I'm honestly a little surprised the snare on the offbeat of 2 still counts for anything, I guess. I've always thought it was just obnoxious outside of jungle/dnb
― El Tomboto, Thursday, 1 May 2008 06:50 (sixteen years ago) link
I would go into my usual spiel about that particular rhythm, but even I'm bored of it.
Anyway, fuck the hataz, this is hot.
― The Reverend, Thursday, 1 May 2008 07:00 (sixteen years ago) link
Well it's not like "wow this is the most syncopated music ever", but it's more syncopated than mainstream house, speed garage or bassline, let's put it that way. Given the hyper-stiffness of bassline in particular, it's interesting to see the syncopation/carribean vibe of this stuff emerging as its point of distinction from "funky house" in the broad sense.
When I say "more syncopated" I'm thinking of 2001-era soca-beat 2-step basically - see stuff like TJ Cases's "One By One", or Bump & Flex dub mixes from that period.
Not so much this track, but other Crazy Cousinz tracks strike me as verging on broken beat - esp. the broken beat-like vocal housey tracks Zed Bias was making circa 2002.
Actually there's a kind of back-to-early-2002 feel across the whole post-UK Garage spectrum, e.g.
- "Wearing My Rolex" sounds a bit like "Rush The DJ", "Standard Flow" etc.
- Tectonic/Punch Drunk dubstep reviving the first Horsepower Productions album, 2562 reviving Zed Bias (in a different, "deeper", and more substantially syncopated way than funky house does).
- Bassline sounding like "Dutty", and also like El-Tuff remixes.
Of course early 2002 (as 2-step was losing its grip as the reigning sound, but before the fully-fledged emergence of grime) was the last time this cluster of styles was really not quite clear as to where it was going, so a return to this temporary impasse makes sense.
― Tim F, Thursday, 1 May 2008 07:02 (sixteen years ago) link
you don't find that kind of different and kind of essentially london-ish somehow?
Apart from the vocals this tune sound more like something coming out of the Spanish scene. Like this maybe.
― Siegbran, Thursday, 1 May 2008 10:24 (sixteen years ago) link
you guys know a lot of stuff.
― the next grozart, Thursday, 1 May 2008 11:17 (sixteen years ago) link
The Marcus Nasty funky house DJ set on DejaVu FM that Martin Clark talks about and links to here is sick.
There's a track in the first section that actually sounds 95% of the way to my dreams for the genre, halfway between TJ Cases' "One By One" and Davinche's old 'R&G' productions ("Leave Me Alone", "Mr. DJ" etc.). But the whole thing is really exciting and vibey feeling.
Martin's right as well when he says that this stuff sounds more exciting with MCs chatting over the top.
― Tim F, Saturday, 3 May 2008 13:15 (sixteen years ago) link
I cannot stop listening to this Marcus Nasty set. If you've wondering how on earth "funky house" can form it's own distinct genre you've gotta check it, I've never heard a house set that captures this specific vibe. It's really making me flash back to 2-step in the best possible way (i.e. the feel rather than the specific sound).
― Tim F, Sunday, 4 May 2008 06:18 (sixteen years ago) link
this is great but is there a reason it starts with track 2 instead of track 1? why was the mix divided into trax anyway?
― deej, Sunday, 4 May 2008 19:55 (sixteen years ago) link
also can anyone find this kyla rmx on vinyl??
― deej, Sunday, 4 May 2008 19:59 (sixteen years ago) link
Finding any of this stuff for love or money seems impossible.
I guess the best way to get the tracks would to be get at the producer's individual Myspace accounts.
I really wish Apple would get something out I could buy.
― Siah Alan, Sunday, 4 May 2008 21:08 (sixteen years ago) link
"Bongo Jam" - song of the year???
"SOMETIMES I WAKE UP EARLY IN THE MORNING, TO PLAY MY CON-CON-CONGO!"
― Tim F, Monday, 5 May 2008 08:28 (sixteen years ago) link
BTW Deej I think Marcus Nasty just uploaded enough of his set to fit onto a CD, hence the missing part one and the way it cuts off suddenly. No idea why it's split into parts.
― Tim F, Monday, 5 May 2008 08:29 (sixteen years ago) link
I got to say that I think I prefer the kyla to "bongo jam" but anyways...
Re: buying records - Rinse are putting out a Supa D mix CD and the blurb that comes with it says this is the first time any of these are getting a release of any sort. The Kyla original (prod by paleface) is getting a rerelease on Ministry this year so they might put the Crazy Cousinz mix on that...
― J@cob, Monday, 5 May 2008 09:59 (sixteen years ago) link
Jacob "Bongo Jam" sounds fairly pasty on myspace, on marcus nasty's mix it sounds awesome. Mind you the Kyra track improves from myspace to mix by roughly the same margin.
― Tim F, Monday, 5 May 2008 10:15 (sixteen years ago) link
Yeah I heard both on his mix too - and I completely agree. I just like the sexualness of the Kyla track which makes it the kind of song people will really get into in that leather shoes and designer shirts garage type environment. Every time I hear it I can really picture that scene, although the picture in my head probably has way too much moschino for it to be relevant to 2008. Bongo Jam straddles a line between goofiness, seriousness and Manu Chao that makes it totally dependent on mix context to work. No bad thing that, but I can see it sounding horribly cheesy 90% of the time, especially on radio.
― J@cob, Monday, 5 May 2008 10:24 (sixteen years ago) link
Ha that's true but, y'know, go goofiness!
I'm hoping to start seeing proper Caribbean crossover stuff soon. I wonder if the ragga-ish version of "Calabria" is big in this scene.
― Tim F, Monday, 5 May 2008 10:30 (sixteen years ago) link
stelfox tipped me to "bongo man," and it's currently blowing my mind. i do think it's hilarious how close it comes in sound and feel to villalobos' remix of the horrorist's "one night in nyc"!
― pshrbrn, Monday, 5 May 2008 17:34 (sixteen years ago) link
Two more recommendations:
1) Sticky - How Very Dare You Yes, that Sticky! And this isn't too far from what he was doing circa 2002, great ridiculous diva vocals, huge bass drop, clattering breakbeaty rhythms. Not 4X4 at all but definitely "funky house". Love it.
1) Seany B - Stomper This reminds me a bit of my beloved "Are You Really From The Ends (VIP Remix)" - stomping and insatiable as the title suggests. Very big 4X4 kick but with all these awesome bongo flutters and counter-rhythms.
― Tim F, Saturday, 10 May 2008 14:36 (sixteen years ago) link
myspace rip of 'bongo jam', if anyone's interested. produced by flukes of wifey riddim fame btw!
not really relevant to this thread but i'm liking sticky's 'i'm in love'. first song on his myspace. 'mr dj' was another one of his tunes more in the funky vein.
― dbs, Saturday, 10 May 2008 18:55 (sixteen years ago) link
whoa "whole night" w/ shantie = A+++++++++++++++++++
― moonship journey to baja, Saturday, 10 May 2008 19:19 (sixteen years ago) link
oops i think it's called "do you mind"
― moonship journey to baja, Saturday, 10 May 2008 19:20 (sixteen years ago) link
"Who's gonna be that dancing king???"
Shantie is pretty amazing. He's so nimble and prissy!
"Too much war/Everywhere you go what you fightin' for?/I don't know/Back in the day man raves fi look wife/nowadays man a come rave fi take life/can't deal with it, the trouble and strife/formation that, left to the right!"
I would totally start using "formation that" myself if I didn't know I would sound ridiculous.
― Tim F, Sunday, 11 May 2008 08:44 (sixteen years ago) link
STICKY????????!!!!!!!!!!! fucking finally!
― pshrbrn, Sunday, 11 May 2008 16:11 (sixteen years ago) link
now jamming: bongo jam
― The Reverend, Monday, 12 May 2008 02:35 (sixteen years ago) link
This flukes kid = big things
― J@cob, Monday, 12 May 2008 07:36 (sixteen years ago) link
I think the last time an area of music so suddenly and completely emotionally/intellectually monopolized me was dancehall in 2003 and before that 2-step in 1999. (grime not so much only because it was harder to find totally hypnotic DJ sets etc.)
― Tim F, Thursday, 15 May 2008 09:12 (sixteen years ago) link
Tim, do you have the Supa D cd? Also been checking the Crazy cousinz sets on rinse? Surprisingly dull actually...
― J@cob, Friday, 16 May 2008 07:26 (sixteen years ago) link
Agree re Supa D CD. Disagree re Crazi Cousinz mixes, at least the one I have heard which is great!
― Tim F, Friday, 16 May 2008 15:07 (sixteen years ago) link
Increasingly hearing tracks that totally abandon 4X4, very much taking a leaf from Apple's books in terms of sounding more like soca X grime X old skool rave than actual house, highly syncopated but more uptempo and danceable than grime usually was. Some of the key producers here being Apple, Roska, Footloose, Fuzzy Logic...
Fingaprint's "Take Over" rides a straight syncopated dancehall rhythm, a move I can just feel is gonna become devastatingly popular.
A rather ostentatious example of the grime/funky crossover would be Skepta's "The Rolex Sweep" - there's really nothing about it that on paper would say it was funky more than grime - it just feels like grime.
There's a tune by Chunky Bizzle (formerly a grime producer) that sounds like Gant's "Sound Bwoy Burial" meets Sonz of a Loop Da Loop Era's "Far Out". Awesome stuff.
Apart from that, Tim's Funky Essentialz:
Crazi Cousinz - Bongo Jam Geeneus - Yellow Tail DJ NG ft. MC Versatile & Baby Katy - Tell Me Apple - Mr Bean (and all the Bean related tunes) Roska - Feeline (and the other tunes on his forthcoming 'The Climate Change' EP are massive) Footloose - Hurry Up Sticky - How Very Dare You Seany B (formerly of More Fire Crew!) - Stomper Kyla - Do You Mind (Crazi Cousinz Mix) DJ Naughty - Quicktime Benga & Coki - Night (Geeneus Remix) Crazi Cousinz - Keep On Dancing Fingaprint - The Print Seany B - Make Your Move
― Tim F, Monday, 19 May 2008 08:51 (sixteen years ago) link
so so happy about the return of sticky! i always thought "golly gosh" was practically a house track. his drums and synths always sound so much richer than other uk producers. it seems donaeo is also back, i know he was somewhat hated on ilm but i always had a soft spot for mr. fidgit. "devil in a blue dress" is excellent
i can't be the only one who would prefer an instrumental of "bongo jam" though? the vocal annoys the hell out of me!
can anyone tell me some recent non uk tracks that are getting played by funky house djs? "automatic" from the in the barbershop ep on ibadan seems tailor made to uk radio, it samples "1, 2 step"!
― r1o natsume, Monday, 19 May 2008 20:37 (sixteen years ago) link
It should be noted that Tim has a great piece up on Idolator today:
http://idolator.com/391655/peering-through-the-front-door-of-funky-house
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 19 May 2008 20:43 (sixteen years ago) link
funky house sounds to me like what photek would have come up with if he'd continued the lines of the "solaris" album
― moonship journey to baja, Monday, 19 May 2008 21:00 (sixteen years ago) link
thanks for the hyping Ned.
I came back onto this thread to say that I finally ID'd that bouncy track with the squiggy descending synth riff and organ interludes that comes after the (equally great) Marcus Nasty dubplate that begins the third section (called Track Four) of the main Marcus Nasty set:
Fuzzy Logik - Leader
― Tim F, Tuesday, 20 May 2008 15:47 (sixteen years ago) link
yeah tim f that piece on idolator was great. i would've left a comment if i could.
― t_g, Wednesday, 21 May 2008 08:02 (sixteen years ago) link
http://www.myspace.com/youngoffendazuk
I'm not even sure if this funky house, there is a lot of 2-step, dubstep and grime in this.
― Siah Alan, Thursday, 22 May 2008 06:09 (sixteen years ago) link
Check out Young Offedaz ft MC Shocks - Excuse Me.
Its like one of those tidy 2-step MCs got all aggro, without losing the funk to some extent.
Theirs a chunk of breaks in this too, I've not heard so much crossover in awhile.
― Siah Alan, Thursday, 22 May 2008 06:16 (sixteen years ago) link
This Marcus Nasty mix is good. Really diverse sounds and beats, too. And this -- "this stuff sounds more exciting with MCs chatting over the top" -- is OTM (and Jamaican toasters have never been of much interest to me, but this MC chatting works, somehow). Thanks, Tim.
― Daniel, Esq., Saturday, 24 May 2008 02:21 (sixteen years ago) link
On one of the Marcus Nasty shows with Rankin and Shantie there's an amazing section where they're trading lines back and forth (I'll upload the individual section when I get a chance) and it sounds like the most exciting thing in the world.
Nice to hear Rankin again soon. I always loved his rap on the Dreem Teem remix of Amar's "Sometimes It Snows In April" - "There's no question of a doubt / I've checked all the ladies out / You're the finest thing that i've seen / sexy lady come be my dream" (not sure if that last line is correct). In the show he reuses it but makes it "There's no question of a doubt / I've checked all the DJs out / Marcus Nasty the finest I've heard / spread the gospel, gotta spread the word..." This kind of thing pleases me disproportionately.
Unfortunately (and frustratingly) all the Rinse FM show downloads (by Geeneus, Perempay, Supa D) seem to still be dominated by US and even Euro house (one of Geeneus's show included Villalobos and Ame) - which is nice enough but not really what I need more of.
I wonder if this is what it would have been like trying to find good 2-step shows after hearing "Destiny" or "My Desire (Dreem Teem Mix)" way back in 1997, and instead getting conservative Tuff Jam sets. Except at least Tuff Jam were playing lots of UK tracks!
― Tim F, Saturday, 24 May 2008 02:44 (sixteen years ago) link
Tim, it's exactly the same as far as I recall!
...but maybe even worse. I can't help but feel that because of the bottom falling out of the market for dance singles there aren't any labels jumping on the sound and trying to put out product. Suspect it's going the same way as Jamaica what with everyone doing all those special versions of their songs for radio DJs ("sometimes I wake up so early, so Marcus Nasty can play for me") in order to pay the rent.
― J@cob, Monday, 26 May 2008 05:05 (sixteen years ago) link
Also, it'd probably be like hearing Bobbi and Steve or Grant Nelson on Kiss... Lots of US-aping brit garage on Azuli and 4liberty mixed up with Kerri Chandler etc (so not much change there).
― J@cob, Monday, 26 May 2008 05:07 (sixteen years ago) link
i personally really dig the "us-aping brit garage". for example, "twilight flight" by baby face jay does the prescription sound far better than mountain people could ever dream of!
― r1o natsume, Monday, 26 May 2008 06:01 (sixteen years ago) link
DJ Seany B feat Monique - Make your move
So, standard "funky" beat here, but what's so great about this track to me is the tension between the somewhat aggressive, definitely urban sounding bassline, and the sonically fluffy sounding vocals. Of course when you listen to the lyrics they're not actually that fluffy. The thing I like about a lot of these funky house songs is that for the first time in ages (outside of the really pop stuff) dance music lyrics are dealing with 'younger' topics - there's lots of stuff about instant sexual attraction etc. and it's a big contrast with the US scene which tends to produce more 'mature' sounding vocals...
― J@cob, Monday, 2 June 2008 06:13 (sixteen years ago) link
Yeah that's a great track. Seany B used to be an MC in More Fire Crew I think! This, "Stomper" and another track whose name I forget are all fire.
― Tim F, Monday, 2 June 2008 08:14 (sixteen years ago) link
Stomper is a weird one for me - it has that awkward, fruity-loops feel that makes it sound a lot more like grime than most funky... I like that as an ingredient, but when it dominates the recipe I'm not so sure. Tracks that balance this sound with sexier stuff appeal more to me...
― J@cob, Monday, 2 June 2008 08:32 (sixteen years ago) link
Do you like "Leader" Jacob?
― Tim F, Monday, 2 June 2008 13:34 (sixteen years ago) link
Are you talking about "Leader" by Fuzzy Logik?? I've been hearing this track about, first heard DJ Pioneer playing it, then Supa D, Marcus Nasty and now im hearing it everywhere i go, absolutely brilliant! Fuzzy Logik has some real quality tracks about at the min. Definetly one to watch out for reppin the uk funky. http://www.myspace.com/flogik
― Mako, Monday, 2 June 2008 21:53 (sixteen years ago) link
"Leader" is great. Very pure distillation of the sound I think. Bass sounds in funky are interesting, I think. They go for loud bass, but with a very smooth undistorted sound that kind of backgrounds it a lot more than we're used to in UK dance music...
― J@cob, Tuesday, 3 June 2008 02:59 (sixteen years ago) link
Yeah I was thinking the same thing Jacob! Like, the MC might mention something about "watch for the bass" but it's this really subtle low-end that is hard to pick up on radio/mp3. So different from bassline (where the bassline is the melody).
It reminds me a bit of early 2-step actually: only a couple of producers like Steve Gurley and Groove Chronicles/El-B were into really prominent basslines, which is why they get namechecked by dubstep fans so much. Everyone had bass in their tracks but it wasn't necessarily leaping out at you - on a track like "Re-Rewind" the bass is quite subtle.
Then Wookie and Zed Bias really popularised big basslines, and by late 2000 it was pretty rare to come across tracks that didn't have a big bassline interlude.
― Tim F, Tuesday, 3 June 2008 07:55 (sixteen years ago) link
Diamond ft Gappy Ranx – Champagne Dance (Dub)
^ not only ace, but a good demonstration of how fast this scene is moving groove-wise. How is this remotely house?
― Tim F, Friday, 6 June 2008 15:31 (sixteen years ago) link
Tawiah - Every Step (Arms Remix) ^ Fabulous, melodramatic, hyper-syncopated R&B-ish funky house tune (Arms is a pretty amazing producer) with "Mandarine Girl"/"In White Rooms"-style staggering trancey synth chords as an added bonus.
― Tim F, Saturday, 7 June 2008 17:19 (sixteen years ago) link
^^^^^
This is tremendous.
I don't even recognise most of the tracks from about 23 minutes (other than the obvious like "Rass Out" and "Seasons").
― Tim F, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 04:27 (seven years ago) link
grateful not to have been commuting when 'crackish' crept in. woulda done a madness.
i love the whole bit where coldsteps is like 'alright let me give them a conscious one' and you just hear shants in the background going YES. YES. YES. YES.
also funny cos coldsteps has only ever had one conscious one and it is his horrible apocalyptic "bodies burning ending up in bins" piece. which still sounded fucking incredible because somehow, impossibly, only marcus-ly, warm queasy synth pads suddenly bloomed from the tune out of nowhere at the very exact moment he says "take a look things just got worse", just like a poisoned 4hero 'loveless'. incredible scenes
― r|t|c, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 08:46 (seven years ago) link
Sad to think that some people don't get that this music is the nicest vibes of all time.
I tried to write "biggest vibes" but my phone changed it to "nicest vibes", my phone otm tbh.
― Tim F, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 11:17 (seven years ago) link
jam with the usual "shout out to jack poppy olivia and gabriel in halls" beeb biz. [actual transcript, no golby]. least he got tadow horns in there i spose
― r|t|c, Thursday, 9 June 2016 01:38 Bookmark
https://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/article/exclusive-mistajam-response-independent-drake-top-boy-working-class-culturehttps://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/article/exclusive-mistajam-response-independent-drake-top-boy-working-class-culturehttps://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/article/exclusive-mistajam-response-independent-drake-top-boy-working-class-culture
― r|t|c, Monday, 10 April 2017 16:21 (seven years ago) link
EEDIAT
Just to let you all know about my new mixcloud where I'm uploading all the classic era uk funky sets I can find, 60 sets so far.
https://www.mixcloud.com/Classic_UK_Funky_Sets/
You'll find most of the sets that got raved about and discussed in this thread - Marcus Nasty 2008> on Deja/Rinse, formative 2007 sets from Supa D, Taffa, Kismet, Hardhouse Banton & Dubplate Wonder, funkystepz, Ill Blu, loads of my own recordings of live FM from Petchy, Devine Recordings and whatever else I could gather together.
I've already gone a bit mad on this and don't have much more to upload but I'd like to keep it going, so if any of you lot have got classic material that I haven't got, please share and I'll upload it.
― Benny B, Thursday, 3 May 2018 09:16 (six years ago) link
OMG Benny.
I lost so many of my favourite funky sets when my computer died last year, this is a godsend.
― Tim F, Thursday, 3 May 2018 13:04 (six years ago) link
This is my favorite ilx thread of all time. Thanx Benny
― moullet, Friday, 4 May 2018 11:22 (six years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy5T7gl2j08
― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 25 February 2020 15:17 (four years ago) link
Baby J - I Wanna Tell You Something ^
― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 25 February 2020 15:18 (four years ago) link
didn't know where else to put this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsaXoYa9pL0
― omar little, Friday, 28 February 2020 00:54 (four years ago) link
Done a zip of some old funkystepz tunes. If you want it you have 7 days to ask me for it.— Funkystepz (@Funkystepz) May 6, 2020
― just sayin, Thursday, 7 May 2020 06:41 (four years ago) link
I got mine this morning and it is the best. Pastor Lucas! The Whitney refix! All the Rihanna versions!
― boxedjoy, Friday, 8 May 2020 11:50 (four years ago) link
Damn! missed it
― moullet, Sunday, 24 May 2020 14:28 (four years ago) link
i asked twice :(
― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Sunday, 24 May 2020 15:43 (four years ago) link
hint taken, keep an eye on your DMs
― boxedjoy, Sunday, 24 May 2020 15:47 (four years ago) link
:)
― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Sunday, 24 May 2020 15:48 (four years ago) link
could you send it to me too, please?
― dbs, Sunday, 24 May 2020 16:44 (four years ago) link
thx <3
― dbs, Sunday, 24 May 2020 17:21 (four years ago) link
bj - 😌
― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Sunday, 24 May 2020 17:58 (four years ago) link
thx a lot boxedjoy!
― moullet, Thursday, 28 May 2020 11:45 (four years ago) link
A little history lesson on why UK Funky was actually called UK Funky..... Because so many people have asked me this.— N:Fostell (@nfostellmusic) June 11, 2022
― Tracer Hand, Saturday, 11 June 2022 23:19 (two years ago) link
Thanks for sharing!
I miss uk funky
― paolo, Sunday, 12 June 2022 10:52 (two years ago) link
https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/SPxzVZLrDatFm1rN9Burt Cope - Let U Go
― Tracer Hand, Friday, 15 July 2022 12:37 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWMampOyIQM
― boxedjoy, Monday, 15 July 2024 18:06 (two months ago) link
sick
― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Monday, 15 July 2024 18:23 (two months ago) link