Lars Weiss is best known for doing time in legendary 80s NYHC bands JUDGE, SIDE BY SIDE, ALONE IN A CROWD, and UPPERCUT, but he’s always had one foot in the world of dance music as well. For more on Lars, check out his amazing guest reviews from last year, the podcast we did with him and stay tuned for some news on his new band GET INVOLVED with ex-THURSDAY and FROM AUTUMN TO ASHES members! – Sgt D
So now that we are appreciating all things 90’s and kids are all so into Dubstep we figured it’s a good time for a post on Jungle/ Drum’n’Bass. So here’s a short history lesson along with a primer on really dark, almost metallish D’n’B from late 90’s- a style that has direct links both sonically and historically to the “Bro-Step” Dubstep that is all the rage these days. Already, there are inklings of a Jungle/ D’n’B comeback. Sarge, who secretly loves Dieselboy, predicts there will be full-fledged Drum’n’Bass revival in a year or two tops. I’m completely with him on this…. So get ahead of the retro curve and read on!
First a little personal history: I got into Jungle in the mid- 90’s completely by accident. The first weekly jungle party in the United States, Konkrete Jungle started in 1994 and was on Monday nights at Coney Island High (sort of famous/infamous NYC punk/hardcore club). Since it was at CIH, a lot of hardcore dudes went to Konkrete Jungle to do lots of drugs and hit on 17 yr old raver chicks. After going a few times I realized I really liked the music. Thus, I ended up spending the rest of the 90’s keeping up with Jungle/ Drum’n’Bass along with a steady diet of reggae and hip-hop. (Fugazi aside, I listened to nothing remotely connected hardcore during this time, hence I’m completely baffled as to why Refused is the now the biggest band on earth).
Now for some history- please forgive any inaccuracies, I’m sure there are others who can provide you with a much more thoroughly researched nerd out sesh on the origins of British dance music. Long and short: Jungle/ Drum’n’Bass is considered to be the first genre of popular music to have originated in Britain. The Brits for most of the later half of the 20th century sweated music that either originated in the US (Jazz, Soul, Blues, R’n’B, Rock’n’Roll, Hip Hop, House, Techno) or Jamaica (Ska, Reggae). At some point in the early 90’s, after rave culture blows up in the UK, British producers/ DJ’s begin fusing breakbeats with Techno adding Reggae basslines and samples first calling it “Jungle Techno” then plain old “Jungle”.
Great album; contender for worst cover art of the decade – Sgt D
By the mid nineties, Jungle sort of blows up on a commercial level in the UK. This leads to a backlash by some of the genre’s originators who start making much darker sounding music, taking it back underground and eventually going as far as changing the genre’s name from Jungle to Drum’n’Bass. Creatively, this period from 96- 98 is my favorite. The music is still hard but at the same time funky. It’s almost jazz-like in its complexity and completely insane. Great for smoking out and listening to at home while at the same kills it in the club. Some prime examples: Adam F’s “Metropolis” (bass drop at 3:16) from 1996 and Optical’s “Moving 808’s” (drop at 1:31) from 1997. Also, check for anything by Photek from this period.
Starting around 1998- producers start upping the ante, making even darker and heavier tracks with insanely distorted basslines which that are like breakdowns/mosh parts played on synths. Eventually bro’ing out to a point where the music is no longer heavy the way Reggae sounds heavy, but instead heavy the way Black Sabbath is heavy. This style totally has the same vibe as all the bro step stuff that is coming out now- essentially it’s dance music that’s just as aggressive sounding as metal. So without any further ado, here are my Top 5 Really Metallish Drum’n’Bass Records From The Late 90’s:
(Plug in a Sub woofer and listen at retarded volume for best effect…)
1. Ed Rush, Optical, & Fierce- “Alien Girl”
Insane filtered bass line over an ill two-step drum pattern. Definitely one of the joints that kicked off this style. I remember hearing this once in a club after smoking some really strong glaucoma medication and feeling really scard.. this shit is dark! (bass drop at 1:31)
2. Bad Company- “Nitrous”
Not to be confused with the 70’s cock rock, “Feel Like Makin’ Love” Bad Co., but Bad Company UK. They broke through with another joint called “The Nine,” but this one has a sicker bass drop. Totally shreds up any club system and makes me want to start up the pit. (bass drop at 1:07)
3. Trace- “Sonar”
Always really liked the way tension builds in the intro and the drop (at 2:16) is a monster.
4. Capone (aka Dillinja)- “Tudor Rose”
Check for anything from Dillinja or Capone from this time. Intro sounds like a sample from some Henry VIII shit before every thing descends into hell when the bass drop comes. (drop at 1:30)
5. Moving Fusion- “Turbulence”
Don’t be thinking skinny American dudes invented the “wobble” bassline- check out this
joint from ’98! (drop at 1:43)
By the turn of the century, in response to this darker direction that the music takes, D’n’B loses a lot of its UK audience (read: chicks and black people) to the next big sound/ style: Speed Garage or 2 Step- essentially sped up, skippy house music with jungle basslines (I know that sounds god awful, but the music actually isn’t so bad). 2 Step eventually spawns UK “pop” stars like Craig David. As reaction to the popularity of 2 Step- some UK producers move towards a darker, more ‘underground’ sound (sound familiar?) incorporating more reggae elements and “Dubstep” is born. Fast-forward a few years later and dudes in the US who are in/ used to be in hardcore bands pick up on Dubstep (how and why, I have no idea) and here we are…
lol these songs are giving me Frequency/Amplitude flashbacks, those games were filled with DnB songs
YESSS amplitude was dope. hahah payed that shit too much
These tracks are dope, and I feel like I could get really into this if I wasn’t so lazy and reluctant to be the guy that knows a lot about underappreciated electro music.
Anyway, http://r2.sgsr.us/imgs/250/hpspm1586.gif
Pretty much this.
I wouldn’t call these underappreciated, these were all ‘hits.’ They are just too old for your to have experienced them at the time, and since kids your age haven’t started jizzing over 90s dnb yet you would have no reason to hear them– but like Lars said I fully predict a 90s dnb revival any day now, so you may still get your chance to fawn over dance music that came out when you were in 6th grade!
^ This guy up here with the avatar is right! These songs and the DJs who made them were big news. Guys like Ed Rush, Aphrodite, DJ SS, etc would come over to NY and play Wetlands, Coney Island High, 230 Chrystie, misc large now-nonexistent places on the west side, and for some reason LOTS OF KARATE SCHOOLS. Konkrete Jungle didn’t move to CIH until way later. PLEASE NOTE: THE BEST JUNGLE PARTY IN AMERICA WAS JUNGLE NATION AT JACKIE 60. Not a fringe thing as much as more or less the hardcore center of any electronic music scene in New York. Hail Satan, and listen to this evil dread: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jh320xZDz68
Awesome post, I used to listen to an absolute ton of this stuff a few years ago, I think I’ll get back into it now.
Sheeit, sounds like you can take any one of the melodies/themes/whatever in these songs, tremelo pick them, and get a death metal riff. Nice, sounds brutal.
I was always way more into the super Jamaican-sounding ragga jungle, personally. Chopped up amen + ragga vocals = heaven. Ragga vocals are definitely one of my favorite musical elements ever, and I think they basically would sound good over anything.
I hereby back your feelings about ragga jungle. Even people who never listened to Jungle or DnB can enjoy it and smoke to it.
I never really like the ragga jungle stuff – I thought the ragga Mcing and vocal samples of 93-94 jungle was all a bit cheesy, and there wasn’t enough bass in those tunes. I love me a chopped up amen break though. My favourite period of D&B was 95-96, after the ragga stuff went away but when it was still ‘jungle’ before the darker, more minimal stuff came through from 96 onwards. Shit started to get really experimental and well-prodcued. There are a few labels that keep this stuff going, such as Scientific Wax and Subtle Audio.
Don’t get me wrong though, I loved some of the 96-00 stuff. Adam F ‘Circles’ was the breakthrough track really wasn’t it, there was some good stuff produced around then (mostly on Metalheadz) and producers got really experimental with their mid-rangey bass sounds. But swirling, ultra-meoldic synths, pounding sub and spastic amens will always be my first love in D&B.
D&B has been wack for ages now. People need to step it up. Only really feeling stuff like Rockwell, Icicle etc lately. RAM, Hosptial etc have all gone to shit.
Great article btw
Sorry, what am I on about Adam F ‘Circles’ that’s as liquid-y and as jungle-y as the come! I meant Alex Reece ‘Pulp Fiction’. Other than the fact they were both released in 95, I have no idea how I got those 2 tunes mixed up!
im back niggas
THAT IS NOT MY DOPPLEGANGER
Does this mean you’re going to die soon :(
DRUM N BASS FOR PAPA
I ROCK FOR MAD HOURS TO HIT THE SHOWERS
Siq post bro, interesting to know what you were up to after your hardcore days.
Not to interested in electro but the history is really interesting.
I am hoping someone will do a post on my favorite dance music genre, the much-maligned world of ELECTROHOUSE
Really good stuff man, totes changed my ‘not Pendulum – not d&b’ attitude.
that is hilarious because ‘not pendulum – not d&b’ is like saying to ‘not Disturbed- not metal’
Actually after “Self vs. Self” with In Flames it’s ‘not pendulum – not metal’. You gotta to keep up with the times bro.
Haha, ‘gotta to’.
Dieselboy’s “The Dungeon Masters Guide” was in the last batch of CD’s I ever bought, in 2006 from Tower records right before they folded…
I heard that there were tons of hardcore and metal guys that got really into DnB in the late 90s, a while ago Cosmo Lee wrote a very similar post for Invisible Oranges. I think your take on it is pretty accurate, via the aggression of hardcore/metal crossing over with this dance music.
Its kind of funny because in New Zealand, DnB is still very popular (it was massively popular up until a few years ago) and there are huge festivals every year here. There is one called Phat which is in the middle of fucking nowhere and draws massive crowds and huge international DJs every new years
This guy’s from NZ,I think he goes pretty hard:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypEMW7n1Unk
I remember seeing an interview in the early 2000s with Goldie saying NZ had the best DnB in the world. Who knew?
Apparently we do the best Reggae these days too…
You have black ppl there?
not yet, but it’s only a matter of time :/
brb buying a timeshare
brb telling the guys at work in a blustery tone of voice that we just aren’t meant to live next to each other and we should just have our own separate countries and what’s so wrong with the idea of WHITE civil rights??
brb trying to explain that if people would just take the time to actually read some of his books, David Duke’s ideas aren’t as extreme as the media makes it sound
brb telling on you to your boss that you are accually rasist and I am an expert on racism because not only do I have a degree in black studies without being black, but I am in the unique position as a white person to understand racism from the white point of view of the racist themselves
brb telling people the the KKK isn’t actually racist, they’re just the natural reaction to the government trying to force race mixing, and that while I don’t agree with them, I understand where they’re coming from.
You guys are all total dicks & none of your comments are funny…
Also, note that slam-like snare sound in that Bad Company track
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKa1nf70UQo
please,your opinion on this guy and the snares in his tracks :D :D
I just wanna leave these tracks here,if anyone’s interested about the state of heavy dnb nowadays :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq-eml7WiAE&feature=player_detailpage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=tFn7g8g4T9s#t=156s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms8FEOn1ZJ8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=p8QaTK2xx00#t=42s
Most of the stuff I used to jam was all from the 90s, I didn’t even know this kind of thing was still going. I stopped making electronic music because I didn’t really dig a lot of what was going on with modern stuff, this is really making me want to pick it back up though.
Well,nowadays it’s either:
1)Way too fucking heavy,it almost sounds like gabba/hardcore
2)Way too fucking mellow(Netsky,Dirtyphonics,etc.)
My take is that the style was at it’s peak,when it sounded “hard but at the same time funky”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=1RYcvqIO_UM#t=72s
Also,this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DadcqGeLyS8
Jesus this is fucking good. Except for the part around 28 minutes where they literally just let the majority of Killing In The Name play unaltered, what the fuck?
http://soundcloud.com/forbiddensocietyrecs/forbidden-society-recordings-metalcast-vol-2-feat-katharsys
There’s a metalcast every week or two :)) As for the RATM track-I don’t know man :D :D may be the dude was tripping and thought it sounded really awesome when it wasn’t altered (could be)
looks like the cover of some MEDIASKARECORE record
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0tNlcBf1c0
No care,here’s something similar(it’s too awesome not to include)
SICK article bro, SYWH needs moar dance coverage!
Really dig this style of music, superficially, but not sure why acceptable vs. nujazz via missing the point (and the right drugs?) entirely.
Not sure about you,but I love popping pills on tracks like this one :)) (just sayin’ man)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=yra9vvmZDuQ#t=57s
Jungle isn’t the first style of dance music to come out of the UK, but it was the first one which included influences from all over the board, from acid house to hiphop to metal. Jungle evoled from darkcore imo (hardcore techno + breakbeats http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xJmdWarcWc ).
The evolution of London’s electronic music scene is explained through Simon Reynold’s hardcore continuum theory: acid house arrived in the UK >> UK hardcore >> jungle >> dnb >> UK garage >> grime & dubstep >> whatever the fuck is going on today.
Jungle went under because it was becoming too lame with typical ragga vocal samples etc + bullshit scene politics (only certain djs had access to exclusives, which they played for 2 years then never released them, and if you wanted some recognition in that scene you had to send tunes to those djs).
It was mostly jungle heads which moved towards uk garage though, they were the ones a alienated by the faster, darker, more rock-ish/metal direction of dnb. Some dnb heads like Nico picked up on the popularity of uk garage and started their own labels etc. Drum and bass was losing it’s popularity mainly because of stuff like Bad Company and jump-up/”clowstep”… people got sick of bangers, forgettable midrange-y tunes that only go off in a rave (like what Pendulum were doing). Garage replaced dnb as the new hot London thing, but by 2002 it was starting to die out, raves started being all about coke, champagne, bishes in heels, big ego MC clashes etc. Some producers like Oris Jay, Zed Bias, J Da Flex, El-B were having none of that and were doing much darker sounding beats. This particular style of garage was the “seed” of dubstep, they influenced what is considered the first wave of dubstep: Horsepower Productions (which released was is considered the first dubstep album) and the Big Apple crew (Artwork, Benga, Skream). They sorta set the standard; Digital Mystikz, Loefah, Kode9 soon followed. Around the same time, grime – which is considered a sister style of dubstep, since they both came from garage – was getting more attention, but quickly died out due to violence, the ego of MC’s, those who got popular (like Dizzee Rascal) moved away from the scene etc, and it was replaced by dubstep.
By 2008 dubstep started to get more attention, mostly due to Caspa & Rusko in the UK and Excision in North America, which took things into a more ravey, “aggressive”, wobble heavy direction; tunes centered around drops etc. Kids went nuts for that stuff, saying it reminded them of hardcore and metal, and soon youtube was flooded with bedroom producers trying to make the “filthiest” dubstep tune. Soon enough Borgore, Cookie Monsta, Chase & Status, Nero, Doctor P, Flux Pavilion, Funtcase (and later Skrillex) etc got on the bandwagon. Of course, many original dubstep heads were alienated by this and went on to make UK funky, house, techno, juke.
Personally I’m not a fan of the screechy stuff; cramming as many sounds as you can at once, as loud as you can just doesn’t appeal to me. But there’s plenty of metal influenced dubstep out there, like Distance and Vex’d (my favourite producers tbh).
Also, a proper metalcore/dubstep crossover: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3SRqHJ8PfI
And on the topic of dnb, it’s really good right now imo. Big older labels like Metalheadz, Renegade Hardware, Soul:r, Exit still going strong, as well as new(er) labels such as Shogun Audio, Cricital, Horizons Music, Neosignal, Invisible, Med School, Proximity, Dispatch Blackout/BLKND etc. I hope it blows up soon.
slowcap.ddt
Dude! Totally appreciate the comment. I tried to do the history portion of the post as sort of a cliff notes/ overview- you really filled in the blanks. Plus, I don’t really know much of what went on post- 2000. After D’n'B went metal, I kinda lost interest. From about ’99 to the early 00′s my musical taste could be summed up by: “Not Neptunes/ Timbaland- Not Music.” I heard about that Simon Reynolds book from way back- gotta finally get it.
But how long will it be before Americans start aping UK funky, and calling that techno as well? lol
Question, in the scene is Chase and Status strictly for fggts, or what? I like their jams but I’m entry level as when it comes to DnB/Dubstep/whatever the fuck it is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpFfM_dili4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kBm6c3veSA
They’re entry level dnb (and more recently dubstep). I don’t care for their output, but I’m pretty sure purists hate them.
Their older stuff is nice too,it depends if you like smooth,funky,almost jazzy like dnb :))
But yeah,they’re entry level :) In fact,when I think of entry level dnb I think of C&S,Pendulum(some of their older stuff slaps though),Spor,Netsky,Dirtyphonics,etc.
cheers with this one,it’s one of their older gems :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0f7sgT2fCM&feature=player_detailpage#t=82s
Bros DnB is back real hard since the dubstep explosion, i mean it never really died, but the parties were more confidential, now they are everywhere. Not really a prediction and not really retro.
Anyway, great article. Everything about DnB/Jungle is awesome. I personnaly enjoy Neurofunk a lot, bc of that trancy atmo going on: http://youtu.be/a5J8LVFn0ig
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5J8LVFn0ig&w=560&h=315
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=8Y-OKQ8219g#t=30s
neurofunk slaps doe!
nice track!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Xv9eUDcYm0M#t=70s
You should totally check Audio out man-he’s got some really nice tunes.
Some other heavy artists you guys may be interested in: Noisia, Evol Intent, Black Sun Empire, Calyx, Counterstrike, Dom & Roland, Future Prophecies, Raiden, State of Mind, The Upbeats, Tech Itch, Teebee.
This post is full of my favourite drum & bass. Back tard.
Mirin the NZ producers, Ive seen State of Mind and The Upbeats live and they go hard
… and Archon 2 – “The Beckoning” … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=653SrLkVbDU
I guess it’s a song about that day a giant skate wheel bearing crashed over that old fence.
Great post! Been into DnB ever since I heard dieselboy spin at buzz in dc in 99. Lovin dieselboys new shit mixin DnB w dubstep. Good to hear about all these classics. Don’t forget tech itch! Also check out urban jungle by aprhodite too!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOziIigNQjs
To borrow a phrase “sometimes I love Tech Itch more than my mom” :D :D :D
Awesome post, dude! I’ve had a longtime interest with getting into some electronic music, but I was never was really able to because I couldn’t identify what elements of electronic the music I liked (as I could with rock/pop/etc). Every random song I heard was either too “happy” or too circular and boring sounding. This stuff is pretty much exactly what I was looking for (aggressive, driving beat), and I’ll be investigating this genre further. Thanks for setting me on the right track!
yup DnB/hardcore was my first choice back when i was a teenage mdma addict in the early to mid 00s… loved angerfists “fuck trance” track… i mean i still like trance doe since hot bishes be all up on tiesto’s nuts n shit but to me i appreciated these 2 genres more since it appeared to me more “metal” n “in yo face” than dat gay happy shit haha anyways good post brah…. i never knew ed rush was dat old =P
great post, but only liquid is real to me
Not on Good Looking or Innerground? NOT MUSIC!
you have the ability <3
A++ post and comments here
Do Scorn and Ice/Techno Animal count or does the Naplam Death thing make them guilty by association?
Not to be a Justin Broadrick dickrider but it would be great if he quit that Jesu crap and just concentrated on this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1y7wsAtElg&feature=related
Just d/l’ed it, thanks for the recommendation. Some sites say it’s a Bill Laswell project, featuring Broadrick, others Broadrick’s project featuring Laswell, funny how they can’t just say “joint collaboration”.
Fuckin a man, glad somebody liked it.
Mirin dat next level shitty album artwork. It’s amazing to think that someone was likely paid for that, possibly a somewhat large sum (500$).
Even more amazing to think that a band actually thought this was good enough for their album cover. I just imagine them choosing between different artwork options (likely not how it went down), and universally concluding “this is the one!”
band?
God I used to be so into jungle and dnb. Audiogalaxy gave me an I’ll hookup with old jungle and darkcore heads that sent me crazy stuff long since lost to history that ill never find again, but a hard drive crash lost it all. Gonna scope everything in post+comments tomorrow. P.s. no mention of technical itch? Dude made me want to pit.
this post was awesome. i always suspected there could be a surprisingly large crossover in hardcore/metal fans and jungle/dnb fans, but besides myself and one of my friends, i was never able to find anybody else.
also, since we’re doing recommendations, if anbody is looking for some sweet new school jungle, the killa records podcast is pretty fantastic for it.
Now I know I love this site.
It bugs me how everyone is all “hurr durr dubstep is so amazing swaq”
When they don’t know where it came from
is there demand for late 90′s dnb vinyl?
I was wondering that myself… I would imagine there would be. There is some on ebay- someone is asking $96.00 for the “Alien Girl” 12″ and there were a bunch of other 12″ from that time going for $30-$40. But I didn’t see any bids on the auctions.