Temper is a weapon that we hold by the blade - BASS
I could go on for twenty thousand words about why I was immediately seduced the word of drum and bass back in the mid-nineties (and still am happily seduced by the all the sub-genres that it's spawned).
There was the fact that the jungle scene was from the very beginning a frenzy of cross pollination between producers, DJs, fans, and musicians from all different genres, the fact that the scene was incredibly racially diverse (something, I think, that could only happen in Britain in the early nineties, when radio and clubbing in the U.S. was structured in a way that produced a racial silo effect) -- from, literally, the moment that it spontaneously burst into creation. Early d&b incorporated elements of so many types of music that I was already into - elements of industrial noise, ambient, furious break beats that shifted quickly back and forth, the timestretch, raggamuffin, drone, acid jazz, BPM, and dark goth meanderings.
And, of course, fact that women were DJing and recording in the scene very quickly only lent to its appeal.
If you know anything about d&b, you know how seminal the Metalheadz label was in the scene. There again is the racial and gender diversity - the label was founded by Kemistry and Storm and Goldie.
Goldie once put out a track called "Temper Temper." And lo, it was awesome.
Don't believe me? This still sounds fresh today.
Goldie: "Temper Temper":
(I also love this video.)
Since I used to club a lot at d&b events in SF and surrounding environs (I got into the scene a couple of years late, but it was going at a furious pace by the time I jumped in), it was amazing to see how many types of people who would attend gigs and club nights - people from every subculture you could conceive of, and I am dead serious when I state that.
Tell me that you couldn't have played that track at every single club in SF and gotten a good response.
For a sample of the more trippy cosmic freakouts that the scene produced, here's some Kemistry and Storm. (I used to read old Jack Kirby stuff while listening to Kemistry and Storm, and it's a perfect accompaniment.)
Kemistry and Storm - "Signature":
If those two songs don't demonstrate the breadth and flexibility of the genre, I dunno what will.
I still occasionally listen to Kemistry & Storm's DJ Kicks remix release:
It's hard, dark, and completely fucking awesome.
Sadly, Kemistry was killed in a car accident.
For a completely random tangent, I loved these panels from Superman #688 where James Robinson parodies himself:
SMART HENCHPEOPLE MAKE THE WORLD GO 'ROUND. AWESOME.
There was the fact that the jungle scene was from the very beginning a frenzy of cross pollination between producers, DJs, fans, and musicians from all different genres, the fact that the scene was incredibly racially diverse (something, I think, that could only happen in Britain in the early nineties, when radio and clubbing in the U.S. was structured in a way that produced a racial silo effect) -- from, literally, the moment that it spontaneously burst into creation. Early d&b incorporated elements of so many types of music that I was already into - elements of industrial noise, ambient, furious break beats that shifted quickly back and forth, the timestretch, raggamuffin, drone, acid jazz, BPM, and dark goth meanderings.
And, of course, fact that women were DJing and recording in the scene very quickly only lent to its appeal.
If you know anything about d&b, you know how seminal the Metalheadz label was in the scene. There again is the racial and gender diversity - the label was founded by Kemistry and Storm and Goldie.
Goldie once put out a track called "Temper Temper." And lo, it was awesome.
Don't believe me? This still sounds fresh today.
Goldie: "Temper Temper":
Click to view(I also love this video.)
Since I used to club a lot at d&b events in SF and surrounding environs (I got into the scene a couple of years late, but it was going at a furious pace by the time I jumped in), it was amazing to see how many types of people who would attend gigs and club nights - people from every subculture you could conceive of, and I am dead serious when I state that.
Tell me that you couldn't have played that track at every single club in SF and gotten a good response.
For a sample of the more trippy cosmic freakouts that the scene produced, here's some Kemistry and Storm. (I used to read old Jack Kirby stuff while listening to Kemistry and Storm, and it's a perfect accompaniment.)
Kemistry and Storm - "Signature":
If those two songs don't demonstrate the breadth and flexibility of the genre, I dunno what will.
I still occasionally listen to Kemistry & Storm's DJ Kicks remix release:
It's hard, dark, and completely fucking awesome.
Sadly, Kemistry was killed in a car accident.
For a completely random tangent, I loved these panels from Superman #688 where James Robinson parodies himself:
SMART HENCHPEOPLE MAKE THE WORLD GO 'ROUND. AWESOME.