals of Neptunes tunes either.
I'm tempted to say that most if not all funky instrumentals are operating in sub-optimal conditions in the absence of an MC.
Which of course at the same time is kind of an impossibility: something like Myd's remix of "We No Speak Ameriano" clearly was not designed with funky MCs in mind, it's not even from the funky scene... And yet, what is the point of all the tune's breakdowns if not to provide these amazing precipices from which MCs can launch themselves like handgliders? Once you've heard it with a good MC the instrumental seems like a pale reflection of itself.
The tunes that (weirdly) no one talks about it but I think are a really telling example of where funky is "at" (to the extent that it can be at one place) are the Marcus Nasty / Bassboy collabos - "Shitta", "Let's Get Nasty", "Stamp", "Drip", "Shut Up" etc.
These are all (effectively) instrumental tunes for MCs with fairly recognisable hooks, but they really get funky's core DNA: the rhythms are always distinct from house but never terribly busy or complex, just these really compulsive get-under-your-skin syncopated patterns whose entire purpose is to function as a counterpoint to the (by comparison) rhythmic consistency of the MC.
They don't really work as instrumental standalones, not because there isn't any internal development over the course of the track - there is, or at least about as much as "Yellowtail" - but because they've been intentionally set up to function in the mix with MCs, to provoke a smile of recognition as their elements start to push their way up from within the preceding track, to support and complement the MC's performance.
In a funny way I'm reminded of the Neptunes' (2000 - 2003) productions, that air of a "changing same", that same sense that while there's rarely any ostentatious avant-ism going on, there's a sly, instinctive rhythmic science at work. But I never wanted to listen to instrumentals of Neptunes tunes either.
I'm tempted to say that most if not all funky instrumentals are operating in sub-optimal conditions in the absence of an MC.
Which of course at the same time is kind of an impossibility: something like Myd's remix of "We No Speak Ameriano" clearly was not designed with funky MCs in mind, it's not even from the funky scene... And yet, what is the point of all the tune's breakdowns if not to provide these amazing precipices from which MCs can launch themselves like handgliders? Once you've heard it with a good MC the instrumental seems like a pale reflection of itself.
Corpsey
bandz ahoy
Ace.
It's funny cos I was into dubstep before funky but pretty much all my favourite funky tunes are vocal 'girly' tunes - In The Morning, Need U Bad CCousinz RMX, the Parachutes RMX, this RMX, Teedra Moses Perempay and Dee RMX etc.
Then again I'm more into vocal garage/house now than dubstep anyway, so...
Benny Bunter
Well-known member
Really like that drew austin rmx and the one he did of Drake too. He's got quite a distinctive style. Weird how he doesn't seem to use basslines (or many musical elements at all) to ground the track so the vocals just seem to float around untethered.
Tentative Andy
I'm in the Meal Deal
Ok so I'm catching up on a Funkystepz podcast from last week and according to Maxsin the Hyperdub release is going to be Hurricane Riddim & Fuller. Good choices I reckon, I always forget about how good Hurricane is when I'm not listening it, but it's a cracker.
^ Glad that people are feeling the Deuces remix, I'd tend to agree that it's a bit better than the Drake remix.
^ Glad that people are feeling the Deuces remix, I'd tend to agree that it's a bit better than the Drake remix.
YES. This is by far the best possible outcome imaginable (I mean, I'd love for them to release "Lovers" and "Whispers" too but it wouldn't work for a hyperdub release).
This'll be one of the singles of whichever year it emerges in. People who haven't heard "Hurricane Riddim" are in for a treat.
yeah this is what i was talking about upthread and it affects all genres, especially the Butterz/instrumental grime wing at the moment.
in essence an MC, host or a vocal can give an arrangement, even the most minimal one, a sense of development. producers then write their tracks with this in mind, leaving their tracks redundant or at least limited as a stand alone item... perhaps that's part of why we see so few funky releases (though i think it's as much an organizational/infrastructure issue...).
you could say i'm fixated on sales over live performance but all producers need to eat, just ask them! probably forces them down the combined producer/DJ route at the very least, as there's far more money in bookings than sales.
I can see how this is an issue commercially, but not creatively. Really you could map this onto any "underground" music that makes aesthetic choices which run counter to commercial success.
Actually the 12 October Ill Blu set on Rinse is a slamming argument against my claim re the redundancy of non-MC instrumentals.
it is a creative problem since is halves the number of scenarios the creation can be successful in... (ie stand alone creation v part of a greater performance whole)...