There has been plenty of press in urban/dance/bass magazines of this ‘new sound’ coming out from the hybrid of Dubstep, Grime, Garage, etc. though the catering of Funky. There are plenty of in-depth discourse and articles on it that I cannot do justice with my own writing. As this is my depository and I feel I reach folks who would otherwise not be aware of this stuff. I wanted to post up my own listing of the new generation of urban, dance, bass music. So what is going on? What is the big deal? Well, a couple of things. Prior to this new wave, the dominant genres and approaches to music were through Dubstep and Grime. What they both had in common was this sense of uber-minimalism but they both took it to different directions. Dubstep embraced the elements of early Dub music and focused on atmosphere, bass, and minimalism to create the old school drum and bass brooding ‘dark’. Grime took the level of urgency of the 2 step beats from So Solid and others and took it to brash strong places, eventually it became MC music, not to say that productions were crap, much were but others were sheer joy. Each went through phases of beat patterns, approaches and styles, but both are now pretty established and getting kinda expected.
Classic Dubstep example...
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95VhNNA18Eg&hl=en_US&fs=1&]
Classic Grime example...
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tntRTRkp2GY&hl=en_US&fs=1&]
A couple of years ago, a lot of DJ's began to look towards other sounds and sources for new inspiration. For instance, Dubsteppers looked to MNML, synths, and other influences (even though Dubstep was pretty much a stew to begin with) to open the palate. But it wasn't until folks started looking at House music again, and in particular the more swung out sounds, syncopated beats and tribal elements where Funky was going in its own trajectory. Once Funky began to gain popularity, Grime heads and Dubsteppers began looking at these vibes, bringing BPMS to housey levels, and really opening the material for new beat patterns, styles, and approaches to the music. As a result, we have producers and DJ's who normally openly cited Jungle, Garage, Hardcore, etc.. as influences in Grime and Dubstep production, flexing their work on this new uncharted space of 130-140 bpm polyrhythmic bass sound.
Early style funky....
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHQn2sfhO08&hl=en_US&fs=1&]
New Funky...
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPZ8uuh3JSI&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999]
Now the music is at this place where genres are blending very close together, different BPMs and patterns are all being utilized, and experimentation is being embraced with ass-shaking riddims. The press is eating it up and we are at the point where Dubstep and Grime was 5 years ago... excitement, mystery, and optimism of where the sounds will take us. Personally, I quite happy that we are wide at this point with bass music and the new beat patterns coming through. The sounds does remind me of the innovation Jungle/Drum n' Bass produced years ago. And in the end family, this music is absolutely bumping, it makes you shake that ass and that brain, and that is what great music does for me, the mental and physical movement of mind, body, and soul. So, here is a list and some of DJ's and producers to check out.
Class of 2015
Rammadanman - Dark Knight - TRG - Pangea - Scratcha DVA - Roska - Kode9 - Mutant Funk - Untold - Brackles - Martyn - Bok Bok & L-Viz 1990 - Cooly G - Greena - Jubillee - Marcus Nasty - Shortstuff - Ikonika - Altered States - Lil Silva -Joy Orbison
Here are some choice cuts that do a good job with the mix n' blend I am talking about
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md3jK1gOvSg&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sbj6iVyIgAI&hl=en_US&fs=1&]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqL8ls8CaEA&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kimlSani-A4&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODtF-knCfI4&hl=en_US&fs=1&]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI2lUIsSdPs&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HmLGH1tzHw&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lodubglA6SE&hl=en_US&fs=1&]
Articles that do a better job than me...
Blackown's
article for Pitchfork on the 130BPM phenomenon
XLR8R - This
one puts some shine on and a bunch of history too
Heatwave posted up their latest mixtape for Notting Hill Carnival 2010... of course its a glorious mix that truly represents the AP/Worldwide Liberation Sound aesthetic I push like brain crack. Please download this mix across the entire spectrum of dub/uk funky/drum n' bass/hip hop... all tied by a smooth vision of soundsystem culture. My favorite are the refixes and mashes between Funky, Bahsment, and Dancehall towards the middle of the set, but below are my fav of the non-mashed tunes... enjoy.
A nice collection of soundsystem music mixed and blended by yours truly... Kuduro, Juke, UK Funky, Future Garage, US House, Dubstep, Digital Cumbia, and Dancehall all represent in the mix. I'm trying to connect the dots of social consciousness, bass, technology, dance, syncopation, and a whole bunch of other vibes that permeate across the world that encapsulates what I've been seeing in transnational future dance. Taking all the academicy speak aside, this is some shake ur ass boom boom...
Oh my oh my oh my... I'm bobbin my head as I type this! There is this new thing gwan' in the UK dance music scene. Its this place where Dubstep, Funky, House, and Garage are all meeting in the middle somewhere. And its sound absolutely gorgeous. I'll post a list of who is who and what is what on this "wot you call it?" Funkstep loveliness... In the end, its polyrythmic, dubby, skippy, syncopated, and innovative... pushing and pushing with interesting ideas.
While a bit late, here is a list of the top UK Funky Tracks of 2009 by "It's a UK Funky Movement". UK Funky has shocked British dance music in the last couple of years, particularly Dubstep and Grime. Forward thinking producers have taken the syncopated shuffle, the 130 BPM, and other elements of the genre to different directions (check out my own 2009 list for some of the more forward moving examples from Funky, Grime, and Dubstep productions.
A pretty entertaining video of MC's from across time and genres all throwing down their party and battle bars over the top UK Funky DJ, Marcus Nasty.