Loops and Hip Hop (was Looping genres)

[Pierre LIONNET <pierre.lionnet@eurospace.francenet.fr>]

I've been an avid list reader but would never have dared a contribution cuz
I felt so worthless.
What I like in this list is  the high intellectual approach and the
numerous references to musicians I highly praise (but would never dare
comparing myself to) such as JohnCage and mostly Frank Zappa (I was 15 when
I saw that Zapa was touring Italy with three gigs planned in Rome, I bought
a ticket for the first concert three weeks in advance and all my monthly
allowance went into it, then I heard on  the radion that FZ announced the
three dates in Rome to be three distinct concerts... I invested my monthly
allowance of thge two following months to buy two more tickets: the
experience was absolutely enthrancing, probbaly the richest musical
experience I had in my life - well I was 15 you know...).

Nevertheless I never knew, not being a musician myself, that these
musicians made extensive use of looping gear and techniques.

This is Off topic, I'm sorry, it's a reminiscence.

All this to say that I came to loping BECAUSE of hip hop.

I used to listen to hip hop music a lot (in France, where I live now, the
Hip hop scene is really big thus you have choice and variety and also
QUALITY) and gradualy got my ear used to the sampling approach and the
loops used to catch most of my attention.
This is when I got myself a sampler (an Akai s20) and a sequencer to
produce those loops and started creating music very hip hop oriented.

What I like is the raw essentilalness (is this english?) of the old school
hip hop bands but I also appreciate the fullness and richness of some
underground bands.

For those who are not into hip hop but who'd ike to introduce themselves to
it I would suggets those better than average records:
 First and foremost: House of Pain (2 albums: *same as it ever was* and
*shamrocks and sheningans*) here you'll hear DJ Muggs (from Cypress Hill)
cutting and looping in the most essential way: sometimes songs are built
upon 2 (when not one!) samples of a duration less than 2 secs. This is a
true exploit, it's low res. music with high energy packed in. Truly 
amazing.
Then I'd suggest the COMPANY FLOW (one album only) and Total devastation
(Legalize It) for their underground approach and their incredible beats,
obvious and puzzling (how do they do that?) at the same time.
In France one of the best band for the musical part (the flow is not
exceptional) is La Fonky Family (album: Si dieu le veut) with loops so full
of meaning and feeling... you have to listen to it. bUt then there's a lot
more, like 2 Bal 2 NEG, and of course NTM and IAM.
Also if you have a chance to see a live Cypress Hill gig: don't hesitate
(but bring some weed along...).

Sorry if I took much of bandwidth for these maybe irrelevant topics. I grab
the occasion to tell you how much reading the posts on this list has
brought to me and expanded my horizon (and hope it will continue).

Thanks you all.

and Peace.

PiR (aka FreezerMan)