Funky/London/UK House

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Tim F

Well-known member
Not a value statement, but I think what you're saying Jimi was more true 12 months ago than it is now. There's much less talk of funky and post-dubstep merging than there used to be.

By and large, non-funky-listeners aren't even interested in "funkstep" now that "uk house" (or "uk bass", or etc) is a full-fledged scene of its own - even the profiles of Roska and Scratcha DVA (and Lil' Silva for that matter) have basically gone down rather than up over the past year, as more non-funky producers fill in the gap between post-dubstep and house.

I think the interest of Brit post-dubstep audiences in funky was pretty much situational in the first place: people were ready for a percussive syncopated house sound, (post)dubstep itself was providing that only fitfully, so listeners and DJs had to engage with funky even if it wasn't really their ideal music. But that engagement was only ever going to last for as long as there wasn't much other stuff with more obvious "uk bass" sonic values that could perform the same role or function.

As per 2-step splitting into dubstep (which gradually became less and less identifiable with 2-step, both stylistically and in terms of personnel) and grime, uk funky may well change into something else but it won't be uk bass or some kind of hybrid of the two.

Currently my biggest concern about funky is actually the opposite, if anything: the progressive rise of pretty arid sounding tribal tunes that basically sound like a Luciano set circa 2008. Funky isn't in danger of losing its identity but might grow a bit boring nonetheless...
 
J

jimitheexploder

Well-known member
I think the DJs are brining the sounds closer. I'm hearing more and more funky anthems played by Brackles and peeps like that at a really simular time to say... Petchy. Where as before there was more of a lag between the two. Some DJs are just going to be lazy and grab the easily avilable stuff from big labels, which is prob going to be your Bashmores and that lot cos they get there stuff out there but there will be a load that dig out the gems. Plus the releases and profiles are gently building for people in the funky scene.

I'm not sure Scratcha and Lil Silvas profile has gone down either, I'm always bumping into people that are just coming across those guys that where front runners and crossing over in the last year or so. Its all pretty slow burning.

Its an interesting dynamic though, one with loads of avenues that I'm not sure I can articulate and touch on well enough right now.
 
Benny Bunter

Benny Bunter

Well-known member
I recorded the G Smallz and Krispy show from earlier today. There's quite a lot of G Smallz' own productions (under the name Back to the future) that sound pretty good, and there's a new vocal tune produced by Mad One in there somewhere: http://www.mediafire.com/?y9x1up3bqgl9jbu

oh, and the get down get down game of course :D

The most recent Marcus Nasty set's sounding good too, the Rinse podcasts seem to be working again now.
 
G

gumdrops

Well-known member
alex said:
listened to both the instrumental set (from rinse) with Marcus, Shantie & co, wow, what a set!, Seriously kept me entertained on my long bus journey home. Fortunately i had put it on their with the petchy set with dream, hot s, shantie etc..
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which sets are you referring to?

that murdz 86 tune in that SK set is a weird one - sort of minimal and almost industrial/clangy, not really eski sounding at all i dont think despite what SK said when intro-ing it. i like a few of these tunes in funky to break things up but too many of these and it could get too circle-friendly. need to listen to more recent sets to get a better handle on things but marcus has always played stuff from outside like skream, ramadanman etc but he only really plays this (or things from outside the scene) stuff if it fits funky's vibe. which is how i hope it stays - if they start playing too many outside/any old house tunes then it just becomes a bit pathetic and boringly 'eclectic' like a million other boring djs. who wants that?

not sure about this rudimental tune though i can see it doing well with night slugs and them - its got that sort of wearing my rolex type synth fx (someone else can term it better than me lol though it actually sounds almost ikonika/chiptuney) on it. it sounds kinda euro compared to a lot of funky. more in the middle of the mosca and live fm type producers.

glad to see that champion single on terror's label though - nice to see him taking a break from the more prog-grime stuff and just putting out something thats just good dance music (wouldnt mind hearing terror do more funky-type stuff myself after that one tune on his album with the morse code type riff).
 
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A

alex

Do not read this.
Erm the Rinse one is the Marcus Nasty, 22nd of September, with just Ranking & Shantie. There is like a volley of tunes that Marcus Plays that just get better and better. It’s one of those set’s where, you think the DJ can’t possibly continue to better the 5 last tunes he’s pulled out (each being hyper than the next) and he does, and continues to do so for like the next ¾ tunes. It was a really engaging set and a great example for anyone slightly intimidated by the instrumental element of the scene. The Petchy set is just as good, although more for the lyrics than the tunes.
 
Benny Bunter

Benny Bunter

Well-known member
gumdrops said:
which sets are you referring to?

(wouldnt mind hearing terror do more funky-type stuff myself after that one tune on his album with the morse code type riff).
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Theres a good Terror Danjah/Babyface Jay tune in this vein called 'Redlight District' given away for free on that Hardrumentals comp a while back.
 
Benny Bunter

Benny Bunter

Well-known member
^ thats been out a while i think. not one of his best though.

edit: theres a good screama tune at the start of the most recent MN set, is that one Fuel?
 
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Tentative Andy

Tentative Andy

I'm in the Meal Deal
But yeah anyway, on with the talkier bit I was going to do. May as well start here:

Tim F said:
Not a value statement, but I think what you're saying Jimi was more true 12 months ago than it is now. There's much less talk of funky and post-dubstep merging than there used to be.
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I kind of agree with Tim on this - I think he's right if we're talking about discussion by music critics, fans, people on forums. But I also feel like just lately there's been a renewal of low-level interaction amongst the producers and DJs themselves. A good example of this for me was the last time I caught Brackles' show on Rinse (this would have sometime mid January) and was really surprised by the ammount of funky he was playing - I mean, he's always played a fair bit, and that's something I appreciate him for, but on this show it was almost like UKF was the backbone of the set. Plus he was playing tunes like Crunk by Andy Jay & S-Tee and Drip by Bassboy and Marcus, which is the sort of material that in the past I would only be used to hearing played by specialist funky DJs (for want of a better way of putting it).
Of course, just because this is happening doesn't automatically mean it's all a wonderful thing, and I can appreciate Benny & Luka's concerns about how the music might change if it's made to cater to a new audience. But on the other hand I have a lot of respect for people who are to some extent outside the scene taking a change with it, esp at a stage when it's not being hyped a great deal, and I feel like any kind of decent outlet for the music is not to be sniffed at. And going the other way, basically what Gumdrops said about selecting the tunes in accordance with the overall vibe and rythmic flow of the genre seems sensible to me.

Also, I again half-agree with what Tim is saying about there being quite a few uninspiring tunes going around that use elements from more traditional deep/tribal house. (For me the thing that really needs to stop is any more tunes using those Spells of Yoruba style wordless vocal samples. There's been some decent ones in this vein, but it becomes unbearably samey very easily). I should make clear though that I don't have any problem in principle with producers taking influences from those kind of sources, I just think they need to start deploying them in more imaginative and exciting ways. But yeah, perhaps why I'm so drawn to a few tunes like Deep in the Valley, Freestyle, Unfinished Business, Basskick, AC Riddim, quite a few Murdz and S&S numbers is that they have more fun and colour and jiggy/grooviness to them which counteracts the above kind of tunes. Generally though I find it so easy to pick out new tunes that I like that I'm not too worried yet.

There might have been a few more points that I forgot but that's basically it. Fuller/Hurricane is out on digital now btw (vinyl on pre-order for next week):
http://boomkat.com/downloads/375230-funkystepz-fuller-hurricane-riddim
 
wise

wise

bare BARE BONES
Just got my Champion test press in the post from Butterz, sounds heavy!
So much better than the first release.
Got a free SRC 12" as well cheers Elijah!
 
F

FairiesWearBoots

Well-known member
Funky doesnt seemed to have moved out into suburbia properly has it?

Do you think that it has to do with the lack of bass? ( I say this in very broad stokes - I know there are subby funky tunes)
but in general - when you look at drum & bass, garage & dubstep which grew into sounds that were appreciated country-wide and in particulary in the suburbs, they all had a 'rudeness' and 'weight' that maybe is too subtle in funky?
 
Tentative Andy

Tentative Andy

I'm in the Meal Deal
FairiesWearBoots said:
Funky doesnt seemed to have moved out into suburbia properly has it?

Do you think that it has to do with the lack of bass? ( I say this in very broad stokes - I know there are subby funky tunes)
but in general - when you look at drum & bass, garage & dubstep which grew into sounds that were appreciated country-wide and in particulary in the suburbs, they all had a 'rudeness' and 'weight' that maybe is too subtle in funky?
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This is an interesting question - my view would be that funky def has the 'rudeness' (in spades actually) but the 'weight', yeah maybe not so much. I do feel that over the last 18 months or so the average funky tune has gotten a lot bassier, but still compared to the genres you mention (esp mid-00s dubstep perhaps) the bass doesn't quite go as deep down and weighty, and maybe more importantly the bass doesn't play quite as central a sonic and structural role.
I.e. you get drops and you get bits down in the subs, but the bassline mainly be playing a rhymically supporting role alongisde the main beat and/or melody. For me this is a good thing 'cause I like rhythm and I like integrated arrangements to a tune, but perhaps for people that are looking for bassweight as the main attraction, the main organisational principle of the music this means they'll be a bit disspointed.
Of course beyond this there is the general question of whether 'suburbia' as an audience is worth chasing in the first place - something I seem to change my mind on about 3 times in a day.... :)
 
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