Sorry for the waste of bandwidth, but here's
an interesting post from the Breaks list,
which might be of interest to IDMers too...
Opinions, anyone?
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 23 Jan 1997 18:51 +0000 (GMT)
From: A Bhattacharyya <bat@watersinfo.com>
To: Breaks <breaks@xmission.com>
Cc: Lee Billingham <Lee.Billingham@bbc.co.uk>,
Martin Berger <M.Berger@doc.ic.ac.uk>
Subject: [breaks] Metalheadz and innovation
### 1: Metalheadz and the jungle scene
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is no doubt that Metalheadz has been responsible for some
ground-breaking work in the past, eg L-Double's "The Bass 2 Dark"
and Alex Reese's "Basic Principles" & "Pulp Fiction".
However, there is also no doubt that Metalheadz has deliberately
decided to cut itself off from its street roots. Goldie in particular
is now openly contemptuous of the pirate/hardcore jungle scene:
witness his bad-tempered dismissal of Shy FX last year ("immature
music for immature people").
### 2: The jungle scene and innovation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The breakneck speed of innovation in jungle music is directly
linked to the close-knit nature of the jungle scene, with pirate
radio playing a crucial role.
A new style goes from the studio to dubplate to pirate within a matter
of days. As soon as the new style is broadcast, hundreds of bedroom
junglists get to work on reverse engineering the sound they've just
heard. The process thus turns into a cycle: studio ---> dubplate --->
pirate radio ---> junglists ---> studio...
Note that each of these steps is information-based. Time-consuming
physical processes (eg pressing a record, promoting it in clubs,
putting it out on general release) are cut out of the loop.
This lack of reliance on traditional distribution methods means the
hardcore jungle scene will always change at a far faster rate than
traditional musical cultures. Minor innovations are piled on top of
each other and amplified - resulting in a pace of change that no
single artist working in isolation could ever hope to rival.
### 3: Metalheadz and innovation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By cutting themselves off from the hardcore scene, Metalheadz has cut
itself off from the source of innovation in the jungle scene. The
label has drifted into a little self-regarding world of its own and
has consequently stagnated.
Most defences of Metalheadz point to the label's "musicianship". The
fact that J Majik, Lemon D, Photek etc are highly skilled musicians is
undeniable - but irrelevant. Their skills have been made obsolete by
the communication and sound engineering technologies that characterise
the pirate/hardcore jungle scene.
Bluntly, Metalheadz has lost it. The label's contribution to the
scene has been immense, but it is now of historical interest only.
If you want innovation and depth, look to labels like Congo Natty,
Dread and V. They're the ones taking it to the next level.
Comments welcome, as ever.
L8-RRR
Bat
bat@watersinfo.com
------
ekku
the maintainer of pHinnWeb - everything u ever wanted to know
about Finnish techno scene but were too afraid of the reindeer
trerra@uta.fi |
http://www.uta.fi/~trerra |
http://www.sci.fi/~phinnweb
the sore in my soul
the mark in my heart
her acid reign