funky house sceptics, let me draw your attention to this

and yeah i dunno about cold and mechanistic, it's hardly cooly g man

I've never really worked out why Hey Hey in particular was so embraced by funky, given how stiff and cold and mechanistic the groove itself is.

There are two separate counter rhythms (one a soft snare or something, one that hail on the tin roof sound) both following (different versions of) a caribbean 5-beat-per-bar rhythm, i.e. funky's no. 1 rhythmic maneuver. Any tune at that tempo and with those rhythms is gonna have to work hard to not fit in a funky set. "House Girls Pt. 6" focuses on the second of the counter-rhythms with good reason (Ferrer's "Transitions" would fit as well for the same reason, though somewhat less because it's lacking a vocal, and it's a bit deeper/more tasteful).

Same reason "Stupid" is a funky tune.

In that sense "Hey Hey" seems really obviously a funky tune to me. There ar many more "proper" funky tunes where what makes the tune funky is harder to articulate. Like, say, that Drew Austin remix of Drake is obv a masive funky anthem, but, apart from the fact that it's, like, shuffly, I'd be hard pressed to say exactly what it is about the arrangement that makes it so.

Maybe the "hail on tin roof sound" has just distracted me at all times.

Ironically I think that's what makes it the UK funky anthem it is. In a scene where tunes like Lil Silva's "Seasons" (not to mention all his big tunes this year), SMI's "Not Ready", Champion's "Motherboard" and Undisputed's "Terror" are all anthems, mechanistic coldness becomes not merely a recurrent feature but an active selling point.

Could go further and say that UK funky emerged as its own distinct thing at the precise moment when a virus of mechanistic coldness infected the prevailing, conventionally "funky" warm fluidity of its early, US-house honouring phase. Not necessarily in every track - "Do You Mind" is neither cold nor mechanistic - but as a threat on the horizon in the context of the mix.. at any moment the DJ could mix into an Apple tune.

wrt marcus being better than previous years - i don't know if i can see the trees for the wood any more really? i might have agreed earlier but that marcus 1xtra set from 08 i rescreened surprised me with how much it still rules.

No I'm still all about Marcus from 2008. My first love. But I think during about Feb - Nov 2009 he wasn't as reliable. I think if I lost all my 2009 Marcus sets the only one I'd really mourn is 15 January. Maybe some of the Nov/Dec sets.

okay yeah, i like the threat distinction.

http://soundcloud.com/championdj/champion-uk-funky-conga-mix

following that last tribal marcus blowout i also really like this recent champion minimix - not to greenlight a future of mnml funky or anything but i am finding it particularly absorbing just now. flirting with tedium can be rewarding i guess haha.

in fact yeah, i like to think the way it articulates itself around a frail spine of lesser-heralded dj naughty instrumentals kind of bears out my view of him as funky's master of the kitchen sink. this is probably why i shy away from going too ham about his dexplicit remix, what with its ill bluish high-pitched ladyragga insistence.

http://soundcloud.com/djnaughtymusic/dj-naughty-feat-a-l-i-like-it
http://soundcloud.com/djnaughtymusic/andriah-dance-dj-naughty-vocal-mix

naughty also has these two very nice vocal cuts up on his page now btw.

this is probably why i shy away from going too ham about his dexplicit remix, what with its ill bluish high-pitched ladyragga insistence.

The above makes sense to me as a principled position, but i'm a sucker for ill bluish high-pitched ladyragga insistence.

Yeah I guess the Follow Me remix basically splits the difference precisely between the Naughty and Ill Blu remixes of "OMG".

Lol at Greyman's remix of "Sunglasses" (first track on that Champion DJ mix) actually being a remix of "Trouble" and him probably not even realising. Very cheeky of Undisputed to release "Terror" as a purportedly new tune, when it's really along the lines of a particularly awesome refix.

Actually Undisputed strike me as a pretty interesting case w/r/t what I was talking about upthread with funky rhythms that are hard to pin down. The most thrilling parts of "Terror" are when it breaks down to just an on the beat kick/snare/kick/snare pattern with a synth chord on every beat, clattering ever so slightly on the fourth beat in every second bar but otherwise being this kind of determined trudge in which all of the syncopation you'd otherwise get is almost entirely implied, but implied so heavily, like the beat is only staying "straight" through this immense exertion of pressure on it, and you know the rolling conga loops are gonna be back. It's a very Doc Scott kind of trick.

lol tbh i am so so lost in the sea of soundalikes, vip edits and the billion billion remixes surrounding undisputed i couldnt possibly hope to comment. not sure if i remember 'trouble' at all.

and yeah don't get me wrong, the dexplicit remix does sound fantastic, i just wouldnt want all the careful rainyday vignettes to hear me saying so.

"Trouble" is the one that sounds exactly like "Sunglasses" except it staggers and the sample is "May I have your attention please... it's time for lift off" (or something like that) instead of "Put your sunglasses on."

haha but that's how 'terror' goes - sample included! how does 'trouble' differ then?

Pretty sure I need to know more about Devine collective I've been playing those tracks Murdz gave away on soundcloud for ages, plus they seem to make every other track on Petchy's show sometimes... These guys could do with being signed and releasing some stuff.

Ah why am I saying "Trouble" I mean "Terror" of course. Brain fail.

hi, i used to think this is not my thing but now i'm starting to dig this, thanks to mixes by ikonika, girl unit and jamie grind that contain some funky tracks. could anyone point me to some "ultimate" funky mixes or releases? thanks.

What are the tunes you dig Durr Durr? Given the DJs you mention it's hard to know what kind of stuff you're particularly responding to at this stage.

no particular tunes, really. i just like the overall vibe of the mixes. maybe i should list the tracks of each mix.

girl unit - 2010 mix (the first half)
1. GIRL UNIT - Temple Keys
2. Hardrive ft. Lynae - Never Forget When You Touch Me (Dubbel Dutch edit)
3. DJ Sdunkero - Choosing Love
4. Ikonika - Dckhdbtch
5. NGUZUNGUZU - Got U
6. Sekta ft. Spoek Mathambo - Peter Pan (Dubbel Dutch remix inst.)
7. Roulet - Kitamanda (GIRL UNIT remix)
8. Rishi Romero - African Forest
9. Marcus Price - Var E Naaken (Bok Bok remix)
10. Jay R. Revlon - The Godzilla Ha
11. Jam City - A/Arpjam
12. DJ Assault - Vandalism
13. K.G. - 808
14. GIRL UNIT - IRL
15. Jagged Edge ft. Trina & Gucci Mane - Tip Of My Tongue (Inst.)
16. GIRL UNIT - WUT
17. Terror Danjah ft. Swindle - Kiss Chase (Inst.)
18. Justin Timberlake - My Love (Inst.)
19. Asia Cruise - Boyfriend
20. Mike V. - Feelings
21. Leatherface - Requiem
22. DJ Solo - Juk3-tron
23. DJ Nehpets - GJM Trax 2
24. J.O.H - Goom
25. Kingdom - RedBaron Juke
26. Aaron-Carl - For The Money
27. DJ Spinn - Breezy
28. DJ Assault - Sometimes (Inst.)
29. Mister Ries - Sugar (Kill Frenzy remix)
30. DJ Rashad ft. DJ Gant-Man - U See Dem Hoes '09
31. DJ Deeon - I Hope Its U (Juke Mix)

Ikonika - XLR8R Podcast
01 Jahcoozi ­ "Read the Books (Ikonika Remix)" (BPitch Control)
02 Martyn ­ "MiniLuv"
03 Braiden ­ "The Alps"
04 Optimum ­ "Storm Riddim"
05 Ikonika ­ "Dckhdbtch"
06 DVA ­ "New World Order" (DVA)
07 Kingdom ­ "Pathfinder" (Scion)
08 Endgames ­ "Ecstasy (Jam City Refix)" (Night Slugs)
09 Lil Silva ­ "A Million" (Night Slugs)
10. Blondes ­ "Spanish Fly (Brenmar Remix)"
11. Ikonika ­ "Aqueous Cream" (Hum&Buzz)
12. Ramadanman ­ "Glut" (Hemlock)
13. Optimum ­ "Chaos"
14. Ikonika ­ "Psoriasis" (Hyperdub)
15. Pony Pony Run Run ­ "Walking On A Line (French Fries Dub)"
16. Caribou ­ "Leave House (Ikonika Remix)" (City Slang)
17. Guido ­ "Mad Sax" (Punch Drunk)
18. Girl Unit ­ "Wut"
19. Addison Groove ­ "Nautilus"
20. J.O.H vs. The-Dream ­ "J.O.H Is A 10"

Cooly G - FACT Mix
01 Cooly G – Weekend Fly
02 Martin Kemp – No Charisma
03 Sami Sanchez – What
04 Fingaprint – Print Rolla (Cooly Special)
05 Fuzzy Logik – Safari
06 Cooly G – Narst
07 Audio Halls Beat – Dougs Wana
08 Mista P – Funky Interlude
09 Cooly G – Dis Boy Pt 4
10 Mista P – Physic
11 T. Williams – Tight
12 T. Williams & Smokey – Dub
13 NB Funky – Riddim Box (Sami Sanchez Remix)
14 Unknown – Unknown
15 Halo & Kemal – African Dream
16 Hard Soul – Self Religion (Believe In Me)
17 Bopstaz at Work – Always Into Journey
18 DJ Gregory – Vasefa Argy Mix
19 Cooly G – Hard
20 Slisonic – Can U
21 Cooly G – Love Dub Refix
22 Dennis Ferrer – Touch the Sky
23 DJ Gregory – Attend 2
24 Frank Rodger – Nothing Feels the Same
25 Jovonn – New York City Banger
26 Iza Tonic – Full Eclipse

There's no UK Funky on the first mix. On the second, only Lil' Silva and DVA are funky, and are kind of one extreme end too.

The Cooly G mix is more funky and if you like that I'd highly recommend tracking down her 6 July 2009 podcast for Rinse which is like a better version of the same thing.

Before I start recommending mixes you may like (because they sound nothing like the Ikonika and Girl Unit mixes, and only somewhat like the Cooly G mixes), maybe check out these youtubes and let me know if you're feeling any of it (this is a reasonably representative selection I reckon):

D-Malice - Gabryelle Refix
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4X9KIrPAuvw

Crazy Cousinz - Inflation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-Kw6y45bWA

Roll Deep - Good Time (Ill Blu Remix)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUDesjxC1sY

Devine Collective - People Keep Dancing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaeGIXl3Gsg

The Fives - It's What You Do (Hottest By Far)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOcefsTgbhE

Ooops forgot they would all load as actual youtubes, sorry everyone.

yeah, I realized that only the cooly g's mix could be considered real funky. but there are bits here and there in the first 2 mixes that sound like funky to me.

now checkin out those vids. thanks, tim.

that roll deep rmx is XD

sorry, none of them really grabbed me. in fact, those are the kind of tracks that made me a sceptic (lol) in the first place. i think the kind of funky i like is the kind of one extreme end, to borrow your phrase.

Durr I think in that case you're gonna continue to be frustrated by funky in that case. About the only funky DJ (apart from Cooly G herself) who chimes in with the stuff you're enjoying is Scratcha DVA. He's done some podcasts for XLR8R. And artists like T Williams, Martin Kemp, Braiden, Kode9, probably at least some Roska.

Otherwise you're more likely to get satisfaction from the Rolling Dance Partisans thread.

rmde xp

??

16. foxxybrwnmama - Thu Feb 28 1:40pm PST
First of all...why the hell this FAT ASS SLUT get to be in a video but when I was her size and tried out for videos...the first thing they would raise their eyebrows at is how much I used to "jiggle" I guess. But another problem is I don't have a lot of breasts so maybe if I did JEW music producers would probably give me a chance. *rolling my damn eyes* This is NOT the first time I have seen SEA WALRUS SIZED SLUTBUCKETS with SANDBAGS for titties get to be in a music video with NO problem.

Second of all...THERE IS NO EXPLANING THIS SICK ASS VIDEO!!!! The ONLY person who can explain this is KANYE' or his music producer...NOBODY HERE cuz 95% of people are just GUESSING what this video is about...there's no actual FACT what this video is about.

Does he REALLY thing they are gonna play this video on MTV or even VH1?!?!? WTF is he thinking?!?!? Like we don't have ENOUGH violence going on in the world and now music videos are reduced to having violence in it. WHEN DOES THE MADNESS STOP?!?!

― and what, Friday, April 18, 2008 4:34 PM Bookmark

a burgeoning nu meme

i like it bcuz its more exasperated than *smh*

so over "smh" so very happy to see "rmde"

everytime i see rmde this goes off in my head tbh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YatkP2h2qPQ

realise there is scant logic to this

http://imgur.com/hG6BG.gif

hey durr before you resign yourself to your abject fate maybe check the 22nd sept marcus set three people said was massive just before you made your query

it is all tribal bangers so ur unlikely to catch any horrid girl cooties off it

I'm actually going to make a serious and sincere effort to enjoy that Girl Unit mix but if I don't I'm just going to come right out and blanket pronounce "global bass" as the worst new dance genre since nu-skool breaks.

matt have you made a serious and sincere effort to enjoy any of the radio sets yet? (yes i will lobby for them forever). cos otherwise it's just like vahid heroically crackin skulls on the james blake thread - like i sympathise with the position 1000% but if you're only fluent within the crit media boundaries you're railing against then you kinda already lost imo

But that implies that I'm criticising it as the shit half of some kind of dialectic with funky, when I'm actually criticising it for its own faults, admittedly from the comfort zone of the UK funky thread.

And no I'm not a regular radio set listener but that's a time thing and a habit thing (I don't listen to radio fullstop really) but come on it's not like I don't listen to enough funky to know where the parameters lie, Hey Hey blindspot notwithstanding.

Funky radio sets aren't really a "listen to the radio" thing or I would never listen to them obv.

r|t|c we should probably do everyone in this thread like a "top 5 radio sets of 2010". Thoughts?

I would nom:

Petchy - 13.02.10
Funkystepz - 19.03.10

And then Marcus sets, but it's gonna be hard to narrow down.

^^^ Would be very useful. Part of it is rabbit-in-headlights freeze at the sheer volume of stuff out there by now, a bit like trying to keep up with RA podcasts. NB I did listen to and enjoy that Marcus and Majestic set from earlier this year.

thing is, when you're giving yet another fact mix yet another listen to finesse the nuances of yr criticisms further while the stuff on this thread languishes i can't help but get the revanchist dialectical hump. (and anyway, as durr durr durr has just evidenced, yupstep is quite happy to draw some nominal glib cache from funky.)

and while irl i have come to accept i'm asking a bit much of regular spotify/youtube bods to check stuff out i will never buy this "time and habit" thing on here - a radio set is an hour and a half/two hours, how long is that girl unit mix gonna be? or a terius album? gimme a break with this lazy nonsense.

Inclined to nom 09.06.10 Marcus set for the Rankin/Shantie/Dream line-up and for the added bonus awesomeness of Funk Butcher.

(and anyway, as durr durr durr has just evidenced, yupstep is quite happy to draw some nominal glib cache from funky.)

the "uk funky" thread on the funkysouls forum really is the worst for this.

while i'm at it the bitchmade audio quality excuse can fuck off as well - i know deej isn't worrying about whether his remastered mobb deep flacs have been transcoded when he says this shit

RANT OVER

http://imgur.com/sWPcJ.gif

You can keep ranting or you can stop but by all means please keep posting gifs.

Maybe I've got bad ears or something b/c as long as I've got half decent ($20 or more) earphones the rinse podcasts always sound absolutely fine to me.

Deja sets can be a bit iffy from time to time, and obv anything actually taped off the radio is likely to be a bit hairy.

any radio set about an hour long (not two or three or FOUR, jesus, that's just not gonna happen) and NOT at whatever gross bitrate the rinse sets are uploaded at, i'm happy to listen to. tbh i've rarely got anything out of any radio set though, i gave a few marcus nasty ones a try when i first got into funky and they definitely weren't what convinced me. i don't listen to the night slugs gang on rinse either.

it'd be good to talk about the funky mixes that are occasionally posted - i absolutely love the dj reflex, new era ones for instance.

also the constant snark/dismissal/ignorance in tim and rtc's constant attempts to make night slugs and its affiliates appear like some sort of horrible dubstep/idm hybrid that has nothing whatsoever to do with funky is just nagl at all, it's sad that anyone buys into it.

wrt "proper" funky i find that the vocal tunes coming out of it are some of my favourite stuff ever, but the instrumentals aren't a patch on what night slugs have been propducing this year.

RTC - it's not languishing, I'm listening to way more of it than I am of that Girl Unit stuff, just not the radio sets really. Although it's not like there's a new two-hour Terius album out every week and if there were I'd be just as behind.

lol xp

i'm pretty sure i'm consistent across all genres in demanding a decent bitrate. it's not like i'm nick southall, christ.

I for one intend on asking all future cab drivers to turn their radio off if they can't guarantee a decent bass response, and that includes if they're listening to Five Live.

also the constant snark/dismissal/ignorance in tim and rtc's constant attempts to make night slugs and its affiliates appear like some sort of horrible dubstep/idm hybrid that has nothing whatsoever to do with funky is just nagl at all, it's sad that anyone buys into it.

I think I was very polite in my response to durr durr actually. And I'd never call Night Slugs a dubstep/idm hybrid, more of a dubtep/bmore/funky hybrid I would have thought.

"proper" funky i find that the vocal tunes coming out of it are some of my favourite stuff ever, but the instrumentals aren't a patch on what night slugs have been propducing this year.

this is very wrong though.

Although it doesn't really surprise me that you'd arrive at that conclusion. The best instrumentals are also precisely the tunes most likely to fly under the radar if you avoid radio sets.

i'm going by the ones you picked out on skykicking, pretty much. i mean, i like them, i just don't think very much about them when they're not playing. "that mystic", "fogs", "she wore velour", "wut", "arpjam", "the only way up (ikonika remix)", "ecstasy refix" >>>>> all of them.

Wait I take it you don't mean that based on some youtubes I posted you think funky instrumentals have fallen off.

You can keep ranting or you can stop but by all means please keep posting gifs.

http://imgur.com/b2bD6.gif

also the constant snark/dismissal/ignorance in tim and rtc's constant attempts to make night slugs and its affiliates appear like some sort of horrible dubstep/idm hybrid that has nothing whatsoever to do with funky

http://imgur.com/kGgVc.gif

is just nagl at all, it's sad that anyone buys into it.

http://imgur.com/HgaXr.gif

but the instrumentals aren't a patch on what night slugs have been propducing this year.

http://imgur.com/1VofV.gif

RTC - it's not languishing, I'm listening to way more of it than I am of that Girl Unit stuff, just not the radio sets really. Although it's not like there's a new two-hour Terius album out every week and if there were I'd be just as behind.

http://imgur.com/A9R5I.gif

i mean, i like them, i just don't think very much about them when they're not playing.

http://imgur.com/SmmfM.gif