THE ONLINE ARTISTS RETURN TO PURE 93-96 SPIRITED EXISTENTIAL DRUM AND BASS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
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| For some the war is never over |
The Autmn of 2001 represented a peculiar time for dance/electronic music, and Drum and Bass in particular. When RADIO 1 DJ's did their weekly Dance chart countdown sometime during the fall of 2001 one of the surprising tracks in the Top 40 was Andy C's BodyRock. This was what everyone was waiting for. The sellout sound of the underground was so contagious that even the unlikely rudeboys such as Shy FX (Shake Your Body), and Dillinja (Grimey), followed suit. Eventually this gave air to major label execs to perpetrate Totally Addicted to Bass by Puretone, and Sound of the Underground by Girls Aloud a year later.
Around the same time in 2001 something strange was happening on the independent internet music scene. New artists and fans were starting to emerge with the power and front to upload their own shit as they pleased.
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| A new dawn |
With the onslaught of MP3.COM, SOUNDCLICK, ELECTRONIC SCENE/ ARTISTSERVER, EPINIONS, DNBNation (oh gosh remember them), to some extent DNBARENA and the like - the spirit of 93 - 96 Drum and Bass as it were lived on but this time through the fans and independent artists. These online independent artists whose tracks I will dig up weren't having it, and without intending to they carried the raw and authentic legacy of the golden years independently and without hope of crowd pleasing feedback or so. Hell till today some still haven't got the song reviewed they ever so deserve.
Here, 12 years later I am digging up year by year the online tracks that hark back to the core of Pure Drum and BASS. Bringing back the feeling you first felt when the wave of the massive attack that is DnB - hit you in yo face, in your suburban base, slamming the vinyl strictly underground - first invaded Britain and lorded over the world at large.
While 'real life' people like the gorgeous Myleene Klass was busing forming Hearsay, these artists were busy uploading and forming their own reality off the music they have feed off and giving their own back.
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| The jungle came out and took her |
While 'real life' people like the gorgeous Myleene Klass was busing forming Hearsay, these artists were busy uploading and forming their own reality off the music they have feed off and giving their own back.
Here we go from: 2001-2006.
[2001-2006]
2001 THE BECOMING
[the year the independent music community ran riot and to me this was best exemplified by the trip-hop/drumandbass/electronic acid jazz duo 1Undread who spat everything back in the face of the industry as it was then]
ARTIST: EVERHAD
TRACK: EXPEDITION
PLATFORM: ARTISTSERVER
MY COMMENTS: Spooky and drony intro, even has something of Rooster Alice in Chains in it's bass lead up. Grainy and glum stuff. Once it gets into drive mode, theres no stopping. Won a round 1 competition with it.
2002 RESISTANCE
[It must have been surprising to fans of the underground Drum and Bass scene as these artists were entering sampling competitions, setting up their own websites and emerging with the passion of fans as a collective to outdo their role models]
ARTIST: SUBMATOMIC SOUND SYSTEM
TRACK: ALIEN ABDUCTION
PLATFORM: ARTISTSERVER
MY COMMENTS: The mix down and stereo panning here is very polished and professional, lots of warmth to the timpani, and hi-hats. These guys from NY eventually evolved to other scenes and maybe part of a label collective. Unfortunately they haven't linked this track to their back catalog but here is a link to what they are doing now: http://soundcloud.com/subatomicsound/tracks?format=html&page=8
ARTIST: FLUTES
TRACK: SENSE
PLATFORM: ARTISTSERVER
MY COMMENTS: The beginning hits the notes of 'engage the rebels' the percussion is jungle-esque, and then tally that with slicing flutes and chorus filters over the snares. This tune is hypnotizing you to remember something from another time.
2003 ON THE MARCH
[Harking back to the UK/US/Europe invasion of what was....dnb]
ARTIST: BLUE SYCRON
TRACK: SPIRAL
PLATFORM: ARTISTSERVER
USER COMMENTS:"Almost IDM in it's mentalism. To me it sounds like 1995 all over again...very frantic breaks, very clean sound...almost like old Moving Shadow. Not one for the clubs unless you're playing for hyperactive meth-heads :) I give ya mad props still though...love the sounds in the break/intro...really discordant...as good as any and better than most 8.5/10."
2004 BATTLEWAVE
[Electronic Scene (ArtistServer) couldn't carry the mantle by itself, and for some insane reason MP3.COM got shut down, Soundclick on the otherhand was on the rise]
[Electronic Scene (ArtistServer) couldn't carry the mantle by itself, and for some insane reason MP3.COM got shut down, Soundclick on the otherhand was on the rise]
ARTIST: BLUESHIFT (JAMES T)
TRACKS: PARTYTIME/DON'TSTOP/RUSH HOUR
PLATFORM: SOUNDCLICK
USER COMMENTS:"Heavy tracks mate! Big up. I use Fruity too. Nothing wrong with it at all!"
MY COMMENTS: Soundclick at the time was very heavy on charts, and this one obviously featured highly. Compare Blue Shift's Party Time to Andy C's BodyRock, the way you compared naive SpeedRacer to the darker and more mysterious Racer X.
MY COMMENTS: Soundclick at the time was very heavy on charts, and this one obviously featured highly. Compare Blue Shift's Party Time to Andy C's BodyRock, the way you compared naive SpeedRacer to the darker and more mysterious Racer X.
2005 THE ENEMY OF MY ENEMY
[We will never know under what guise established producers were testing the waters under different aliases on this platform will we?]
[We will never know under what guise established producers were testing the waters under different aliases on this platform will we?]
ARTIST: RETURN TO MONO
TRACK: YOU CARRY ME AWAY
PLATFORM: ARTISTSERVER
MY COMMENTS: Intense double basses, and sinewaves with LTJ Buckemish vocals
2006 THE MASSIVE ATTACK
[Just before web 2.0 and social networking went big time some of these sites were managing with what bandwidth they could allow their users especially for speedy streaming, just before myspace]
ARTIST: GO MAD
TRACK: DJ AZ PRODUCTIONS
PLATFORM: ARTISTSERVER/PERSONAL WEBSITE
MY COMMENTS: Well what do you expect? Afterall The Prodigy also came from Essex as didn't they? The plucks of the real guitar in this tune weighs heavy, and reminds me of Folk Implosion's Natural One. The beats on the other hand impress me enough to call this an existential Drum and Bass tune. Harking back to the dread of Nasty Habit's: ShadowBoxing.
That's it for now. Give your ears a break. Will conclude this with an upcoming post covering the years from: 2007-present.
Part3 (Coming shortly).
Rae Burnz
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