bleep 'n' bass -- an anachronistic term?

[dominic]

that is, did people actually refer to lfo, unique three, etc, as "bleep n bass" back in 1990?

or was the term invented at some point in the mid-90s (perhaps after term "drum n bass" gained currency) to describe the earlier sound?

that is, would all that is now called "bleep n bass" have been called "house music" in 1990?

certainly in the states the only terms were house music, techno music, rave music

curious to know as my use of the term was challenged the other day by a manc friend of mine who likes to lord his uk credentials over me . . . .

 

[nomos]

I remember a Sweet Exorcist interview where Richard Kirk talked about coming up with the word 'Clonk' (IE: 'Clonk's Coming' 1990) as a joke after people started going on about the 'bleep' sound. So 'bleep' on its own was definitely in use but I have a feeling 'bleep and bass' may be a post drum n bass coinage.

 

[soul_pill]

Yeah, it was definitely "bleep".

 

[Landfill Elektronikz]

True, true. It was just Bleep music at the time, or simply House/Techno etc. There were not as many micro-terms as there are today. The nearest reference to Bleep and Bass would be the Breaks, bass and bleeps compilations that came out in 1990. Cool thread. Needed to be addressed...

 

[Gerard]

Dance music with bleeps

Network released two comps. called "Dance music with bleeps" in '90/'91. Detroit stuff alongside Nexus 21 and Rythmatic. These records turned me on to techno. My friend Al used to call it Ping Pong techno.

 

[Canada J Soup]

There was an NME cover with LFO on it circa Frequencies with the caption "Don't fear the bleep" that I remember being annoyed by because I thought the term bleep was demeaning. I thought 'techno' sounded much cooler.

 

[blissblogger]

this

might actually be my fault, i think i misremembered the term and added the bass

bleep was definitely the more common term at the time you're right Dom

but as bass was such a salient and massive part of the music it's good to have it added on

and yeah there was that comp title too

that is one of the great periods, i don't know why it's not more highly prized (the records can still be found fairly cheap, perhaps a lot of them were pressed cos they sold well), you don't get bleep'n'bass nights like you get oldskool rave nights. i would love to hear a whole set of sweet exorcist/unique 3/abilty II/rob gordon type stuff.

 

[Dubquixote]

this is a great topic... i remember reading an interview w/ lfo or nightmares on wax (i believe in your book simon) where they were obsessing over how many layers/frequencies of massive bass they could squeeze onto a single record. this moment in the house continuum where a reggae-inspired fixation on bass in its own right seems to have taken hold seems really important. i was always intrigued by that track on the warp history compilaton by ital rockers called 'rockers revenge' which seems to have been made by dub reggae producers on the tail end of UK digi-dub experimenting with acid techno.

 

[Landfill Elektronikz]

i would love to hear a whole set of sweet exorcist/unique 3/abilty II/rob gordon type stuff.

Well, if you wanna book me a venue in NYC and pay for my plane ticket I'll be happy to obligue Simon!

And yes, now I think of it the first time I saw the term Bleep n Bass was probably in Energy Flash.

 

[Canada J Soup]

i would love to hear a whole set of sweet exorcist/unique 3/abilty II/rob gordon type stuff.

I've been feeling like this was just around the corner for a while. It somehow seemed like a logical progression from the revisiting of old skool / jungle techno (partly because the records are still so cheap second hand and partly because the bleep stuff segues so well sonically with contemproray techno / electrohouse / microhouse / whateverthefuck), but the closest it seems to have come is with soundalike records (Donnacha Costello's Colorseries for eg).

 

[blissblogger]

el ef oh

yer on nick

(only kidding)

i have thought a few times when i' ve had a chance to dj that i would do a bleep set, but seeing as i can't actually mix, thought better of it.

the other one that's ripe for bigging up -- and nick's done this a bit already -- is the belgian shit

 

[mms]

saw one of the unique 3 lot dj bleep only recently (oddly finshing with inner city life) it was good there are some awesome tracks from that genre, i often wonder what happened to rob gordon, who had a huge history before warp, at fon studios as fon force and also as part of the age of chance etc, he did a couple of eps as black knight which were really good then nothing else.

 

[nomos]

yes more belgian shit please, nick. i've been wating patiently over here.

Oh and a request for the Gutterbreakz Beatbox, if you don't mind. "Test Three" - I was so happy to get that from you and then my hard drive died and I lost it.

 

[notoriousJ.I.M]

Network released two comps. called "Dance music with bleeps" in '90/'91. Detroit stuff alongside Nexus 21 and Rythmatic. These records turned me on to techno. My friend Al used to call it Ping Pong techno.

They were the Biorhythms comps. I love this stuff too, Nexus 21's Rhythm of Life album on Blue Chip records (89) and the Unique 3 album Jus' Unique on 10 records (90) show the transition from acid to bleep perfectly. I would love to know what happened to Rob Gordon too, this compilation 'Rob Gordon Projects' came out in 96 but I think it was a round up of older stuff.

 

[dominic]

I would love to know what happened to Rob Gordon too, this compilation 'Rob Gordon Projects' came out in 96 but I think it was a round up of older stuff.

in addition to the forgemasters record on network ("everybody clap your hands"), i have an old electro record on label called "serious gold" -- the act is "cosmic touch" and the track "nothing ever changes" -- came out in 1983 -- produced by j. clarke, r. gordon, c. harris -- can't help but wonder if this is the same rob gordon

also used to have a copy of forgemasters on the hubba hubba label -- very mexican type sound, similar to mexican stuff by black dog/plaid -- but foolishly sold the record -- came out in 1992 -- got rid of it b/c i thought it too "progressive house," i.e., i went through a phase where i purged my record collection of things i deemed too anti-rave-ist (largely b/c of my reading of SR, an o/w benign influence which in this instance proved malevolent -- merely joking!)

 

[dubplatestyle]

i have a feeling belgian shit might be the next hipster zone of accquisition. i was reading some dj magazine (it might have even been "dj magazine" come to think of it) (anyway one of those awful dance mags) (the ones that are left) (i have too much free time at work) and they had some thing where they asked some up and comer what he plays and, amongst all the usual punk funk neo electro hoo hah, he was name checking like aum80 (80aum?) and t99 and such. which is fine by me!

 

[dominic]

i have a feeling belgian shit might be the next hipster zone of accquisition

actually i've been trying to id & track down this record that goes "we are taking every precaution" over a breakbeat -- and then it has another sample that goes something like "over wakka-wakka-hot, over wakka-wakka-hot" -- and then a looped piano riff that is at once funky & militant ------ i had been working on the assumption that it was uk proto-junglistic, but a friend recently suggested to me that this may be a frank de wulf track -- came out in late summer 1991, as i used to tape this show called "hillbilly house" that caned it for like two or three months straight back then ------- does anybody here have any idea what track i'm talking about???

but yeah stuff like "where is your evidence," "the noise," "get down everybody," "here comes malcolm rushing in" ------- absolutely wicked

 

[kidkameleon]

Well, how 'bout a mix, Gutterbreakz? I'm serious. Last time you broke out the turntables a month ago it was with excellent results. I can tell that so much of this stuff is right there in my musical history, lurking about three layers down, but damned if the only thing I own is my treasured original (given to me for FREE!!!) copy of LFO (Leeds Warehouse Mix). Everything else I know comes from Generation Ecstacy. Plus too, this stuff doesn't hang around in America the way you can walk into a Reckless Records in London and see bits of it here and there. But go for it, Nick, the only way I'm gonna hear it is through mixes like that.

"i have a feeling belgian shit might be the next hipster zone of accquisition." You really think Jess? This stuff resonates with the dissensus crowd, but what large group of American's would really get much of the reference/significence. No, my bet for hipsterism is big rave tune mashups. A la this . A "mashup" (not really, OK, a reference) of Higher State of Conciouness, which if you went to a rave in the mid 90s in America that track is burned into your brain. Uncharted territory for cross-sonic thefting mashupery, but one I'd like to hear more of and that I think a large group of people would get.

 

[dominic]

"i have a feeling belgian shit might be the next hipster zone of accquisition." You really think Jess? This stuff resonates with the dissensus crowd, but what large group of American's would really get much of the reference/significence.

i think belgian hardcore actually had a pretty long run in america, longer than in britain -- the really massive belgian hits that came out in 1991 -- stuff that was on the verge of being commercial -- were still be played in places like st louis in 1994 -- stuff like T99, stuff like the track that got played on the film "basic instinct," stuff like james brown is dead -- and the reason for this is that a lot of the rave crowd, especially in the midwest, had been into wax trax industrial stuff

 

[dominic]

indeed the belgian stuff was pretty much what was played in clubs -- this stuff had the widest exposure -- with the caveat that even club scene was kinda underground in early 90s

and then the underground rave scene would typically have djs playing all varieties of dance music -- house, jungle, teutonic stuff, acid stuff, california stuff

only in 1994/1995 did "connoisseur" house music take over midwestern clubs (excepting chicago, which of course had very different dynamics)