Hey everyone, welcome back to Sunday Skool. Today I want to introduce you to a FREE site that I turn to quite often to learn a whole host of things. Here you can learn how to use an MPC-60, how to produce a remix, how to construct beats, how to properly take samples, and even a little bit about DJ etiquette. But more importantly, this database has over 240 video archives with interviews of some of the most influential artists, producers, Deejays, record label owners, etc. Of course I am talking about the Red Bull Music Academy in London.

Red Bull Music Academy video

This is the kind of stuff that I really wish would have been available to young bucks like me (in 1989+)! On the Red Bull Special Features page you will find a ton of quite useful production techniques and history about subjects such as:

SAMPLING
BEAT CONSTRUCTION
THE ART OF THE REMIX
DJ ETIQUETTE

Probably one of the most educational pages would be the Red Bull Lecture Series page with such influential speakers as:

THE ROOTS
AMP FIDDLER
BOB MOOG
CARL CRAIG
CHEZ DAMIER
CUT CHEMIST
CRAZE
GOLDIE
MIA

MIA at the Red Bull Music Academy video

A-TRAK

A-Trak from Red Bull Music Academy video

And over 230 more!

This site is just one of the immensely valuable resources now available on the web. There is simply no lack of info available to the new DJ, Producer, or Artist these days. The only problem a newbie might have is that there is too much information and it is difficult to sift through. However, for me… I would’ve loved to have that problem back in the ’80s & ’90s versus having ZERO instructional material available. Have fun.

Classic Track of The Week

Goldie – Inner City Life (RITM Short Attention Span Edit) [FFRR Records] (1996)

Sasha EM Live @ Amnesia 1996

AND NOW, YOU CAN CONSIDER YOURSELF SCHOOLED!

Pappy Andrews contact info:

Soundcloud
Twitter

Hey everyone, welcome back to Sunday Skool. Whew! what a long saturday night. First a Halloween Costume Party and then Tiesto until 3am.  As I’m sure you have gathered from many of my posts… Trance is not my favorite genre (I know, I know.. it’s the #1 selling EDM worldwide, etc, etc). It’s just that I didn’t hear much progression over about a 10yr period… so I stopped listening.

Needless to say, when my wife wanted tickets to see the Jesus poser guy for her birthday, I wasn’t too excited about the somewhat expensive ordeal ($46/ea. gen admission). But guess what? I didn’t hate the show very much at all. I was actually quite surprised in fact. Tiesto has diversified his show quite a bit since earlier this decade. At least one of his tracks was an amazing mixture of a sort of 80′s/90′s Electroclash Vocal and some heavy beats. Of course, I’m talking about ‘Feel It In My Bones (ft. Tegan & Sara)’ from the new album Kaliedoscope released just this month. I found this video from 25 SEP 09 at the Hammerstein Ballroom and it seems his road show is identical everywhere because it looked exactly like this.

Tiesto – Feel It In My Bones video

Now, I didn’t keep my eyes on him the whole night… but I didn’t even see a single Jesus pose…. and that’s a very good thing because I think we can all agree on one thing — The almighty posing business is absolutely annoying rubbish.

Editor’s Note: St. Louis, Missouri readers can catch Tiesto live in the burbs on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 at Home Nightclub (St. Charles, MO).

UK Garage / Speed Garage

Last week we continued our tour of sub-genres and discussed BASSLINE HOUSE. Well, this week we are going a little further back to look at a genre that was huge in the England during the mid to late 1990′s — UK GARAGE. Believe it or not, Wikipedia actually has a somewhat detailed and accurate description:

UK garage (also known as UKG or simply garage) is an umbrella term that refers to several different varieties of modern electronic dance music generally connected to the evolution of house in the United Kingdom from early/mid-1990s. The evolution of house music in the UK in the mid 1990s led to the term, as previously coined by the Paradise Garage DJs, being applied to a new form of music also known as speed garage. In the late nineties the term UK garage was settled upon by the scene. The pronunciation of UK garage is (girrahge) versus the typical US pronunciation (guhrauhge), as this is the most common pronunciation of the word in the British Isles.

Not too bad for Wikipedia huh? Here’s a good little blurb from a book I’m sure you’ve noticed I often quote a lot (Last Night A DJ Saved My Life):

Garage’ is one of the most mangled terms in dance music. The term derives from the Paradise Garage itself, but it has meant so many different things to so many different people that unless you’re talking about a specific time and place, it is virtually meaningless. Part of the reason for this confusion (aside from various journalistic misunderstandings and industry misappropriations) is that the range of music played at the garage was so broad. The music we now call ‘garage’ has evolved from only a small part of the club’s wildly eclectic soundtrack.

To understand UK Garage, you have to take a little trip back to the states to review US Garage first: The main key DJ involved with the evolution of this style of music was Larry Levan, the resident DJ at the Paradise Garage, who defined a unique style of mixing between dubs of disco records. Over time, the term “garage” in the US came to mainly describe the more soulful, gospel-inspired styles of disco and house music first made popular by Tony Humphries at club Zanzibar in Newark, NJ. In the 1990s, the New Jersey sound became distinctly different from the sound in New York. Although the Paradise Garage was a New York club, the label “Garage” came to be associated with the New Jersey sound over time as the bond between the Paradise Garage and club Zanzibar was strong. A rawer, “blacker” sound, as described above, became the signature style in North Jersey.

Meanwhile in 90s New York, a more Latin, tribal sound took over thanks to Junior Vasquez and his disciples at the Sound Factory. However, the garage tradition returned in force with Body & Soul, a collective formed by Francois K., Danny Krivit and Joaquin Joe Claussell, and its immensely popular Sunday sessions (now defunct). Louie Vega has continued to perform regularly on Wednesdays, although without the popularity he has in Europe or Japan. Timmy Regisford was another stalwart of the NYC house community with his Saturday night parties at legendary Club Shelter.

In the UK, where jungle was very popular at the time, garage was played in a second room at jungle events. DJs started to speed up garage tracks to make them more suitable for the jungle audience in the UK. The media started to call this tempo-altered type of garage music “speed garage.” DJs would usually play dub versions (arrangements without vocals) of garage tracks, because pitch-shifting vocals could sometimes render the music unrecognizable.

The absence of vocals left space in the music for MC’s who started rhyming to the records. Since then MCs have become one of the vital aspects of Speed and UK garage parties and records. During its initial phase, the speed garage scene was also known as “the Sunday scene,” as initially speed garage promoters could only hire venues on Sunday evenings (venue owners preferred to save Friday and Saturday nights for more popular musical styles).

– Frank Broughton/Bill Brewster in Last Night A DJ Saved My Life

Debate continues to rage over the first true UK Garage / Speed Garage record. Contenders include:

Definitely one of my favorites…

Professional Widow (Armand Van Helden’s Star Trunk Funkin Mix) video

Tori Amos “Professional Widow (Armand Van Helden’s Star Trunk Funkin Mix) (1996) // Atlantic

Double 99 – RIP Groove video

Double 99 “Ripgroove” (1997) // Satellite Records (UK)

MP3: Double 99 – RIP Groove

SoMore – I Refuse What You Want video

SoMore “I Refuse (Original Mix)” (1997) // XL Recordings

Ramsey and Fen – Love Bug video

Ramsey and Fen “Love Bug” (1997) // Bug Records

One thing to remember is that although most of the aforementioned tracks have different ‘official’ release dates, they were all out on promo vinyl at about the same time. Among those credited with honing the speed garage sound, Todd Edwards is often cited as a seminal influence on the UK garage sound. The producer from New Jersey introduced a new way of working with vocals. Instead of having full verses and choruses, he picked out vocal phrases and played them like an instrument, using sampling technology. Often, individual syllables were reversed or pitch-shifted. This type of vocal treatment is still a key characteristic of the UK garage style.

Classic Track(s) of The Week

MP3: Sneaker Pimps – Spin Spin Sugar (Armand’s Dark Garage Mix)

Sneaker Pimps – Spin Spin Sugar (Armands Dark Garage Mix) video

C.J. Bolland – Sugar Is Sweeter (Armand’s Drum and Bass Mix) video

AND NOW, YOU CAN CONSIDER YOURSELF SCHOOLED!

Pappy Andrews contact info:
Soundcloud
Twitter

Hey everyone, welcome back to Sunday Skool. I hope you enjoyed learning a little about the sub-genre FIDGET. Today, I’m posting a great article from Factmagazine.co.uk. This article discusses what could be described as a ‘sister’ genre or possibly a pre-cursor to FIDGET that’s been blowing up in the U.K. for more than a minute. It is quite a varied genre and often FIDGET is simply considered BASSLINE.

Editor’s (Renaissance’s) Note: This should be interesting. As many of you know, bassline is my thang so I can’t wait to read Pappy’s take on the genre.

The more radio play tracks in the U.K. sound to me almost exactly like the 2-step genre of the 90′s [1 & 3 Kick with intricate snare & high hats on top (almost like a breakbeat) with R&B vocals on the top]. The big difference between a 2-Step track and the current BASSLINE track is the absence of the 2-Step beat, replaced by a 4/4 kick and a severely distorted bassline (often wobbly). Here is the first example that comes up when searching BASSLINE on youtube.

Wayne Scott-Fox – Freak Like Me (Bassline Remix) video

Here’s another not quite so cheezey track where you can definitely see a lot of similarities in the production of the Basslines.

Calvin Harris – I’m Not Alone (Herve’s See You At the Festivals remix) video

And just in case you forgot what UK Garage/2-Step was… Here’s an Artful Dodger mix (bassline) featuring Craig David (2-Step)

Artful Dodger featuring Craig David – Re-Rewind video

So here goes a great article discussing the origin of BASSLINE.

BASSLINE HOUSE AND THE RETURN OF ‘FEMININE PRESSURE’

After T2′s incursion into the charts, K-Punk welcomes bassline house as the Yin to grime and dubstep’s Yang; sensual, poppy, crazily euphoric, and cartoonishly abstract…

According to Simon Reynolds, bassline house is, “the drastic pendulum swing from yang to yin, testosterone to oestrogen, that I had always imagined would happen in reaction to grime, except it took so long to happen I gave up on it and just forgot.” It wasn’t only the dominance of grime that meant that the pendulum of the ‘hardcore continuum’ was stuck at the ultra-masculine pole. Dubstep, too, suffers from the same oestrogen-depletion, and both genres to some extent have their origins in a reaction – an over-reaction – to the ‘feminine pressure’ of late-’90s 2-step.

Both dubstep and grime have been shaped by their suspicion of the song, female voice and the kind of exuberance that was once the unique defining feature of the panoply of musics that developed out of British rave music. Dubstep and grime’s male moroseness corresponded not only to a deficiency of oestrogen, but also to a
drying up of serotonin. It was as if both genres had simulated the effects on the brain of long-term ecstasy use. Their affective state corresponds with that moment in a heavy Ecstasy-user’s life when the drug does not work any more, and continued caning of it produces clinical depression. The smiley face has become a screwface, and the drug correlate was no longer MDMA but the lassitude-producing skunk. Dubstep and grime’s moodiness seemed to assert a reality principle, functioning almost as a warning that collective exuberance is not sustainable. The moodiness of previous moments in the hardcore continuum – such as darkside jungle or techstep – was always mitigated by the hyper-kinetic propulsion of the beats and basslines. But, with with dubstep and grime, things seemed to have come to a dead stop, a skunked-out inertial black hole. The hardcore continuum had frozen into a permanent midwinter that appeared to be a terminal condition.

With bassline house, green shoots have begun to peep through the permafrost. Bassline is a long overdue efflorescence of everything that grime and dubstep have excluded: in short, pop. Grime had a will-to-power but an ingrained hostility to pop; even though it evolved by a very different route, grime was continually dogged by the bling-toting spectre of US hip-hop. Dubstep, meanwhile, is a genre from which practically all of the elements of pop have been ruthlessly bred out. But, listen to a Bassline House mix and you find yourself seduced and infected by intoxicating songs. After the bitter asceticism of grime and dubstep, bassline seems like a fabulous sweet shop, full of delicious sugar rushes. Like its predecessor, 2-step, bassline is ‘sweet like chocolate’, but the obvious difference from the of 2-step is bassline’s beat: 4/4 as opposed to 2-step’s itchy, stratchy skitter. Also, 2-step was informed by an r&b-inspired sophistication absent from bassline, which recalls the barrel organ, freaky fairground quality of very early rave.

However, bassline is not simply a recapitulation or a ‘cut and shunt’ of previous Rave components. As Simon Reynolds argues, bassline house takes ‘bass science’ to a new level ‘with the ridiculously intricate sculpting of the b-lines and its interweaving of multiple basslines–the result resembling a writhing pit of snakes.’ Far from being some conservative concession to the established protocols of pop, bassline is what mainstream pop has so conspicuously lacked for the past half decade or so – a new pop mutation. Bassline is less a sweetshop than a Willy Wonka-style chocolate factory in which industrial production – this music is churned out at a delirious rate – combines with weirdness. Bassline is cartoonishly abstract, full of funhouse angles and bizarre geometries.

Screama and Zoe’s ‘Freak Me’ brings together all of the key properties of the genre – a catchy tune, and an assertion of feminine jouissance and a seething cakewalk of squelching bass. ‘Freak Me’, a bid for ‘boys not to be hasty’, takes the old r&b euphemism – ‘freak’ meaning sex – literally. Zoe says that she is being ‘made wet’ but the secretions in question have little in common with the slickness of r&b. In terms of its rendition of libido, bassline’s precursor is less r&b than Funkadelia, which similarly envisaged desire as a delirious, absurd mutation, a deviation from the proprieties of dignity and poise. ‘Freak Me’ transforms the tiresome cliché of love as an ‘emotional rollercoaster’ into a thrilling amusement park ride. Much like 2-step before it but in many ways more emphatically, the ‘feminine pressure’ of bassline is reminiscent of feminist theoretician Luce Irigaray’s claim that women have sex organs ‘just about everywhere’. The cartoon body implied by bassline is contour-less and polymorphous, lacking in specific erogenous zones because entirely given over to a diffuse eroticism.

Part of bassline’s appeal resides in the tension between the crazed euphoria of the sound and the often plaintive quality of the songs. Bassline’s biggest hit to date, T2 and Jodie Aysha’s [pictured left] ‘Heartbroken’, perfectly exemplifies this duality. But you can also hear it in two of Zoe’s tunes – the masochistic ‘Why Does Love Hurt
Me’, in which the subdued singer contemplates the pleasure-in-pain of love, and the deeply addictive ‘Lately’, where she falls victim to love as deranging and debilitating pathology (“lately I just ain’t been right, lately I cannot sleep at night”). ‘Lately’ could almost be Lily Allen if she weren’t a spoilt public schoolgirl gone mockney, and if she was using an updated, rather than trad, version of reggae as a backing. What is beguiling about Zoe’s vocals is that, in common with many of the singers on bassline tracks, they are ‘weak’, lacking in all the acrobatic, vibrato-trilling stridency that is standard in X-Factor Britain. These weak – or desire – incapicitated – vocals express sadness and longing in a way that empty demonstrations of vocal technique can never hope to. Bassline is what the British overground and underground have both been waiting for.

Good stuff. Since the article brought up UK Garage, check back next week when we discuss all things UKG: UK Garage, Speed Garage, 2-Step, etc.

Classic Track of The Week:

JACO – Show Some Love (Rhythm Invention Remix) [Warp Records] (1992)

JACO – Show Some Love (Rhythm Invention Remix) video

AND NOW, YOU CAN CONSIDER YOURSELF SCHOOLED!

Pappy Andrews contact info:
Soundcloud
Twitter

Hey everyone, welcome back to Sunday Skool. I hope you enjoyed last week’s tutorial showing you exactly how a sound or tone is made to FIDGET. So, what is the ‘genre’ FIDGET and what’s included? Well, after much research it seems that the original name FIDGET was coined by Jesse Rose and Switch.

Here’s what Jesse Rose said about FIDGET during an interview with DJ Mag in late ’06/’07:

What is Fidget House?

We came up with ‘fidget house’ as a joke, which has now gone a little too far. Switch, Trevor Loveys, Herve and myself all make and play ‘fidget house’, and although we all have different influences we are influenced by music that isn’t straight-up house, like hyphy and bali funk.

I’ve also run across a not-so-flattering explanation of FIDGET from the UK’s “Guardian” newspaper music blog.

It’s a scene that doesn’t really exist beyond the internet, and the term seems to be used so that bloggers know what to put in the genre field in iTunes before uploading songs.

Switch is recognized as the first producer to begin making fidget and his Dubsided Label has been central in releasing the scene’s music. His productions are subtle, but subsequent producers, such as Trevor Loveys, Herve, Fake Blood, and Jack Beats, have exaggerated the initial elements of fidget.

The sound is defined by snatched vocal snippets, pitch-bent basslines and rave-style synth stabs over glitchy 4/4 beats. Fidget producers like to think of themselves as global music connoisseurs, hand-picking bits from genres such as Chicago house, rave, UK Garage, US Hip Hop, Baltimore club, Kudoro and other authentic world music genres. In reality, at its worst, the genre is basically and updated, ever-so-slightly less cheesy take
on Big Beat – with its annoying rap vocal loops and ridiculous Fatboy Slim-style builds. The more annoying songs sound like the theme to Fun House if there were a new series…

…Its not all bad though, The Crookers remix of Day and Night is a genuinely great club song, and its popularity is rightly deserved. What I find slightly ironic, though, is that it’s essentially an appropriated bassline song made to appeal to people outside this scene. But it seems to be the bassline and UK garage fans that have latched on to it the most. Crookers have done such a good job at “pinching” the best bits from bassline that they’ve managed to win over many of the scene’s fans.

Well, everyone’s got their own opinion don’t they? Either way, I have to agree that the popularity and success of the Crookers remix of Kid Cudi’s Day ‘N’ Nite is definitely a culmination of all the genres that have evolved over the years… including FIDGET. No matter how tired you are of hearing the track, it is without question a really great track. In the article you heard a few of the many terms used regarding the creation and history of FIDGET such as; UK Garage, Speed Garage, Dubstep, 2-Step, Bassline, and Grime — that we will have to get into next week as we trace back the heritage of this genre/non-genre.

It’s easy to think that the Herve, Sinden, Switch, Jesse Rose ‘genre’ is a more all-encompassing title “Bass Heavy Club Music.” However, as much as everyone hates them, there are reasons for sub-genres. Here are four examples of “Bass Heavy Club Music” that could confuse the heck out of someone trying to pick a show to attend:

Piratenpartei Propaganda video

Switched Sources – Satisfied video

Fake Blood – Mars (Herve Refix) video

Chromeo – Fancy Footwork (Crookers Remix) video

So, even though the genres of sub-genres of sub-genres can get pretty annoying… you can see how sometimes they can be helpful. A pure dubstep, bassline, or grime DJ is going to be quite a bit different than a more fidgety bass-heavy club DJ. Check back next week when we go deeper into who did what – when – and how.

Classic Track of The Week
This week is a double feature, because I just received the second good remix of this 1992 Aly-Us track.

Aly-Us – Follow Me
(Original Mix) [Strictly Rhythm] (1992)

Aly-Us – Follow Me
(Fred Everything_Oliver Desmet SF Mix) [Strictly Rhythm] (2009)

Aly-Us – Follow Me video

Aly-Us – Follow Me 2009 Remix video

AND NOW, YOU CAN CONSIDER YOURSELF SCHOOLED!
Pappy Andrews contact info:
Soundcloud
Twitter

Hey everyone, welcome back to Sunday Skool. I know it’s been a couple of weeks since we’ve held a session, but it’s all for a great cause! Which one is that? Well, I am now officially out of the U.S. Army & National Guard after 11 years of service (including 2 yearlong tours in Iraq). It’s been an exhausting couple of weeks full of; paperwork, equipment turn-in, retirement parties (for me), memorial services (for those lost), deployment parties (for the rest of my unit deploying to Afghanistan this month), and even a little quiet contemplation about — my accomplishments, sacrifices (mine, my brothers in arms, and especially my family), the joy, the pain, the loss of friends & comrades, the small & large victories, the defeats, and the suffering by all parties involved in war. I just want to take another moment to thank all of the: NCO’s, officer’s, mentors, friends, and family who have helped and guided me throughout my time in service. It’s been a wonderful experience from beginning to end and I’m looking forward to the next chapter in my life.

Now git back to SKOOL!! Yay! During our last session, which was a holiday, I decided to share several tracks with you in an effort to get you ready for a multi-part session discussing FIDGET. Through the tracks posted, I hope you were able to get an idea of what I mean when I say FIDGET. There are just so many names for this style/sub-genre that consists of Fidgety, Wobbly, Wonkity Beats & Basslines. The best way to start a discussion about FIDGET was to literally show you a technical tutorial that describes how the sound is made. This way, I’m sure you will immediately begin to hear the sound in many songs you already listen to. This genre/sub-genre may already be turning into a passing fad, but I don’t believe it will necessarily disappear. This is because the production of the sound has been showing up in various other genres lately. Some of the more popular producers are already beginning to say that they do NOT produce fidget. For instance, the super popular producer duo Herve & Sinden now call their sound “Bass Heavy Club Music.” However, if you listen to their latest remixes, you will still hear the same production style used. I suppose this is because they don’t want to be pidgeon-holed into any particular genre. Either way, I wonder how long it will be before hip hop picks it up?

Here’s what Wikipedia says:

Fidget is a style of house music that is defined by “snatched vocal snippets, pitch-bent basslines, and rave-style synth stabs over glitchy 4/4 beats.”

Wow, how much did someone get paid coming up with that vague definition?

This particular tutorial is specifically directed toward users of Native Instruments “Massive”, which is an awesome little program by the way. I searched out and viewed a ton of FIDGET centered production tutorials and this one is by far the most clear and conscise explanation of how to get a sound to fidget or wobble. This one is also geared toward the production of a Dubstep track, but the skillset is the same. This is how a fidgety, wobbly, or wonkity bassline is made:

How to Create Wobble Bass with Massive video

Wow, pretty cool huh? Like I said before, I viewed tons of other videos before I found this one. Since then, I fully understand how it is made and can pretty much replicate it on any synth. Be sure to check back over the next few weeks as we explore some history of where this style came from, what other genres share this production trick, and where else this sound is starting to rear it’s wobbly head.

Classic Track of The Week:
This week is a double feature, because I just received (what I believe to be) the first good remix of this 1996 Armand Van Helden Classic.

Armand Van Helden – The Funk Phenomenon (Original Mix) [Henry Street Music] (1996)

Armand Van Helden – The Funk Phenomenon (Starkillers 2010 Mix) [Henry Street Music] (2009)

Armand Van Helden – The Funk Phenomenon (Original Mix)

Armand Van Helden – The Funk Phenomenon (Starkillers 2010 Mix)

AND NOW, YOU CAN CONSIDER YOURSELF SCHOOLED!

Pappy Andrews contact info:
Soundcloud
Twitter

Pappy has been on point with two straight weeks of house roots education, and this video complements his most recent Sunday Skool topics very well. In fact, its so right on, I couldn’t sit on it any longer. Props to Matt Hite for originally introducing me to this video.

“Pump Up the Volume: The History of House Music” is a film that “follows the evolution of house music from its birth in Chicago to the myriad of diverse music it has since spawned.” It’s absolutely fantastic and ironically impossible to purchase a legitimate copy from what I can tell! It was originally broadcast on BBC Channel 4 and has not made it to DVD for a proper release, unfortunately.

Thanks to the wonders of technology, a very kind soul has made it available for viewing on YouTube.

Pump Up the Volume: The History of House

Hi everyone, this is Pappy Andrews and welcome back to Sunday Skool. Last week you were presented with some ideas about how Punk Rock (or specifically Post Punk Rock) influenced the Electronic Dance Music (EDM) that we all love today. I hope last weeks article was able to get most of you thinking about the “origins” of dance music.

As I mentioned last week, the typical discussion about the origins of today’s Dance Music revolves around DISCO. So this week we are going to go over the direct impact that the Disco/Post-Disco era actually has on our culture today.

In the 1960′s and early 70′s, the jukebox was the predominant medium for listening to music in New York clubs. Commercial venues had to adhere to strict city rules. The social and political climate were in constant flux. Small bars and dance spaces in New York from the outer boroughs to midtown — Malcolm’s, Andre’s, Uncle Charlies, Buttermilk Bottoms, The Gilded Grape, The Firehouse, The Continental Baths — gave refute to the disquiet. Below the surface a new way of life was evolving, by-passing and answering a call for life, the ethos that would be the dominant influence to what was to come in dance music culture.

Although, I know I said last week that youtube was pissing me off (and it still is), these video clips of THE MAESTRO are just priceless:

The Maestro – Larry Levan & Early DJ Culture videos

Who knows what YouTube did with video 9/9, but if anyone finds it.. Post it below. Here is a link to a couple of anthologies about Larry Levan:

Larry Levan Videos

Larry Levan Discography

Larry Levan Mixes – Googled (137,000)

Classic Track of The Week:

Electroliners – Loose Caboose (Original Mix) [1995]

Electroliners – Loose Caboose (Bassbin Twins Mix) [1995]

AND NOW… YOU CAN CONSIDER YOURSELF SCHOOLED!

pappy andrews contact info:
Soundcloud
Twitter

Hi everyone, this is Pappy Andrews and welcome back to Sunday Skool. More than an actual “article”, the class for this week is more like a “re-post”. I am re-posting an article I’ve read and discussed in several forums, blogs and parties over the past few weeks. Of course I’ve added some pics, videos and mp3s… So, I hope this will get all of you thinking about the “origins” of this thing we call EDM (Electronic Dance Music) or “House Music”. As for most of you, EDM — in all of its glory and insurmountable sub-genres like: House, Techno, Tribal, Breaks, Disco, UK Garage, Vocal House, Funky, Deep, Bassline, Tech, Fidget, Wobble, Blog, Electro, Circuit, Trance Minimal, and on and on and on and on– literally changed my life almost 20 years ago. I know for a fact that I am not the only one with the same experience… here’s how I know:

InDeep wrote a song about it.

Seamus Haji recently remixed it.

Frank Broughton wrote a book about it.

And every one of you who have stood in the middle of the dance floor when the vibe was really burnin’… knows exactly what I’m talking about.

This article discusses a different angle of the origins of EDM than the origin that most think of or refer to which is – DISCO! No, this article discusses how PUNK ROCK was a major influence on Electronic Dance Music. Whaaa?

It could look as a paradox, but the formal and ontological concept of modern Dance music (meant as intelligent & underground, not as mainstream and commercial) derives from Punk, and more precisely from the type of Punk music which developed both in Europe and in USA, from 1978 on, the so-called Post-Punk. This can be our starting point for an analysis of the concept of eclecticism in the field of dance music.

A paradox, as we said, because both from a strictly musical point of view and for its contents, Punk music is not “dance” music at all. The aesthetics of “no future” do not tally with the idea of “sharing” which inspires the concept of dance. It is also a paradox that this artistic revolution generated from a new way of considering and playing an instrument, the guitar, that has nothing to deal with what we consider modern dance. And again, it is a paradox that one of the key men of this “revolution” was Jonny Rotten that up to some time before spat on the audience.

New York at the end of the 70s was a breeding ground for artistic experimentation, (Basquiat and Haring, just to name the most famous ones), in each and every field, and it was exactly at this time that No-Wave was born, a kind of Punk-Jazz free form that will pave the way to a crossbreeding of styles and habits that would “make the Punk dance” (true DIY style!). Solo guitar rejection in favour of a bare rhythmic guitar turning each piece in a mantra, and an interest for afro and then dub rhythmics (for bass guitar and drum) represented the main stylistic elements for most art-punk groups: from the Contorsion to D.N.A. not forgetting Slits, Pop Group and PIL of Lydon or the Talking Heads of Eno/Byrne. They were all guided by an idea of nervous and radical dance that went against traditional rock Chuck Berry-like stylistic elements. In the same period two “absolver units” played an important psychological and formal role.

Most groups, from Pop Group till Liquid Liquid began to use rules and stylistic elements from non-Western types of music thus creating a different concept of music beat.

In non-Western music, we find a perceptive “music beat” representation; real time becomes “music” when intentionally synchronised in a “rhythm” thus entering a “cyclic” dimension that allows to live different moments as repeatable units of “present time” (state of trance). In Africa “music” is all that can be danced to, where bass guitar and drum act as “rhythm carriers”. Modern mixing techniques imported from Jamaica thanks to the keen minds of Lee Perry and King Tubby, and the use of electronic tools (samplers, above all,) led to a new concept of Disco Music, Mutant Disco, Hip hop, disco funk, electro, tallied with post punk first of all because these genres were played in the same locations (CBGB, Mudd Club, Hurrah’s); John Lydon was introduced from Don Letts to the dub and roots nights at the Roxy; Afrika Bambaataa wore a fuchsia mohawk and deejays as Larry Levan started to mix music with extraordinary eclecticism, turning the role of the deejay into a myth. Dance music didn’t need beat and style anymore, all that made people move was good. The invention of 12” discs, of remix and re-edit helped to fill the gap between dance and punk. Dub obsession would offer creative input to groups with very different roots and style: from the Clash to the PIL but also from Generation X (!) and Grace Jones, androgynous disco goddess that owed her success to the rhythmics of the Jamaican Sly and Robbie.

One of the people that acted as a link between the gay-disco scene and the heterosexual post punk world, was Arthur Russell. A white gay, literally “stuffed” with the dub and avant-guarde, from Satie to Steve Reich, he founded the Sleeping Bag label and started to record art-disco pieces that were minimal and intentionally not easy to be danced to. Obsessed by Situationism and by the sci-fi imaginative world, he once said to David Toop: “ You cannot bring drums into space, you can only bring your mind”.

Going along with the same PUNK ROCK theme, I just happen to have a few tracks that always make me think back to the Punk Days!

Sex Pistols – God Save The Queen (Neil Barnes 7″ Ext Mix)

Sex Pistols – God Save The Queen (Neil Barnes Dance Mix)

Public Image Limited – This Is Not A Love Song (Original)

LCD Soundsystem – North American Scum (Ian St. Laurent South Philly Scum Mix)

Since YouTube has been pissing me off lately (very slowwww servers sometimes)… I’ll be posting a boatload of MP3s next week and probably less youtube! So, feel free… DISCUSS this weeks class and get ready for more next week!

AND NOW… YOU CAN CONSIDER YOURSELF SCHOOLED!

pappy andrews contact info:
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Hi everyone, this is Pappy Andrews and welcome back to Sunday Skool. The first lesson came across my radar while flipping through the local Dallas Top 40/Dance/Hip-Hop stations (Aaargh!). Maybe I’m just old and bitter, but over the past 5-10 years I’ve grown an inability to listen to “commercial” radio for more than 15-20 minutes (besides, within 30 minutes you are guaranteed to hear the exact same song again, very annoying!).

Wow, Pitbull must be a former club kid or something. This is the second 1990′s era club hit “gank” released on one single album. (I wonder if any credit has been given to the original artists of the tracks that are obviously being sampled directly)? The first was “I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)” with a sample of The Bucketheads and now we have “Hotel” with an obvious club kid sample from 1992:

Pitbull – Hotel Room video

Not sure where that hook came from? Well, if you were in any type of house music club between 1992-1994 — I know you would’ve heard this track. It’s The Nightcrawlers with “Push The Feeling On” (1992) Fourth & Broadway Records. (don’t ask who is in this crazy homemade video, but they definitely fit the club kids look from that era… those were some good times!)

The Nightcrawlers – Push the Feeling On video

p.s. The Nightcrawlers claim a release date of 1993. They may be talking about a re-release that became an international dance sensation because my original Fourth & Broadway vinyl dates 1992. (could’ve been a late year printing I suppose). If you don’t like the lyrics at the end of the track, look for the MK Dub of Doom.

There have been 38 remixes over the years (Here are just a few of the great ones):

Nighcrawlers – Push The Feeling On (Robbie Rivera Juicy Ibiza Mix) [2007]
Nightcrawlers – Push The Feeling On (Belocca’s Cheeky Boot) [2008]
Steve Angello (ft. Laidback Luke & The Nightcrawlers) – Be Remix
Nightcrawlers vs. Akon vs. Eminem – Smack That Feeling On (Video Mix)

1985 IS BACK, WAAAY BACK

For those into the meaty fidget beats, maybe you can pick out a sample from this 1985 hit that you’ve heard recently. It’s Suzanne Vega “Tom’s Diner” (A&M Records) [1985]:

Suzanne Vega – Tom’s Diner video

p.s. you only have to listen to the first 10 seconds

Did you get it? OK, it’s Calvertron aka Twocker aka Alex Calver. This mix waits until 2:30 or so before it comes up:

Calverton – Doo Doo (HQ) video

AND NOW… YOU CAN CONSIDER YOURSELF SCHOOLED!

pappy andrews contact info:

Soundcloud
Twitter

This week I say “Happy Birthday to Me”, so this issue of Sunday Skool will be a little short… so much to do, so little time. I came across this watching saturday morning tv with my daughter. This was such a hit movie back in the day I figured this track would be familiar (now there’s a saturday cartoon and now a Part 2):

Madagascar – I Like to Move It video

and then Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas fame messed with it again in Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008).

Madagascar 2 – I Like to Move It video

There’s even a version for Happy Feet (2006)…

Happy Feet – I Like to Move It video

Soldiers in Iraq can dig it…

US Soldiers – I Like to Move It video

And…. of course there’s a “Star Wars” take on it…

Star Wars – I Like to Move It video

There have been a million remixes:
Decent Club Mixes
Not So Decent Trance Mixes and
Even Jumpstyle Mixes

You’d think that it was just some crazy song that Dreamworks Studios came up with to go with their characters right? No, actually this is another example of classic dance music making a comeback in a big way. This was actually a Strictly Rhythm house track from 1993 by Reel 2 Real featuring the MC “Mad Stuntman”. The group Reel 2 Real included a young up and coming producer named Erick “More”.

And in 1993, they really did like to Move It (check out the dancers)…

Reel 2 Real – I Like to Move It video

So, who the heck was Erick “More”? His full name is Erick “More” Murrillo and he just happened to start a little record company named “Subliminal Records”. This record company has been home to some of the biggest artists and tunes to come out this decade such as: Richard Grey, Richard Crump, Harry “Choo Choo” Romero, Filo & Peri, Denis The Menace, Hooligan, Steve Angello, Anthony Acid. Subliminal was also home to another little group made up of Alex Alicea and Jorge “DJ Lace” Jaramillo featuring Jessica Eve (Who Da Funk) and they did a little unisex bathroom, powder induced track that absolutely blew up in 2002 called:

Who Da Funk – Shiny Disco Balls video

Sunday Skool Mixtape
Since it’s my birthday, I figured I’d send out a little mix of my own. The first hour is a little techy and tribal. However, second half is quite meaty: