Yo,
Well, I feel your pain. I used to live on drum 'n' bass, but about 3
years ago I realised that there was really nothing new happening on the
scene. It was essentially turning into electronic heavy metal, either trying
weakly to just get harder and more punishing or else just rahashing the same
tired old methods. Nothing new was happening at all, and for a musical style
whose main asset was it's progression that was a very sad state of affairs.
I think it got caught into the cul de sac of always just looking for the
next extreme.
Unfortunately, dispite the protestations of the music media, this is
essentially still the case. I haven't heard a D 'n' B tune made in these
past 3 years that couldn't have been made in the 2 years previous. The only
slight exceptions I can think of are the hard stuff with a mild rave element
(eg Total Science), which actually manages to be derivative both of the rave
and early DnB style it takes it's cue from and current tuff DnB, and the
Hospital records idiom of again taking rave sounds (like pitched up vocal
samples) and this time applying them to the jazzy stuff, with slightly
harder percussion. Neither of these really float my boat. I thrive on
'newness', and drum 'n' bass just doesn't give me that. Sure, there have
been good records made, such as Digital's superbly titled 'Dubzilla', but
this just a vaguely more accomlished version of older, dark D 'n' B, and
that is not enough to make me want to pay the usual extortionate rates for D
'n' B vinyl (made in the land where more than one track per side of vinyl is
tantamount to peeing on another man's mother).
I feel like this music is suffering in the same way reggae did after it's
boom. I hope it doesn't take as long a time to rediscover it's creative
juice as that did, waiting for the digi dancehall stuff to drop. That 'voice
of doom' rant said, though, I'd be delighted if there was real advancement
being made, and if anyone can prove me wrong I'd be thrilled. If you don't
have it, you really should get Teebee's first album 'black science labs',
it's a killer, and the nearest thing to development there's been imo. It's
from 2000, though, and his follow-up, 'eyes of a scorpion' was a bit lame to
me. His bootleg of Missy Elliot rocks too.
Licka sha! (an' 'tings),
Papa D.
P.S. everyone in the world should buy the El-P album
The Marcia Blaine School for Girls:
marciablaine.cjb.net
available:
s/t e.p. on Dalriada (Ideal)
inclusion on Benbecula "Music Volume 2" (Baked Goods)
The Marcia Blaine School Disco Vol. 1 (ramshackle CDR mix album)
forthcoming:
live in Barcelona, Apolo, 16th June
inclusion on Law & Auder "I Am:Bient"
inclusion on Struktur compilation
_________________________________________________________________
Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger:
http://messenger.msn.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org
For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org