Drill 'n' bass

Last updated

Drill 'n' bass is a subgenre of drum and bass which developed in the mid-1990s as IDM artists began experimenting with elements of breakbeat, jungle, and drum and bass music. [2] Artists utilized powerful audio software programs and deployed frenzied, irregular beats that often discouraged dancing. [2] [3] The style was often interpreted as having a lightly parodic relationship with the dance styles that inspired it. [4]

Contents

Characteristics

AllMusic referred to the genre as "a spastic form of breakbeat jungle that relied on powerful audio software and patient programming to warp old midtempo beats and breaks into a frenzied, experimental potpourri of low-attention-span electronic music." [2] Critic Simon Reynolds described it as "jungle by non-junglists for non-junglists," stating that producers are "free to take the idiomatic features of jungle — fucked-up breakbeats, mutant bass, sampladelic collage —and exacerbate them away beyond any conceivable use-value to DJ or dancer." [4] Author Peter Shapiro called it "double-time drum 'n' bass with impossible-to-dance-to rhythms and toilet humor." [1]

History

Early exponents of drill 'n' bass included Luke Vibert, Aphex Twin, and Squarepusher. [2] [4] The style was pioneered by Vibert on his 1995 EPs under the name Plug. [5] Other pioneering releases included Aphex Twin's Hangable Auto Bulb EPs (1995) (under his AFX moniker) and Squarepusher's Conumber E:P (1995). [2] In 1996, the style appeared on long-form LPs such as Plug's Drum 'n' Bass for Papa and Squarepusher's Feed Me Weird Things . [2] The μ-Ziq album Lunatic Harness (1997) was described by The Quietus as an "immaculate example" of the style. [6]

Subsequent artists like Witchman, Animals on Wheels, Amon Tobin, Mung, and Plasmalamp also explored the style. [2] [4] By the end of the 1990s, it had largely dissipated. [2] Later artists such as Kid606 drew on the style. [5] It would help produce the IDM spin-off genre breakcore, which took a more earnest and frenetic approach to the jungle sound. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drum and bass</span> Type of electronic music

Drum and bass is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast breakbeats with heavy bass and sub-bass lines, samples, and synthesizers. The genre grew out of the UK's jungle scene in the 1990s.

Breakbeat hardcore is a music genre that spawned from the UK rave scene during the early 1990s. It combines four-on-the-floor rhythms with breakbeats usually sampled from hip hop. In addition to the inclusion of breakbeats, the genre also features shuffled drum machine patterns, hoover, and other noises originating from new beat and Belgian techno, sounds from acid house and bleep techno, and often upbeat house piano riffs and vocals.

Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that tends to use drum breaks sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as Florida breaks, hip hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat hardcore, and UK garage styles.

Intelligent dance music (IDM) is a style of electronic music originating in the early 1990s, defined by idiosyncratic experimentation rather than specific genre constraints. It emerged from the culture and sound palette of electronic styles such as ambient techno, acid house, Detroit techno and breakbeat; it has been regarded as better suited to home listening than dancing. Prominent artists associated with it include Aphex Twin, Autechre, Squarepusher, Boards of Canada, Amon Tobin, Higher Intelligence Agency, Telefon Tel Aviv, μ-Ziq, The Black Dog, The Future Sound of London, Mouse on Mars, Biosphere, Orbital and Luke Vibert.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squarepusher</span> British musician

Thomas Russell Jenkinson, known professionally as Squarepusher, is an English electronic musician, record producer, bassist, multi-instrumentalist and DJ. His music spans several genres including drum and bass, IDM, acid techno, jazz fusion, and electroacoustic music. His recordings are often typified by a combination of complex drum programming, live instrumental playing, and digital signal processing. Since 1995, he has recorded for Warp Records as well as smaller labels, including Rephlex Records. He is the older brother of Ceephax Acid Crew.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luke Vibert</span> British musician

Luke Vibert is a British electronic musician and producer, also known for his work under several aliases such as Plug and Wagon Christ. Raised in Cornwall, Vibert began releasing projects in the 1990s across varied genres, including techno, drum and bass, and trip hop. He has recorded on labels such as Rephlex, Ninja Tune, Planet Mu, and Warp.

Jungle is a genre of electronic music that developed out of the UK rave scene and sound system culture in the 1990s. Emerging from breakbeat hardcore, the style is characterised by rapid breakbeats, heavily syncopated percussive loops, samples, and synthesised effects, combined with the deep basslines, melodies, and vocal samples found in dub, reggae and dancehall, as well as hip hop and funk. Many producers frequently sampled the "Amen break" or other breakbeats from funk and jazz recordings. Jungle was a direct precursor to the drum and bass genre which emerged in the mid-1990s.

<i>Richard D. James Album</i> 1996 studio album by Aphex Twin

Richard D. James Album is the eponymous fourth studio album by Irish-British electronic musician Richard D. James, under his pseudonym Aphex Twin. In the United Kingdom, the album was released on 4 November 1996 through Warp Records. In the United States, it was released on 28 January 1997 by Sire Records, with the Girl/Boy EP included as bonus tracks. A reissue on vinyl was released on 18 September 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Paradinas</span> British musician

Michael Robert Paradinas, better known by his stage name μ-Ziq, is an English electronic musician from Wimbledon, London. He was associated with the electronic style intelligent dance music (IDM) during the 1990s, and recorded on Rephlex Records and Reflective Records. His critically acclaimed 1997 album, Lunatic Harness, helped define the drill 'n' bass subgenre and was also his most successful release, selling over 100,000 copies. Paradinas founded the record label Planet Mu, begun in 1995, where he has championed genres such as juke, IDM and footwork.

Breakcore is a style and microgenre of electronic dance music that emerged from jungle, hardcore, and drum and bass in the mid-to-late 1990s. It is characterized by very complex and intricate breakbeats and a wide palette of sampling sources played at high tempos.

Techstep is a dark subgenre of drum and bass that was created in the mid-1990s.

<i>Feed Me Weird Things</i> 1996 studio album by Squarepusher

Feed Me Weird Things is the debut studio album by English electronic musician Tom Jenkinson under the alias Squarepusher. It was released on 3 June 1996 through Rephlex Records. It entered the dance albums chart at No. 10 on 15 June.

<i>Hard Normal Daddy</i> 1997 studio album by Squarepusher

Hard Normal Daddy is the second studio album by English electronic musician Tom Jenkinson under the alias Squarepusher, released on 28 April 1997. The album was Jenkinson's first studio album as Squarepusher for Warp. A single for the track "Vic Acid" was released in 1997 prior to the album's release.

<i>Hangable Auto Bulb</i> 1995 EP by AFX

Hangable Auto Bulb is a series of two 1995 EPs by electronic musician Richard D. James, under his alias AFX. The two were re-released by Warp Records as a single album on 31 October 2005. They marked James's first foray into rapid drill 'n' bass style beat programming.

Drum and bass is an electronic music genre that originated in the UK rave scene having developed from breakbeat hardcore. The genre would go on to become one of the most popular genres of electronic dance music, becoming international and spawning multiple different derivatives and subgenres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don FM</span> Radio station

Don FM was a 1990s London pirate radio station, influential in the development of breakbeat hardcore, jungle and drum and bass music. It was the first jungle pirate station granted a temporary legal license.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aphex Twin</span> British electronic musician (born 1971)

Richard David James, known professionally as Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born British musician, composer and DJ. He is known for his idiosyncratic work in electronic styles such as techno, ambient, and jungle. Journalists from publications including Mixmag, The New York Times, NME, Fact,Clash and The Guardian have called James one of the most influential and important artists in contemporary electronic music.

<i>Guitar, Drums n Bass</i> 1996 studio album by Derek Bailey

Guitar, Drums 'n' Bass is an album by free improvisation guitarist Derek Bailey, released by Avant Records in 1996. After spending several years improvising his guitar to the sound of jungle and drum and bass music on pirate radio, Bailey proposed to collaborator John Zorn that he make an album of his musical fusion. Zorn then contacted Birmingham-based drum and bass producer D.J. Ninj to provide the musical backing, who recorded his contributions in spring 1995. After a failed session with engineer Mick Harris, Bailey recorded his overlaid guitar improvisations in Bill Laswell's New York City studio in October 1995, slightly altering Ninj's contributions to remove electric piano passages.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Peter Shapiro, ed. (1999). Drum'n'Bass the Rough Guide. p. 207. ISBN   9781858284330.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Drill'n'bass Music Genre Overview | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  3. ↑ Greene, Paul D.; Porcello, Thomas, eds. (1 March 2010). Wired for Sound: Engineering and Technologies in Sonic Cultures. Wesleyan University Press. p. 161. ISBN   978-0819565167.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Simon Reynolds. Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture. Soft Skull Press, 2012. p. 382-383
  5. 1 2 Reynolds, Simon. "kid606 - Down With The Scene review" . Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  6. ↑ Remington, Miranda. "The Strange World Of… Mike Paradinas". The Quietus. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.