Funky/London/UK House

[Benny Bunter]

but we've had this conversation before. This is how the producers make their money. It seems they can make more money by selling tunes to DJs at inflated prices rather than the pittance they would get off itunes or whatever. Yes, as a consumer/amateur DJ its frustrating but they're certainly under no obligation to sell their tunes for cheap in this climate. Thats just how it works I'm afraid.

 

[Tentative Andy]

Yeah fair enough, I'll shut up about it now 'cause it was just an immediate expression of frustration/disbelief when I first saw it advertised (it was that or bang my head off the desk repeatedly..)
****

On more of a positive -
You can buy a couple of ace Naughty Raver instros that I'd never heard of here:
http://bleep.com/index.php?page=artist_details&artistid=17204
Bath Tub Riddim a particular favourite.

Clip reel of new Illmana bits, due out in March:
I def recognise the first tune from radio sets, big roller.

And then there's this, which I never heard at the time:
http://www.lowriderscollective.com/blog/mr-mageeka-mix/
Dunno how many of you already know about it, it's a 55 min mix by Mr Mageeka, all of his own material, features a shedload of unreleased tunes. Based on the best parts of this he's in a different league from most producers (and I don't usually say things like that).

 

[alex]

yea i got to admit if the tune was really powerful and there wasn't a chance it would be released i would have to stump up £30 for a dubplate

 

[Tentative Andy]

Benny - obviously in some ways you're right, and I guess I'm doing exactly what I moaned at other people for doing in the past, which is acting as if I have some kind of 'right of access' to the music, when clearly I don't.
But the only thing I would say is that it's not just amateur DJs as such that are shut out by this way of operating, it's any DJ that's not in close personal contact with the producers (and willing to get ripped off!). This is why I think the people involved are dreaming if they think they'll ever get widespread popularity or support.
Edit: if they're not interested in any of that, then fair play (but most that I've seen opinions from do seem to be, which is what is so weird/frustrating, it's like people can't put 2 & 2 together). But even then, what do you do if the DJ you've been selling dubs to gets sick of your sound or thinks they could get more money/bookings playing something else? You're screwed because you've got nowehere else to go to.

 

[Benny Bunter]

well I share your frustration myself but I really can't think of an alternative model that would work, can you? Its probably more likely to happen if its a producer who doesn't DJ and therefore has no other way of making any money from their music. File-sharing has obviously completely changed the climate and made exclusivity an even more important factor in the scene.

I've only recently got over this feeling of frustration and stopped blaming producers for being rip-off artists or whatever. What other choice do they have? On top of that I think that the current system may actually be a contributing factor to the ongoing vitality of the scene, musically speaking. I think someone else said it on here a while back, but I hardly think dubstep becoming internationally successful has done the quality of the music many favours. I've a feeling if Funky did become widely successful and more available/accessible then the music would inevitably become watered down and lose its edge. You can hold up the UKG explosion (or going further back, ardcore's pop success) as a counter-argument, but those days are looong gone.

 

[Benny Bunter]

and lets not forget, the last few months have seen a marked improvement in the amount of releases. The fact that there are still many, many great tunes still unreleased is a testament to just how much great stuff is being produced and played by the DJs. So, its not all bad...

 

[Tentative Andy]

and lets not forget, the last few months have seen a marked improvement in the amount of releases.

This is a good point. I think part of why I reacted as I did is that I've become a bit spoilt recently in terms of releases, I've become used to being able to buy a decent ammount of UKF, in good quality formats and through public channels. But of course the question is then how much money, if any, the producers doing public releases are making from it? (Obviously none in the case of the free giveaways. But in terms of people doing things like selling EPs on Juno/iTunes/Bandcamp I'd be interested in seeing the breakdown of where the money charged goes).

 

[UFO over easy]

but we've had this conversation before. This is how the producers make their money. It seems they can make more money by selling tunes to DJs at inflated prices rather than the pittance they would get off itunes or whatever. Yes, as a consumer/amateur DJ its frustrating but they're certainly under no obligation to sell their tunes for cheap in this climate. Thats just how it works I'm afraid.

doing it this way gives producers nowhere to go. no one will sign their tunes and invest in them and as a result they won't get bookings outside east london for decent money, and they won't reach listeners beyond their immediate pirate radio/local following

the producers doing well and releasing their music physically or at least through legit download stores are reaping benefits beyond an immediate £300 in the bank or whatever. it's not the producers fault and as you say, it's difficult if you don't DJ, but still

edit - the only reason im saying this is that most producers do seem to aspire to commercial success

 

[Benny Bunter]

its true there is a lack of foresight/going in for the quick buck rather than long term investment. And yes, producers want commercial success. But I'm starting to wonder how realistic this chance of commercial success is. For all its poppiness and inventiveness, most people just don't seem that interested outside of the fairly small and localised diehard following. Its also failed to inspire much interest from critics and journalists either. For example the House Girls album didn't get any reviews anywhere AFAIK. That's criminal!

There's been plenty of tunes that I thought could have made the charts but for some reason something within this music seems to prevent it from having the mass appeal that UKG enjoyed in its day.

This sounds defeatist but none of it actually bothers me at all, as long as the music is still good. I suppose I'm not a struggling producer though!

 

[Sectionfive]

Maybe a lot of critics and journalists wrote it off early and haven't came back but I see no reason why it couldn't get somewhere near the heights of garage in the future.
House is probably more accessible then 2step was, Songsmith's like ill Blu are already there.

Double edge sword really as so long as it stays in the clubs it stays good usually.

 

[hint]

There's been plenty of tunes that I thought could have made the charts but for some reason something within this music seems to prevent it from having the mass appeal that UKG enjoyed in its day.

In my experience, it has much more immediate appeal than UKG. In the sense that Funky stuff gets a better reaction than UKG stuff amongst crowds outside the scene / bubble / country, even in places where UKG doesn't go down well at all.

 

[Blackdown]

Meet Walton.

 

[FairiesWearBoots]

Is there an Eski House thread? (out to Slackk on his FACT mix - big!)

just picked this up - the Jam City remix is amazing

http://www.redeyerecords.co.uk/products/Bad_Autopsy/Bad_Autopsy_RAMP041R.html

 

[Tentative Andy]

^Shuffle Riddim by Walton is a biggie, gonna give his mix a spin in a minute.
****
I really hated HHB's remix of Fatty Boom when I first heard it, but now I'm kind of addicted to it. Hmmm..

 

[Tentative Andy]

Also I know some people are already sick of hearing loads of Sunday Roast/Soulserious tunes on radio - and I can kind of relate to that - but Echoes, the first tune on this, sounds quite good to me:
http://www.junodownload.com/products/voices-ep/1689609-02/
Rest of the EP is pretty meh though.

 

[tom lea]

its true there is a lack of foresight/going in for the quick buck rather than long term investment. And yes, producers want commercial success. But I'm starting to wonder how realistic this chance of commercial success is. For all its poppiness and inventiveness, most people just don't seem that interested outside of the fairly small and localised diehard following. Its also failed to inspire much interest from critics and journalists either. For example the House Girls album didn't get any reviews anywhere AFAIK. That's criminal!

it was in fact's best tracks of 2010. and devine recordings were interviewed in dummy.

ive said it in this thread once before i think, but i hit up mad one with the intention of putting some stuff out by him, and i just got the standard sales talk about how i could buy a dubplate of whatever for 50 quid. that's probably why a lot of this stuff doesnt get past live fm and illford clubnights.

 

[alex]

excuse me don't you mean illtown?

edit* Andy thanks for the lead on Dj Hotshot by the way, great tunes.

 

[Tentative Andy]

^ No problem Alex, the main credit for spreading them should prob go to Smoove Kriminal, but yeah I'm glad people are liking the tunes. He's got a few more good tunes that I've heard DJs playing, slightly sparser kind of bits. I should prob check out his own show on Deja sometime too.
Carnao has a Saturday night spot on Deja too now btw, along with Eastwood and LR Groove, so that should be another good stretch for hearing new tunes (think some of it might clash with Petchy's show though, annoying).

 

[Benny Bunter]

it was in fact's best tracks of 2010. and devine recordings were interviewed in dummy.

ive said it in this thread once before i think, but i hit up mad one with the intention of putting some stuff out by him, and i just got the standard sales talk about how i could buy a dubplate of whatever for 50 quid. that's probably why a lot of this stuff doesnt get past live fm and illford clubnights.

Thats not much coverage really though is it? No great shakes...

Plus I'm not surprised that Mad One turned you down as they have their own label already and have had quite a few releases on itunes and amazon. They are doing things on their own terms and its just a shame that someone should have to get a release on Hyperdub or whatever before anyone will bother writing about them.

 

[gumdrops]

its good that some of these producers are getting tracks released now, but it does seem like its the same lot being shared between hyperdub, numbers, planet mu, etc (like how terror danjah, ikonika, etc etc all seem to be appearing everywhere). be nice to see some others getting spotlighted too. though yes i know its hard cos a lot of producers dont seem that easy to work with. would of course prefer if they just released their records themselves rather than have to wait for someone with more of a link to the wider 'bass' scene to pick them up (its diff when you view a funky release through hyperdub or night slugs or numbers than when its just some basic white label thing).