IDM Mailing Archive

quoted 5 lines interesting, reading this actually made me angry.....

> interesting, reading this actually made me angry..... > > -brock > > p.s. dont mean to start a country battle, but why is it that the UK seems

to

quoted 1 line have such a twisted and arrogant view of electronic music as a whole?

> have such a twisted and arrogant view of electronic music as a whole?

Oh come now, a little hyperbole never hurt anybody... ;-) But seriously, what is it that you really object to? This project is not about saying 'isn't this UK music brilliant, why don't you all kneel down and worship it?'. It's not about some stupid nationalist agenda. It's about trying to set up fertile, enriching, multi-directional networks of influence and counter-influence. It's about trying to draw attention to a very exciting form of music which *just happens* to come from the UK, in the hope that people all over the world will find it as fascinating and enjoyable as I do, and will thereby be encouraged to contribute something of their own to it (or even to twist it into outlandish and unrecognisable shapes). How can this be 'twisted and arrogant'? You seem to think I'm saying that there's something about 2-step which makes it more worthy of attention than any other form of music around at the moment. Yes, 2-step 'demands' a response, but so does all great music. So did disco. So did hip hop. So did lots of other genres which were never heard outside of the areas where they developed, and so never had the chance to make the impact they potentially could have (Detroit techno was very, very lucky not to suffer this fate). At this moment in time there are probably half a dozen types of music existing in the US which are just as exciting as 2-step, all of which I'd love to hear, all of which I desperately NEED to hear. But how am I ever going to get the chance if I'm not made aware of their existence? How will I ever be able to respond to them when people such as yourself present any attempt at the outernational elaboration of localised forms as the arrogant gesturing of bigoted cultural supremacists? Ooh, it makes me mad (to quote another Brit export, John Cleese). Gareth Metford --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org

NEW COMPILATION CD: CONTRIBUTORS SOUGHT 2-step garage is the most potent form of underground dance music to have developed in the UK since jungle in 1993-94. Mixing elements of US garage and R&B with ultra-complex drum programming and foundation-shaking sub-bass, this is house music made by and for a generation which had its musical synapses rewired by drum & bass. Despite achieving mainstream chart success in the UK with records like Artful Dodger's 'Rewind', 2-step has nonetheless remained a comparatively localised scene, confined to London and a few other major urban centres. It has not yet achieved the critical mass which enabled jungle to break out onto the world stage. While it is debatable whether - in any case - this would be a desirable outcome (jungle's post-1995 plunge into nihilism and irrelevance being one of the more depressing cultural events of recent years), we at Qubit Records are convinced that 2-step deserves more widespread exposure, both within the UK and internationally, than it at present receives. We also believe that, in the same way drum & bass forced every forward-thinking recording artist to rethink the way they made music, the manifold innovations of 2-step demand a coherent response from the wider electronic music community. To this end, we are proposing to release a CD compilation featuring both artists active on the 2-step scene, and tracks by non-scene musicians which have been informed and inspired by 2-step. In order to help us secure funding for such a release, we are seeking expressions of interest from potential contributors. If you think you might be interested in participating, please contact Gareth Metford at: gmetford@qubit.demon.co.uk Please note: this will NOT be a CD-R release, it will be a professionally pressed, packaged and distributed CD. No compilations of this sort have yet been attempted, hence there is sure to be considerable interest from both press and public. Pirate radio tapes are available for anyone unfamiliar with the 2-step sound. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org

quoted 1 line interesting, reading this actually made me angry.....

> interesting, reading this actually made me angry.....

me too!

quoted 3 lines NEW COMPILATION CD: CONTRIBUTORS SOUGHT

> > NEW COMPILATION CD: CONTRIBUTORS SOUGHT >>It has not yet achieved the critical mass which enabled >>jungle to break out onto the world stage. While it is debatable whether -

in

quoted 1 line any case - this would be a desirable outcome (jungle's post-1995 plunge

>>any case - this would be a desirable outcome (jungle's post-1995 plunge

into

quoted 1 line nihilism and irrelevance being one of the more depressing cultural events

>>nihilism and irrelevance being one of the more depressing cultural events

of

quoted 2 lines recent years), we at Qubit Records are convinced that 2-step deserves more

>>recent years), we at Qubit Records are convinced that 2-step deserves more >>widespread exposure

jungle was irrelevant after 95? In my opinion, post 95 jungle (drum'n'bass if you like), has influenced the current 2Step scene more than earlier stuff. Does anyone else find it amusing how when these new styles go (kind of) mainstream, they always claim like they just appeared out of nowwhere, a totally original sound. 2 step (or UK garage) is pretty much an evolution of speed garage (which had more of a 95 jungle sound, even using the same breaks).

quoted 3 lines -brock

> -brock > > p.s. dont mean to start a country battle, but why is it that the UK seems

to

quoted 1 line have such a twisted and arrogant view of electronic music as a whole?

> have such a twisted and arrogant view of electronic music as a whole?

Why, because us brits just do it better than any of you, of course. ;) Eddie --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org

quoted 1 line jungle was irrelevant after 95?

> jungle was irrelevant after 95?

Not at all, but it definitely started going downhill around then. Remember techstep? That was early '96, and a better indication of a scene at crisis point could hardly be imagined (though it did produce some awesome records). By '97 the scene was pretty much washed up as a cultural force - it had become another one of those small-scale purist musics, a bit like IDM, which periodically produce good records but have very little influence on wider cultural formations, and which never seem to change very much. This is in marked contrast to the incredible liveliness of 2-step, which throws up a new mutation every other week.

quoted 3 lines 2 step (or UK garage) is pretty much an evolution of

> 2 step (or UK garage) is pretty much an evolution of > speed garage (which had more of a 95 jungle sound, even using the same > breaks).

The current thinking is that speed garage was a 'false start' for 2-step, which fits in with what you're saying. The problem with claiming speed garage as a kind of ur-2-step, though, is that it ignores the very significant mutations that have occurred in the intervening period. Speed garage was 4/4 with added breakbeats, but 2-step is neither 4/4 nor breakbeat. Instead it maps the techniques of re-encoding breakbeats that were developed by junglists onto the kind of instrumentation previously used by garage producers to construct 4/4 rhythms...a 'phase change' in methodology analogous to the changing of state in heated liquids (i.e. when they turn to gas). Incidentally, for anyone who's interested, I've posted a set of 2-step samples at http://www.geocities.com/qubit_records. I also seriously recommend Simon Reynolds' article 'Feminine Pressure' at http://members.aol.com/blissout/2step.htm. Gareth -- Gareth Metford (Nonlinear / Qubit Records) Email: gmetford@qubit.demon.co.uk Nonlinear website: http://www.qubit.demon.co.uk/nonlinear --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org

quoted 3 lines Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2000 03:17:24 +0100

> Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2000 03:17:24 +0100 > To: "'idm@hyperreal.org'" <idm@hyperreal.org> > From: Gareth Metford <gmetford@qubit.demon.co.uk>

Gareth wrote about d&b

quoted 2 lines By '97 the scene was pretty much washed up as a cultural force -

> By '97 the scene was pretty much washed up as a cultural force - >it had become another one of those small-scale purist musics, a bit

like

quoted 7 lines IDM, which periodically produce good records but have very little

>IDM, which periodically produce good records but have very little > influence >on wider cultural formations, and which never seem to change very > much. >This is in marked contrast to the incredible liveliness of 2-step, > which >throws up a new mutation every other week.

So presumably what your saying is that 2-step IS a cultural force? Yer avin a barf aintcha? So going to a nightclub in yer beamer dressed in moschino, ordering champagne and partaking of a few lines of the white stuff is doing something that is a 'cultural force'?

quoted 5 lines Speed garage was 4/4 with added breakbeats, but 2-step is neither 4/4

> Speed garage was 4/4 with added breakbeats, but 2-step is neither 4/4 > nor breakbeat. Instead it maps the techniques of re-encoding > breakbeats that were developed by junglists onto the kind of > instrumentation previously used by garage producers to construct 4/4 > rhythms

I listen to the pirates every weekend and don't hear any musical techniques that haven't been employed by d&b producers. In fact, speed garage was more adventurous on this score because the extreme syncopation that characterised a lot of the genre appears to have mainly disappeared from the 2-step scene. Please put me right and name some if you think I'm incorrect.

quoted 3 lines ...a 'phase change' in

>...a 'phase change' in >methodology analogous to the changing of state in heated liquids > (i.e. when they turn to gas).

Lets face it, this is the sort of over-analysing bollocks that helped to destroy d&b - lets not do it to 2-step as well. Matt.

quoted 2 lines

> >

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