obv that does make me sound a bit "bubbla ranks maaaaade 'mysterious girl' maaaan", but fuck it, i'll take the hit.
― r|t|c, Monday, 12 October 2009 13:22 (fourteen years ago) link
No, well, it's not actually as good as those three tunes, if anything it's me wondering how much I can jab people who only praise this kinda tune without my snark somehow reflecting on the music.
― Tim F, Monday, 12 October 2009 13:23 (fourteen years ago) link
haha yes well the WELCOME TO MY WORLD FINNEY subplot throughout this thread is one i particularly happen to enjoy.
especially liked the 'come to mama' passapassa tune on that marcus set! all the sticky-style spanish guitar and "tu sais tu es ingenue..." etc urbane continentalisms before she grabs you by the lapels.
― r|t|c, Monday, 12 October 2009 13:36 (fourteen years ago) link
agreed on Get Low impressions so far = more Ramp than Booo! (latter of a certain familiar poster's 10 of the noughties list fame). would expect nuum bangers to help critical (+?) cred for funky but after Pull It (and its temporary solitariness) feels like the best case for Get Low is to stake out more turf confirm/push territorial lines: this TOO is MINE - yah funky!
― Paul, Monday, 12 October 2009 14:08 (fourteen years ago) link
(prefer hushed intimacy of "Speechless" meself)
― Paul, Monday, 12 October 2009 14:13 (fourteen years ago) link
"Get Low" does sound great in the mix though! check it around 8 tracks in on Footloose's latest 1XTRA show (up for 5 days more from today).
― Paul, Wednesday, 14 October 2009 03:47 (fourteen years ago) link
feeling this Footsteps - "Rewind" tune too! and Cherri - "School Daze (Delirious remix)" - some of these tunes are shiny in almost New Pop way! plus electro-riffage
― Paul, Wednesday, 14 October 2009 04:01 (fourteen years ago) link
on the dark and dutty side is anyone else feeling the recent Bok Bok tracks? Dre Skull - "I Want You (Bok Bok VIP dub)" and the Night Slugs EP. something mysterious and sensual (but still bangin') - a more exciting use of dub than I've heard in dubstep itself.
― Paul, Wednesday, 14 October 2009 04:17 (fourteen years ago) link
yes this was particularly awesome, though in an almost sickly kind of way. Really liking this new trend of near-punishing diva tracks, for which I guess Enrique Benitez's "Cooking" forms the new standard industry blueprint.
^ "Really liking this new trend of near-punishing diva tracks" = posts very much in character.
Do you mean the DJ Mystery track Paul? Love it too, also the glacial sunburn of the recent DJ Naughty remix. I like how Naughty's holding on to his core sound but tweaking it slightly to make it feel more intense and woozy (see also his not-quite-so-good-but-still-good carnivalesque remix of Sean Kingston's "Fire Burning").
Also pleased to finally hear Donaeo's remix of "Birthday Sex". It does exactly what it needs to and no more.
― Tim F, Wednesday, 14 October 2009 04:48 (fourteen years ago) link
Also M Sadler's rave-soca sound is really doing it for me at the moment. Reminds me of when reynolds complained that b/c of funky for the first time in ages Notting Hill Carnival might actually sound like a carnival <---- how could that possibly be a bad thing??
― Tim F, Wednesday, 14 October 2009 04:54 (fourteen years ago) link
also also also what do people think of Donae'o's remix of "In The Morning"?? It seems to miss the point of the song, but enjoyably so. Still I have issues with tracks where the vocals and the music seem oblivious of one another. The "African Warrior"-style drop is heaps of fun though.
― Tim F, Wednesday, 14 October 2009 04:58 (fourteen years ago) link
Actually the really enjoyable recent DJ Naughty production is his remix of "Bust Your Windows", though as much because the original song is so great. But also more of those liquid nitrogen synth chords and simply delectable rhythm programming.
(did anyone catch the use of the original song on Glee?)
― Tim F, Wednesday, 14 October 2009 05:01 (fourteen years ago) link
>Reminds me of when reynolds complained that b/c of funky for the first time in ages Notting Hill Carnival might actually sound like a carnival <---- how could that possibly be a bad thing??
considering the first rave I ever went to was a West Indian carnival (calypso pre-soca era, steel band & string band) when I was 7, I see this as a real blind spot for Simon.
― Paul, Thursday, 15 October 2009 03:32 (fourteen years ago) link
when one's critical outlook is peppered so liberally w/blind spots, is the term really appropriate any more
― lex pretend, Thursday, 15 October 2009 08:00 (fourteen years ago) link
So what's the deal with Jam City? Kiran Sande's written a thesis sized piece on them over at FACT magazine. I guess JC isn't strictly funky but anyways...
'ere
― sam500, Thursday, 15 October 2009 08:01 (fourteen years ago) link
JC seems more on the funkstep side of things. i like what i hear but yeah, not much to do with funky really. all the hype seems to be that hes sort of grime/garage influenced, kinda on the um 'funkno' side of things. but then thats good in a way, the scene around funky can have so many diff artists coming from all angles. fact are bound to be more into a guy like JC than donaeo.
― titchy (titchyschneiderMk2), Thursday, 15 October 2009 10:45 (fourteen years ago) link
tho guys like jam city are a nice change to me - theres been so much talk about how dubstep has been such a fertile breeding ground/jump off point but grime doesnt seem to get quite the same props anymore...
― titchy (titchyschneiderMk2), Thursday, 15 October 2009 10:50 (fourteen years ago) link
feeling this guy - http://www.myspace.com/juliobashmore
i just get my tips from fact lol i dunno where else to get them from - no idea how you guys find out who makes what...
― titchy (titchyschneiderMk2), Thursday, 15 October 2009 11:25 (fourteen years ago) link
listening to jam city's lower end spasm mix now, liking a lot
― lex pretend, Thursday, 15 October 2009 11:56 (fourteen years ago) link
It's alright.
More importantly, the DJ Larizzle's Strickly Funky Vol. 10:
http://www.4shared.com/file/134948100/afa72273/DJ_Larizzle__MC_Ramzee__Stormparties__Strickly_Funky_Vol_10_-_The_2nd_Year_Anniversary.html?err=no-sess
― Tim F, Thursday, 15 October 2009 14:03 (fourteen years ago) link
That Jam City mix is great but it doesn't belong here at all, it's much too stiff and mechanistic. It seems to sit somewhere between fidget house, Greenmoney and the Ashley Beedle remix of Township Funk. And something else much techier that I can't put my finger on.
― Matt DC, Friday, 16 October 2009 09:04 (fourteen years ago) link
It's a bit DJ Zinc (recent DJ Zinc) actually.
I should say it's probably better than "alright", I'm just reacting to the massive hype-inflation. Not sure why taking this stuff and making it all serious cat automatically = hosannas.
― Tim F, Friday, 16 October 2009 09:25 (fourteen years ago) link
Haha you say that about everything Tim!
I like the idea of taking grimey hooks and making them techy and expensive sounding much more than I like the idea of taking funky and making it serious cat (which Jam City totally isn't doing).
The sheer level of purple prose in that Fact article is embarrassing though.
― Matt DC, Friday, 16 October 2009 09:43 (fourteen years ago) link
"Haha you say that about everything Tim!"
I know, but it bears repeating. I'm fighting a losing battle.
― Tim F, Friday, 16 October 2009 10:11 (fourteen years ago) link
it's not a battle! everyone can coexist i feel. also, one purple prosey article does not "massive hype-inflation" make...
never really knew where to put this before but if jam city fits in here, i think kingdom certainly does. he's an amazing NYC dj/producer and massive r&b fan who absolutely smashed night slugs a few months ago; loads of trancey stabbing synths, diva vox, tons of energy and largeness. think it'll be much more to your liking tim - his "mindreader" track ft. shyvonne is astonishingly massive. this mix in particular is excellent - http://dot-alt.blogspot.com/2009/03/kingdom-exclusive-mix-for-lower-end.html
― lex pretend, Friday, 16 October 2009 10:16 (fourteen years ago) link
http://twitter.com/kkingdomm is good value too
― lex pretend, Friday, 16 October 2009 10:17 (fourteen years ago) link
listening to that mix again now and i cannot stress how much u all need to hear it
― lex pretend, Friday, 16 October 2009 10:19 (fourteen years ago) link
I know you think I'm just full of it on this point, but indulge me: name someone, anyone apart from me, who has tried to write seriously about any actual funky artist in the past year not in the following list: Crazy Cousinz, Roska, Cooly G, Scratcha DVA, Lil' Silva.
Just one article, anywhere.
― Tim F, Friday, 16 October 2009 11:01 (fourteen years ago) link
Having said that, this Kingdom mix sounds excellent. Much better than the Jam City one IMO.
― Tim F, Friday, 16 October 2009 11:07 (fourteen years ago) link
Yeah that Jam City mix is pretty fun for sure. Beat wise it seems to have that loose backbone I associate with a lot of funky I've heard. But whether it belongs on this thread or not I'm not expert enough to say. Good luck to the lad though...
― sam500, Friday, 16 October 2009 13:22 (fourteen years ago) link
" Crazy Cousinz, Roska, Cooly G, Scratcha DVA, Lil' Silva."
earlier in the year you could be forgiven for only concentrating on those guys though. seeing as they WERE the biggest names and most exciting.
now, things have moved on to yknow, jam city.
― titchy (titchyschneiderMk2), Friday, 16 October 2009 13:28 (fourteen years ago) link
who else should people be writing about though? i cant say at this point. half the tunes are like arent even made by people 'in' the scene. theyre from other places.
― titchy (titchyschneiderMk2), Friday, 16 October 2009 13:29 (fourteen years ago) link
Perempay & Dee? Donae'o? Geeneus? Ill Blu? Just picking the first four who came to mind with actual distinguishing features.
― Matt DC, Friday, 16 October 2009 13:31 (fourteen years ago) link
perempays put out maybe ONE tune this year. buss it seems an age ago. donaeo should have gotten more hype, yeah, he made a good album. but hes not seen as 'serious' enough for fact types. geeneus isnt exactly underrappreciated. though he maybe could be more rated for his productions, yeah.
― titchy (titchyschneiderMk2), Friday, 16 October 2009 13:37 (fourteen years ago) link
lol all of these people have been written about over the past year, as have a lot of the vocalists and mcs. i mean, the whole heatwave ja/funky post for one thing?
― lex pretend, Friday, 16 October 2009 13:44 (fourteen years ago) link
how often (and where) do people even "write seriously" about funky anyway?
― lex pretend, Friday, 16 October 2009 13:46 (fourteen years ago) link
Yes but that's not Serious Crit For Serious People About Serious Music though Lex!
(xpost)
― Matt DC, Friday, 16 October 2009 13:46 (fourteen years ago) link
if these 'serious' muso writers only wanna talk about the stuff that sounds like techno then cool. who gives a fuck. not the ravers. not the artists. not even the djs. seems like even if you wanna praise the cooly g types you cant not talk about the more populist strains of funky anyway. so hey, everyones happy. and funky has its own policing strategies as everyone is aware and this issue really is not one of them from the looks of things.
― titchy (titchyschneiderMk2), Friday, 16 October 2009 13:50 (fourteen years ago) link
i don't even know which funky acts tim thinks should be covered by (fact? xlr8r? i have no idea!), or which would prove his point, given that crazy cousinz through to cooly g is a pretty damn wide spectrum already. geeneus has gotten loads of attention. marcus nasty will get loads when his rinse mix drops. ill blu are perhaps underappreciated but they don't have any live rep to speak of.
― lex pretend, Friday, 16 October 2009 13:52 (fourteen years ago) link
besides, im fine with the 'auteury' types being singled out, if it means the rest of the scene can bubble along unpertubed. cos WITHIN the scene, these guys that xlr8r and fact etc like arent really as big as donaeo etc.
also, if anyone WAS just writing about Crazy Cousinz, Roska, Cooly G, Scratcha DVA, Lil' Silva, that IS a pretty great range of diff funky styles.
― titchy (titchyschneiderMk2), Friday, 16 October 2009 13:53 (fourteen years ago) link
im all for the thoroughly reynoldsy thing of 'must champion the populist songs/artists and belittle the leftfielders' cos the mainstream/serious techno musos are so prone to the opposite, but i think tim is just looking for a fight. something to create some sort of serious critical discourse/axe to grind w/r/t funky.
― titchy (titchyschneiderMk2), Friday, 16 October 2009 13:56 (fourteen years ago) link
http://www.dummymag.com/txt-reviews/
Floating Points Vacuum Boogie A smooth ride through the cosmos. This is funky at its most refined.
― titchy (titchyschneiderMk2), Friday, 16 October 2009 14:25 (fourteen years ago) link
Why is Vacuum Boogie considered 'Funky'? Sounds more like the Mark E/Theo brand of slow-house than Funky.
― brotherlovesdub, Friday, 16 October 2009 14:52 (fourteen years ago) link
Don't sound like no funky to me either.
― Chewshabadoo, Friday, 16 October 2009 14:56 (fourteen years ago) link
its not.
not sure about this kingdom mix. sounds like something someone down with diplo would do. bassline-y trancey house, lots of R&B vocals/cut ups, post bmore shit, all over the shop.
― titchy (titchyschneiderMk2), Friday, 16 October 2009 15:01 (fourteen years ago) link
oh yeah, fact x night slugs @ egg on 23 oct. reaching.
http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/object3/577/122/n138217572263_753.jpg
― lex pretend, Friday, 16 October 2009 15:41 (fourteen years ago) link
After listening to the 3 mixes linked/discussed above, I can conclusively say Jam City kills them all. The SFV10 mix is ruined by a repetitive and pointless MC, the Kingdom mix is good but not nearly as engaging as Jam City. Glad to have heard them all though. Thanks for the links.
― brotherlovesdub, Friday, 16 October 2009 16:37 (fourteen years ago) link
heartless crew on rinse fri 7-9sounding good and fun so far
― titchy (titchyschneiderMk2), Friday, 16 October 2009 18:55 (fourteen years ago) link
In some senses yes. I guess I just can't help but let my reactions be clouded by my sense of disappointment there seems to be this roar of indifference w/r/t actually checking out funky and writing about it - okay not "seriously", but, you know perhaps slightly more in depth than just "this track is big". Because I like reading to find out about new music, and I like the sense of excitement I feel when I can share other people's enthusiasm, and I can't go to these raves so it'd be nice to at least get that sense of shared enthusiasm somehow. And it seems that grime was the recipient of a massive, even disproportionate outpouring of writing (purply and otherwise), and I'm not even asking for that, but, y'know, just that maybe some people might give a shit and, like, help me out. But instead I'm mostly reduced to painstakingly assembling my knowledge of the scene by myself, using radio sets and myspace pages and a whole bunch of guesswork, because otherwise the internet is offering me very little assistance.
But clearly this is a good thing - no way do any of these producers want to be the beneficiaries of well-written, enthusiastic and informed media.
Tinchy even says upthread "no idea how you guys find out who makes what..." and then you all say "oh but are there even any producers worth writing about anyway...?"
There's no connection there, you don't think?
Re DJ Larizzle - yeah to be honest i was still downloading it when I posted the link, I was just assuming it'd be as strong as Vol. 9 and (particularly) Vol. 8, it comes in a bit below those though.
― Tim F, Friday, 16 October 2009 20:48 (fourteen years ago) link
the amount of attention given to grime was, at least in the states, largely about ppl who wanted to like rap without actually listening to rap from their own back yards
the funny thing to me about ppl's large scale ignorance of funky in this country is that, when compared to grime or even 2step, it seems like it would fit in w/ a lot of existing dance scenes -- like, funky anthems dont really sound all that out of place in a set of house or pop music here! except for the ones w/ weird or quirkily british hooks (i.e. "too many men")
but obv the kind of ppl who seem to be taking to funky here are dubstep fans tired of dubstep who want 'beat science'-y nerd shit
― i got nothin (deej), Friday, 16 October 2009 20:51 (fourteen years ago) link