funky house sceptics, let me draw your attention to this

Um it's been on the last few Footloose sets on 1xtra but I don't think it's on the new one. It's surprisingly subdued, although very Roska sounding - sorta halfway between "Just Leave" and the original "Feeline".

I really want to hear the Fingerprint remix though!

The DJ Jazzcool mix of Aaliyah's "Rock The Boat" is just lovely. The beats on this insane, but they complement rather than undermine the prettiness and fragility of the original.

Remixes of old tracks are quite useful from a critical-taxonomic perspective as well because they really train yr ears to the points-of-difference in the groove and production.

What is interesting re funky vis a vis 2-step (compare/contrast this remix with, say, "Stone Cold") is how, despite the greater proximity to house, the more avant end of funky often has less of the smooth "flow" I associate with 2-step. This remix feels arrested almost, like the producer has seized on a particular moment of groove-tension and turned it into an entire track. Probably something to do with the tempo: at the slightly slower speed the beats are heavier, so any syncopation has a deeply satisfying air of portentousness to it. You can't get past it. So a (relatively) smaller amount of syncopation has a greater impact.

I'm really not making sense. Listen to the track on Footloose's show and maybe some of what I'm trying to articulate will come across.

OMG "Cuban Linq"! Fuzzy Logic just seems to burst with ideas doesn't he. His "Polyfunk" is amazing too. These tracks (and "Leader" and "Twiss" obv) are just so restless, he can't resist piling new ideas on top of one another.

Probably the producer who makes the unacknowledged Basement Jaxx heritage most explicit.

Wookie & Ny's "Fallen" - so lush! (I guess Galleon deserves the credit for that though). Too too much goodness here.

"What is interesting re funky vis a vis 2-step (compare/contrast this remix with, say, "Stone Cold") is how, despite the greater proximity to house, the more avant end of funky often has less of the smooth "flow" I associate with 2-step. This remix feels arrested almost, like the producer has seized on a particular moment of groove-tension and turned it into an entire track. Probably something to do with the tempo: at the slightly slower speed the beats are heavier, so any syncopation has a deeply satisfying air of portentousness to it. You can't get past it. So a (relatively) smaller amount of syncopation has a greater impact.

I'm really not making sense."

i think it makes perfect sense. to expand on what you mention, a great deal of 2step dealt with micro-samples for percussion... tight and clipped fragments which built incredibly slick grooves. obviously you had some exceptions but broadly this was the case. wheras funky producers seem to relish a chunkier, lengthier, more clumsy sample palette. this automatically introduces a greater degree of 'arrest' or wonk, as rhythmic emphasis within any given hit is spread further away from the rhythmic grid. maybe im not making sense any more now!

another thing i was thinking about in a more technical sense is that most of these tracks have their drum programming set 'straight' rather than with the swing settings we associate with 2step. i think that by doing this, but of course with the syncopated echoes of garage and beyond in their minds, the producers are opening up many new possibilities of grooves. in this sense grime has obvious relevance, in its angularity and stiff rhythms

i think also in both of these (and many more) senses Wookie was a visionary

Hmm do you mean Wookie's old tracks? Cos yeah I can see how stuff like "Down On Me" really sets the tone for funky's rhythms in a lot of ways.

I'm glad you understood the point I was trying to get at! Yr reference to micro-samples is spot on, 2-step grooves could be astonishingly detailed without all that details necessarily interfering with the slickness o fthe groove.

The extent to which funky house mediates between 2-step and grime is very interesting in this regard: retaining grime's angularity but reinjecting it with sensuality. (it was perhaps the attempt to render the stiffness of grime sensuous on a groove level that makes KT Pearl's "Mr DJ" another obvious ancestor to this stuff in my opinion - in a way that, say, "Leave Me Alone" or Terra Danjah's productions aren't)

yeh precisely, Down On Me was the main track I had in mind, but some others apply too i think. on an anecdotal level, i've always been struck how it is near impossible to get Down On Me to sit in a mix with other 2step, then the other week i mixed it with Feeline VIP and it was like the grooves were built for one another..

another technical aspect to the rhythmic comparison is that wheras with 2 step (and much 90s/00s house) the emphasis was on fidgeting or jacking hihats and light-touch, minute syncopated ghost hits, mostly in the higher frequencies, with funky the hats seem to play a largely seconday role, while weightier (both in frequency and 'size') percussive elements take precedence in the groove.

Spyro getting mucky on Rinse right now.

"Wookie was a visionary"

Absolutely, and he rarely gets the credit he deserves, not least from dubsteppers who've somehow written him out of the liturgy. But the man conquered wonky+rude years ago and his rhythmic sense is incredible. Even on a 4x4 the bassline will be tugging at all sorts of odd angles. I haven't heard much of his post-2004ish material, but he certainly foreshadowed aspects of the English take on Funky with some his Manchu beats.

I would love to hear Terror Danjah get on this stuff! Talk about mucked up riddimic sensibilities. And he has a sense of humour too.

My GOD the Malice remix of "My Joy" is probably the greatest house track ever. It's like the skies open and you can suddenly see through time. It has actually made me tear up in response to its metaphysical largesse.

So OF COURSE Footloose mixes straight into "Feeline (VIP MIx)". I'm starting to think he gets a kick out of making his transitions as ostentatious as possible.

i wish i had time to listen to these sets, they sound so hot :(

yeah, the way footloose uses feeline vip - last week after delio d'cruz, equally insane, equally amazing - as like, an ideological swiss army jackknife is pretty much the crux of what's been said recently. funny really how you almost wanna keep a wary eye on feeline, given the way it rubs the continuuist belly so jarringly, but deploy properly and it's undeniably devastating. (still hope no one ever makes another one, though.)

malice's 'my joy' reminds me of 'knights of the jaguar', a bit.

cos if
i
thought
youuuuuu were the end all
and my be all
i would never have left you alone and i wouldnt be on my own and i'd never left you alone and i wouldnt be on my own and i'd never left you alone and i wouldnt be on my own and i'd never left you alone and i wouldnt be on my own and i'd never left you alone and i wouldnt be on my own and i'd never left you alone and i wouldnt be on my own and i'd never left you alone and i wouldnt be on my own and i'd never left you alone and i wouldnt be on my own and i'd never left you alone and i wouldnt be on my own and i'd never left you alone and i wouldnt be on my own and i'd never left you alone and i wouldnt be on my ownand i'd never left you alone and i wouldnt be on my own and i'd never left you alone and i wouldnt be on my own and i'd never left you alone and i wouldnt be on my own and i'd never left you alone and i wouldnt be on my ownand i'd never left you alone and i wouldnt be on my ownand i'd never left you alone and i wouldnt be on my own and i'd never left you alone and i wouldnt be on my own NO WAY NO WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY

like, how can it be that it sounds both ever stronger AND ever weaker at the same time? tru sorcery

siah alan, here's a bit of footloose v roska:

http://www.zshare.net/audio/16356255b57530b3/

actually fucking hilarious that this of all tunes gets the dubstep treatment!!

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=AH3DM3HA

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8DCPTR5L

ok here's last weeks and this weeks footloose shows for dl - plz excuse any slight skipping in there, did my best. MATT DC, RONAN, EVERYBODY, COME ONNNNN. blueski put away your lacrate nonsense, you too.

i know the track that started this thread is old news now, haaa, but i played it out last night (segue from cece p. 'finally') and it held the crowd the whole time ^_^

Yeah but "The Whole Night" is the gift that keeps on giving - I mean, I've hardly heard a set that doesn't have it, still.

"malice's 'my joy' reminds me of 'knights of the jaguar', a bit."

This is spot-on. It's "Knights of the Jaguar" blown up into a massive diva anthem.

Reynolds weighs in on funky house.

damn. uptown had hard house banton's siren ep for about 8 hours today. already sold out :(

What's the tracklist?

i have avoided this so far because i do not get the love for Crazi Cousins stuff at all altho it's interesting that 'Jaguar' is mentioned because i realised the track that 'do you mind' remix's bassline was reminding me of was octave one's 'blackwater'

Re: Hardhouse Banton tracklist - A side was 'Sirens' and 'Reign' for sure. Less sure about the flip. Possibly 'The Music' and then one more. It said test press so hopefully there'll be more.

Of the four Hard House Banton tracks I know - those three plus "Turn It Around" - I reckon "Sirens" is probably the weakest actually, although still pretty good. Love the gothic backing vocals on "Reign".

One of my favourites for some time has been the bootleg remix of DJ Spen & DJ Technics' 'Gabryelle' by Diamondz In Da Ruff. I'd heard other official remixes of 'Gabryelle' being played for ages by funky DJs, and I think the original came out a few years ago now, but this mix is absolutley incredible. I think what appeals most is the almost menacing swagger of the beats in this refix.
Once again, like Steve Gurley in jungle/ukg and Macabre Unit in grime before them, these guys are somewhat north of London (bedford/mk) but are making crucial contributions.

I've just found this Funky site too.

btw I'd like to take credit for some of the marcus nasty adoration due to my post here a while back!

Yeah I love those synth choir stabs on Reign. They remind me of 1991-ish Hypnotist. I see what you mean about Sirens but I really like it in the mix - seems tailor made for Frontline too.

I really hope that Gabryelle version comes out.

How about "bongle"?

eurgh

damn. uptown had hard house banton's siren ep for about 8 hours today. already sold out :(

yeh i know! i was ready to sprint out of work on friday but they sold out so quick. definitely just tps though, that tune is going to be one of the biggest this year i reckon. i like Sirens a lot, its simple but so muscular, the most ridiculously powerful groove. looking forward to checking the rest of the EP

simon reynolds - "few things irritate me more than soca"

?! unbelievable.

although seriously does anyone know what that tune is he chats about from Marcus Nasty April?... that one is too much, haven't heard it anywhere else yet though

also, many thanks r|t|c, very much appreciated :)

also on the Wookie as visionary thing, African Warrior is pure Wookie / Exemen

That tune is by grime producer Chunky Bizzle, Ben. Not sure what's it called.

I aint even that huge into soca but simon reynolds wtf

now jamming: bongo jam

-- The Reverend, Sunday, May 11, 2008 9:35 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Link

-- deej, Thursday, June 12, 2008 5:17 AM (Thursday, June 12, 2008 5:17 AM) Bookmark Link

I need to jam some Apple but I can't find mp3s of his shit

unpleasantly redolent of reggaeton unpleasantly redolent of reggaeton unpleasantly redolent of reggaeton unpleasantly redolent of reggaeton unpleasantly redolent of reggaeton unpleasantly redolent of reggaeton unpleasantly redolent of reggaeton unpleasantly redolent of reggaeton unpleasantly redolent of reggaeton unpleasantly redolent of reggaeton unpleasantly redolent of reggaeton unpleasantly redolent of reggaeton unpleasantly redolent of reggaeton unpleasantly redolent of reggaeton unpleasantly redolent of reggaeton unpleasantly redolent of reggaeton unpleasantly redolent of reggaeton unpleasantly redolent of reggaeton unpleasantly redolent of reggaeton unpleasantly redolent of reggaeton unpleasantly redolent of reggaeton unpleasantly redolent of reggaeton

^^^^^ complete incompatability of tastes

i mean fuck, half of what I love about funky is that it sounds like reggaeton

and soca too

And where next after bongomania? Steel drum sounds?!?

I would totally approve of this

if it works for ringtone rap...

otm

the other half of what I love about funky house other than it sounding like reggaeton and soca is that it kinda sounds like...uh... house

yeah

ha ha that's three strikes for simon.

Really it's nice that this has come along in such a down year for reggaeton. I need to get my fill of BOOM-ch-boom-CHICK somewhere.

Still keen to ID that Jagged Edge-sampling track on the Marcus Nasty + Rankin and Shantie show from April. I'm wondering if it's by Target - Marcus announces at the beginning of the show that he's got a track from Target he'll be playing later, and the piano plus moody synth bassline combo would seem to be right up Target's alley.

cheers for that ID Tim.

i might be wrong but i have an inkling that that Jagged Edge tune is Producer Mario, the aesthetic, vibe and samples all seem to fit perfectly. but ive been wrong about these things before. i guess also the percussion doesn't fit so well

Ben you might be right. It's odd how producers often don't put their best tracks on their myspace pages.

Meanwhile I think I underestimated initially how much of a prospective anthem "Frontline" is.

Re SR's complaint of too much bongo-style percussion and evocation of live percussionists at house nights in the early 90s... This seems like an argumentative sleight of hand. The analogy implies a necessary reduction in vibe/intensity and air of anti-perspirant refinement: only tracks that are already relatively sedate could easily be accompanied by live percussionists, and the implication is that the music is not interesting enough by itself, it needs the added distraction of live percussionists.

But the funny thing about UK "funky house" is how the specific sounds are being used in an entirely different manner.

Something like DJ Naughty's "Quicktime (VIP Mix)" - a massive, inescapable anthem - is basically a grime 8-bar, with bongo samples and piano chords replacing electroid-beats and synth stabs. Rather than ripple calmly across the top of the groove, the bongo samples take centre stage and they're wielded aggressively.

someone PLEASE tell me where i can download some of these tracks, particularly the new Wookie ones. in this day & age, there's no way i'm buying records straight from the UK like I did in the olden days, not with the dollar in such shitty condition. Help an old 2-Step head!

listened to some of the Footloose show - wow why the hell is 90% of this stuff getting the 'house' label again let alone funky?

'housoca'

APHRODISIAX - UNFINISHED BUSINESS

yeah this is really something!