rolling back to the future garage/post-dubstep/alt-funkstep/intelli-2step etc thread

[Blackdown]

I think slothrop is right. More focus on individual producers outside your usual territory. Coverage of Funky ...

btw, your pitchfork article is actually a pretty well rounded, well written piece about post dubstep. It would just be nice to see you reach outside your comfort zone a bit more.

While writing a piece that a minimum of 50% of people who read it will think i'm in some part wrong is not exactly what i call a comfort zone, i'm up for this in practice. that said i dont see funky as out of my comfort zone, i've been writing about it since 2007.

so either i need to spend time slagging off records i hate elaborately or writing about records i'm not that qualified to write about (or both). neither of which i have time for. similarly i dont have time to release records i think are shit or dj records i hate . who does?

 

[Blackdown]

I liked your most recent Pitchfork column Martin having not really read it like I did for some time but I also got "IDM" coming into my head about some of the artists you mentioned.

since 130 is mostly groove lead and nothing like autechre on the whole, i assume this is the class thing, which i overtly mentioned...

 

[continuum]

since 130 is mostly groove lead and nothing like autechre on the whole, i assume this is the class thing, which i overtly mentioned...

the internet kind of breaks the class division but i guess you are right.

do you have any opinion on how Bassline / Niche fits in to your theory?

 

[juanroberto]

the internet kind of breaks the class division but i guess you are right.

do you have any opinion on how Bassline / Niche fits in to your theory?

flavour of the month that nobody cares about now. just like kwaito, kuduro and baile funk. footwork has stayed surprisingly long compared to the previous fleeting trends.

 

[juanroberto]

by flavour of the month i mean that they get dj bookings in shoreditch/stoke newington for a few months then it's back to playing in the cities that nurtured the sound and is still interested

 

[Benny Bunter]

I've said this before, but amazing how well bassline producers have taken to funky. Emvee, screama, naughty raver, Illmana...all killing it. Heard some good recent bassline-proper too after writing it off a while back.

Funky, Bassline (and probably Juke too) were 'flavours of the month' in terms of critical attention but I think this distorts peoples' views of them. I think all these scenes have been pretty consistently excellent all along but you have to be pretty dedicated to follow them properly and pick up on the really good stuff.

edit: Juanberto, just seen that last post of yours, and yes I agree!

 

[Slothrop]

since 130 is mostly groove lead and nothing like autechre on the whole, i assume this is the class thing, which i overtly mentioned...

I dunno, I think Reynolds (dammit) made the point in a different context that the post dubstep millieu is kind of like IDM would have been if it didn't make most of the mistakes that IDM made. There's a similar kind of sense of a slightly dispersed and slightly self aware and (yeah okay) reasonably well heeled scene picking out and piecing together bits from a range of 'proper' hardcore scene.

On the other hand, at the moment it's still got a lot of respect for and a decent amount of interaction with the scenes it's drawing on - although I guess in the early days the proto IDM guys were proper techno and hip hop heads paying due respect to the music they loved, it was only later on that it really got aloof and closed itself off and started inbreeding - and more importantly, still focussed on getting people together to actually dance. And that might be the difference between something that drifts off into irrelevance and something that stays vital.

In any case, I'm kind of going against my own thing by going into state of the nation mode here. Interesting as the analysis is, the only thing that really matters in the sucks / rocks stakes is whether the tunes and the DJ sets are doing the business or not.

 

[juanroberto]

I dunno, I think Reynolds (dammit) made the point in a different context that the post dubstep millieu is kind of like IDM would have been if it didn't make most of the mistakes that IDM made. There's a similar kind of sense of a slightly dispersed and slightly self aware and (yeah okay) reasonably well heeled scene picking out and piecing together bits from a range of 'proper' hardcore scene.

On the other hand, at the moment it's still got a lot of respect for and a decent amount of interaction with the scenes it's drawing on - although I guess in the early days the proto IDM guys were proper techno and hip hop heads paying due respect to the music they loved, it was only later on that it really got aloof and closed itself off and started inbreeding - and more importantly, still focussed on getting people together to actually dance. And that might be the difference between something that drifts off into irrelevance and something that stays vital.

In any case, I'm kind of going against my own thing by going into state of the nation mode here. Interesting as the analysis is, the only thing that really matters in the sucks / rocks stakes is whether the tunes and the DJ sets are doing the business or not.

ok i'm confused by this whole idm talk. i'm far too young to know anything about it. i'm gonna start a thread so you guys can explain it to me. please be nice i'll admit i don't know much about this kinda thing

 

[Fundamental]

I thought the Blackdown's Pitchfork article was decent and I'm glad someone is joining the dots between these factions because if some of them awaken/get over themselves we might actually begin to feel some sort of semblance of a scene. If that happens then we may well find we can get the best elements of scenius whilst still retaining these exciting agendas/lack of agendas that all the many factions are pushing.

I think funky comes into this in the same way that 2003-2007 grime and dubstep felt like siblings, but just because there are a few funky lovers lurking in this thread doesn't mean it garners more attention on Pitchfork.

Also Reynolds gets dissed for being too far astray from the core of the scene and Blackdown gets stick for having too much of a stake in it. I'd say the reason Blackdown writes and practices this music is because he has a proper passion for it, and I'd prefer to read his views over the neophyte hacks that dip in and out to suit themselves or merely surf the tides of hip.

 

[wise]

I'd say the reason Blackdown writes and practices this music is because he has a proper passion for it, and I'd prefer to read his views over the neophyte hacks that dip in and out to suit themselves or merely surf the tides of hip.

Absolutely, I enjoy Blackdowns writing I just don't like much of the music when I give it a listen, and it constantly surprises me that he is so passionate about it, but that's personal tastes for you I guess.

 

[Sectionfive]

I thought the Blackdown's Pitchfork article was decent and I'm glad someone is joining the dots between these factions because if some of them awaken/get over themselves we might actually begin to feel some sort of semblance of a scene. If that happens then we may well find we can get the best elements of scenius whilst still retaining these exciting agendas/lack of agendas that all the many factions are pushing.

I think funky comes into this in the same way that 2003-2007 grime and dubstep felt like siblings, but just because there are a few funky lovers lurking in this thread doesn't mean it garners more attention on Pitchfork.

Also Reynolds gets dissed for being too far astray from the core of the scene and Blackdown gets stick for having too much of a stake in it. I'd say the reason Blackdown writes and practices this music is because he has a proper passion for it, and I'd prefer to read his views over the neophyte hacks that dip in and out to suit themselves or merely surf the tides of hip.

otm

Good point about the siblings too.

 

[Fundamental]

The DJ tallent in this bass scene is quality as well. I went off techno and house for some time cos DJs in those genres just plain sucked and didn't bring much excitment to it. But now you hear a load of the Hessle guys playing it with flair and a raw edge and it brings it alive. Or you have Oneman being Oneman, Jackmaster doing his thing, Brackles is quality, Braiden mixing it up. They all play pretty diverse bits from here and there but they do it well and bring it together so it doesn't sound like a clusterfuck. I guess it just comes down to focus, selection and finding a way of joining the dots that doesn't jar to much.

I also think this is another key point. What made UK Garage so strong for so long was the DJs like DJ EZ who were putting different types of rhythm together. UK Garage for a long while was essentially 135bpm bass music. These guys were mixing Dem 2 with 138 Trek, Dooms Night, So Solid, Saved Soul, Pulse X, Todd Edwards for years and no-one would blink an eyelid in the rave.

Oneman and Jackmaster follow this lineage and Oneman is a Londoner in the ilk of EZ and I think Jackmaster's talents probably stem from the Glasgow/eclectic/party scene but they both do the same thing incredibly well.

 

[Esp]

Im a bit lost. Are people worried/frustrated because a genre that isn't a genre is not producing music that is as original as music they cant conceive of which doesnt exist but maybe should?

 

[juanroberto]

Im a bit lost. Are people worried/frustrated because a genre that isn't a genre is not producing music that is as original as music they cant conceive of which doesnt exist but maybe should?

ever heard of latinuum?

 

[juanroberto]

because that will be a real genre and if you like salsa but with lots of BASS then you'll love what i'm doing.

 

[juanroberto]

because that will be a real genre and if you like salsa but with lots of BASS then you'll love what i'm doing.

<iframe width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Szlryk7XlMA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[wise]

Im a bit lost. Are people worried/frustrated because a genre that isn't a genre is not producing music that is as original as music they cant conceive of which doesnt exist but maybe should?

No, a loosely defined genre is creating music that isn't as good as other music that it's drawing inspiration from and that other music isn't getting enough exposure itself.
All the attention is focussed on the forementioned genre.

That's the problem in a nutshell

 

[mistersloane]

I think it's about the Fall of Rinse (TM), really. Not in a bad way, but like in the fall of Rome. It's the end of the cultural hegemony of Rinse, it's when you see a movement fall into decadence.

It's become phenomenally successful, more so than drum and bass every did. What FWD was part of is literally everywhere in the UK - from the XX to dubstep globally to Skepta working with Whoo Kid - the CCRU virus worked.

So within that, you see people who were maybe participating as audience members, or as listeners, wanting to add to that cultural movement, wanting to be part of the dialogue when that cultural movement is already complete, the dialogue is already ended. In the same way that modernist literature was the end, not the beginning, of the symbolist movement, so we see this lot as being the end, not a continuation, of a nuum.

I would add that for me it's when it gets interesting - I like seeing things breaking down, things lose meaning and cultural context then.

 

[Damien]

I've said this before, but amazing how well bassline producers have taken to funky.

yea totally, i may be distorting recent history here but my recollections of Funky when it first began were that the Bassline scene pushed it a lot in 2nd rooms before it became 'relevant', my first encounter with Funky was funky remixes on bassline records, before supa d's awesome mix that had me searching everywhere for the records particularly DJ NG - Tell Me, still my favourite Funky track by a mile

Big up the bassline scene

Right now, a fierce debate is raging amongst critics and fans of the bassier side of things-- some call it "post-dubstep" while others call it "bass music" or refer to it by tempo ("130bpm"). Everyone is trying to avoid giving it a name, but are these emerging sounds the real deal or the emperors' new clothes? It's perhaps easier to say what post-dubstep/130bpm/bass music isn't than what it is. It isn't grime, either in its pop, instrumental underground, or MC-lead variants. It isn't dubstep, in either of its remaining dominant styles-- wobbly brostep and eyes-down halfstep. And it isn't house & funky, though this movement has had a massive catalytic effect on our as-yet-unnamed/defined genre.

So what is it?

Shite

sorry couldn't resist, not a comment on your writing but post Dubstep is so yawnworthy, sorry to all for the blasphemy but Hyperdub is such a dry label, love the idea of Kode 9 though

 

[gremino]

ymy first encounter with Funky was funky remixes on bassline records

what records? any links?

ever heard of latinuum?

if it's ruff/edgy/has strong feel, you could maybe put it here