IDM Mailing Archive

Sorry for the not-totally-relevant use of bandwidth, but I thought that those of you with access to National Public Radio (NPR) may want to check out the piece on Jungle which is running today (Monday 8/7). The piece in general is pretty good and fairly accurate, describing the family tree of jungle using samples and descriptions from the "genres" techno, hardcore, reggae and ragga. The British guy narrating the 5 - 10 minute piece seemed to generally have a clue, and described the music as an "exciting", "constantly evolving" style of music. Describes the role of white labels, pirate radio , etc. The only quote that kind of threw me at the end was when they described jungle fans as "typically multiracial middlefield, disenchanted with the faceless shape of other music forms" or some rigamamorole similar to that. maybe i missed or misinterpreted his point. thought some of you might have wanted to check it. peeeeeeeeeeeeece, Jeff Davis ____--~~~~~~vvvv~~~~ oooooo 812.831.7846 jjdavis@xnet.com____---- ( ( ( vvvv ~~~~~~ooooooooooooo ___----( ( \ \ \ \ \ vvv oooooooooooooooooooooooooo ____---- ( \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ http://www.xnet.com/~jjdavis/

quoted 3 lines Sorry for the not-totally-relevant use of bandwidth, but I thought that

> Sorry for the not-totally-relevant use of bandwidth, but I thought that > those of you with access to National Public Radio (NPR) may want to > check out the piece on Jungle which is running today (Monday 8/7).

I'm sorry I missed this. I currently live in the middle of nowhere (NC) and there isn't a record shop around that has a clue about techno, so as a consequence I'd almost venture to say that I've never really heard a jungle piece. Descriptions I've seen so far give the impression that it's like a cross between tribal techno and fast breakbeat. Anyhow, I found this blurb at NPR's "All Things Considered" URL:

quoted 7 lines 9. JUNGLE MUSIC -- Music writer Charles de Ledesma looks at a new type of

> 9. JUNGLE MUSIC -- Music writer Charles de Ledesma looks at a new type of > music in England which is slowly moving into Europe and the U.S. -- jungle > music. It combines whipsnap rat-a-tat electronic drum beats with soothing > hypnotic keyboards and sometimes jazz scat vocals. It's sped-up beats make it > difficult to dance to, but it's catching on all over England: major record > stores are selling more jungle music compilations than any other music > style.(8:00)

Thanks to the guy who posted about the NPR feature, BTW. And if any of the rest of you care to try hands at characterising "jungle," I'm all ears (well, eyes...). Neil Hetrick nh6957@wcuvax1.wcu.edu on now: Aphex Twin _SAW 85-92_

quoted 3 lines And if any of

>And if any of >the rest of you care to try hands at characterising "jungle," I'm all >ears (well, eyes...).

Well first of all, I don't understand why people categorise this sort of music so severley. I saw a compilation recently that claimed it had only drum and bass tunes and definitely no jungle. Is there really such a clear boundary between these styles? I don't think so. I just see this music as sampling a breakbeat, most often 'Amen brother' which I think is bloody excellent and I don't care if people think it is used too much, and chopping it up to make a new rhythm but sometimes the structure of the rhythm is left unchanged for some of the track. Over the top is usually some melody or chords and maybe a simple vocal or some samples. Usually the style is hectic so it is good to dance to. Who was it who said it was difficult to dance to? I disagree, especially the more mellow beats played by LTJ Bukem and produced by PFM, Source direct and others. They have a regular pattern that is easy to follow but by no means boring. The bass-line is a huge factor in 'jungle' tracks. A common bass-line in almost every breakbeat track is a simple sine wave with a repetitive pattern that repeats every 8 beats or so which is extremely effective. This definition of what a jungle track is like is not true of every track as they can differ immensely. Some tracks are completely chopped up so that you can't really dance to them but just go completely mental to the beats. I hope this has enlightened you further. -Ed