On Fri, Apr 3, 2009 at 10:39 AM, Matt Davignon
<mattdavignon@gmail.com> wrote:
FANTASTIC!!! What a great docu... really really interesting... I have had and used that break myself... many times actually..!!
On the other, I'm dumbfounded by
what it reveals about Drum n Bass music. Can any DnB fans help me out?
How could an entire genre of musicians use the exact same drum loop as
the central focus of so many of their songs - for like 15 years?
Well thats an interesting question, and I wonder whether you thought it up before or AFTER you heard this documentary? Because, as a very big fan of Drum and Bass myself, and someone who was there, in grimy dark basements in Brixton, while scary (to me) young black guys rapped (raggamuffin stylee) over (what seemed to me) sped up records, at the end of the 80īs early ninties... I became hooked, or facinated at least, by this genre that (at the time) I just did'nt get. I went to lots and lots and lots of shows, all the time staying very sober, as I was in places where often I was the only white guy, (or usually with ONE other that I would drag along for support and genrally would not come again)... YES at the time I felt everything sounded simerlar, like they were always using the same drums, BUT... and its a HUGE but, and one that I can't quite explain, certainly dont want to use an argument like "Well theres alot of music that uses the same 3 chords over 12bars"... Jungle and now B and B just is NOT all the same... its true that I cant always tell the diference between one artist and another, but thats whats interesting about the genre.. its ABOUT the re-manipulation of the same sources, especially now when there is an interest in the genuine, or old skool. Now the Amen break is used more than ever! Often without manipulation, its become THE signiture Jungle sound... anything that doesnt use it, is well... IDM (a term that we just dont like in the UK... too well... pretentious)...
Back to my question to Matt, did you wonder about the central focus of the genre on this one loop, BEFORE you knew that the genre used this one loop, or did the genre seem quite ok before that... I dont think it matters that its all the same loop... do we always have to be as diverse as possible, do we always have to celebrate our differences, why not all get together and admit you all want to do the same thing.. make fucked up beats with Amen, and chuck some bone shaking sinewave basses under it... I know I did for a while...
