More Hot 2-step TraX0r!

And it's all about the right click, which will please the antileech-hataz...
http://ukgmusic.cjb.net/

all interest in garage seems to have dried up here in san francisco - amoeba's selection, once pretty damn thorough (especially on the ammunition tip) is now about 3 parts bargain-bin used records, and 1 part new releases, bad ones at that.

gosh!

mc one: 'ey, you heard that new remix by dem lott and sticky?
mc two (nervous): w-what remix?
mc one: this one!
sound fx: boing! (or something)

pulse eskimo may suit yr palate more

has some nice mixes, though its more of the circa 2k feminine pressure bump&flex r&bnation tip.

Especially about 37 minutes in where it does the Nelly & Kelly vs. So Solid "Dilemma" throwdown that I've been dreaming of.

This is like my fave. garage moment thus far of the year.

Bitching aside, I like Ganjaman a lot right now. I thought Sticky had fallen into drudgery with stuff like Golly Gosh, so it's good to see him doing a worthy follow-up to More Weed.

I agree, so how is it a dead end, Jess?

Tho even there... things like Dem Lott and Oi make me think of the Grange Hill theme tune for some reason (there is a better musical analogy for this)... it's the cartoony shouting, it's hard to take seriously, it's like a bunch of kids acting hard--tho it's quite possible it isn't meant to be taken seriously... and then I think of Roots Manuva quite often, particularly with Roll Deep stuff like Regular, which sounds exactly like him... on the other hand, I dug out the Pay As You Go mix the other day and liked it a lot more than the first time around...

All I'm saying is, I liked the old style more. So sue me! I even liked the MCs in the old style more, thinking of something like Sweetie Irie (I think) on the Ed Case Sound of the Pirates mix, that was so much more playful and demented than all this doom and gloom....

the wiley-inspired stuff is surely the most playful and demented music for ages precisely because it skirts random shouty aggression with sproingy bounce. it's a bit like 'who framed roger rabbit', the weird and malevolent idea of being killed dead by a cartoon

of late there's been a rallying around more 'musical' 4/4 like jon e cash's 'war' to compensate for the bassline kids... this stuff is infinitely more fluid and grimy than horspower and dubplate.net's schtick which seems to have just stopped stone dead post-in fine style

free jazz and fusion may not have been nearly as significant causes to the death of jazz as inside jazz being PERFECTED by the 50s and 60s greats was. I understand this is uncharacteristic of me to say. discuss.

-- Josh (kortbei...) (webmail), August 29th, 2002

replace free jazz with garage rap and fusion with uh, fusion and "jazz" with 2-step, re. horsepower et al

there's prob a good thread on "genre arrest: inner or outer?" if it wasn't 4am

I'm not really buying this "ooh, it's so nihilistic" line. I have no difficulty listening to Pulse X for more than 30 seconds; I just get bored to tears, not repulsed by the evil darkness. As repetitive minimalism goes, it ain't that great (I pulled out "Manslaughter" the other day; now that's 'orrible...)

(I await your barbed sentences contining words like "ennui" ;)

The Hyperdub/Dubplate/Forward sound is pretty drab now though because the scene itself has swerved elsewhere, and they've all been left trying to catch up - all the desperate attempts at sleazy darkcore 4-beat and 8-bar just sound so hamfisted: explanations of the "new thing" for those who couldn't bear to listen to what the new thing actually is.

And really the space that "nu-dark swing" occupied was an important one only so long as the primary tension within garage was between feminine 2-step and masculine breakbeat, because it offered a "third way" that navigated a course between these two poles and (groove-wise at least) took the best of both. Once the 4-beat/electro/garage-rap waves shifted the goal-posts, nu-dark swing went from being an intriguing peninsula to being an isolated outcrop. For a good while though it was where the best grooves were.

also, "oi" and it's followers are not good grooves at all. nothing which induces the urge to pogo or bang ones head can be said to have "groove" can it?

I meant that their stylistic choices and affectations (the jazzy, reggae, soul etc. etc. elements) are all fine, but that they could on the whole be expressed with a bit more energy and enthusiasm. An example of the distinction: MJ Cole's "Crazy Love" is classy and refined but in no way restrained; So Solid Crew's "Dilemma" is restrained but in no way classy and refined.

"also, "oi" and it's followers are not good grooves at all. nothing which induces the urge to pogo or bang ones head can be said to have "groove" can it?"

Well this is the whole point, innit? The paradigm shift away from good grooves (which, I think, only really happened in 2002 - "Oi" and "Pulse X" being the kickstarters - as the first wave of garage crews usually had impeccable and prissy production (see particularly Oxide, who's practically dainty!)) has left the nu-dark swing producers with no way to exploit their consummate skillz, so now a lot of them are trying to make deliberately harsh and angular records that just can't compete with Wiley Kat et. al. It reminds me of when V Records started releasing really crappy pseudo-techstep (which totally fits my whole Horsepower = Reprazent analogy too).

it's fucking over man!! roaming bassline that sounds like the word "modulated" with little gasps like tiny teddy bears being punched in the throat

ok i'll get bored of it soon but allow me this

sounds like its from 1998. (now someone tells me it is)

most of the record shops i go to have the battle lines drawn up: on one side: the last few mj cole tunes, tuff jam shit, reissues of 'classics', and stuff from 1998, on the other white label wiley/big shot/jon e cash biznizz......

cit sounds eg has stopped stocking any grime stuff. they have regressed to...utter bollocks. quite liked the boo kroo tune with sticky. couldnt decide whether it was too novelty or not.

al;so, new tune that im into - mr fidgit feat DMC. Dilemma is a bit of a shit Mc, but I quite like how lame he is, in comparison to the East end lot. so basic, so much bragadoccio, but it sounds pretty nervous, like hes too scared to take on the big (titchy strider /!) boys.
Mr fidgit might be alright. the new sticky replacement. 'westside' is not really going to convince is it though?

If this development really takes hold (ie. ruff electro-handclap tunes are on the outer) I think that 2-step of yore will really die in the arse, or at least become a strictly generational ting with a constantly shrinking fanbase. Whereas at least Speed Garage has a vague purpose for continued existence, as what it does is sufficiently different.

(query: is it possible that it was jungle's return to the light from late '93-'96 that caused happy hardcore to jump back onto 4/4 kickdrums in a major way - the existence of "Renegade Snares" negating the motivation for the continued production of '92 style ardkore tunes, and pushing happy hardcore producers further back in time (and closer to gabba) in an effort to differentiate themselves? Does someone who was on the ground at the time know?)

And yer right Luka, it's hearing these fragile/beautiful/wistful tracks in the middle of grimey darkness that makes them so extra-compelling.

Also I've been coming around to the idea Keith's been expounding re switching between garage tempo and half-speed tracks and the awesome vibe that can be created by alternating back and forth. Mainly b/c it works so well on Nasty Crew sets (I'm retrospectively assuming this was also the motivation behind the speed of the Basement Mix of Artful Dodger's "Ruff Neck Sound").

these tracks are utterly bonkers and easily soulseeked.

I made a lot of pronouncements about the end of pop music, and the end of history due to "Out of Your Mind". I still don't think it's been topped. Everything since has been a retreat!

I think the "One Wish" remix is the furthest Terra's gone in that saccharine grime direction ("So Sure" is more like a grime producer's attempt at R&B) despite it being rap-based. The sounds are so sparkly!

o man...THIS is what i need!

xpostx2

ronan is a man who knows what's up.

Here's the page link if that doesn't work: http://www.ukrecordshop.com/shop/catalog/Shystie__One_Wish__Network_Music_p_16236.html

It's possible that my perceptions have been skewed by all the grime I've listened to. Even Kano's (ace) "Ps & Qs" sounds marvellously pop to me.

Grrr it's been over a year and I still haven't found a copy of "Pick Yourself Up (Target Remix)"! And I've kept that spectral synth hook in my head all this time.

I was in Protaras & Ayia Napa in Summer 01 and this song was massive! Okay I was only 6 but, I remember it! Even my 42 year old Mam was singing this, as it was soooo catchy! Loved Cyprus wif my sisters! :D