Metalheadz, True Playaz, and Logical Progression

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Metalheadz, True Playaz, and Logical Progression: A case study of jungle and drum & bass Introduction !

As a child of the 80s growing up in the leafy suburbs of the home counties

bordering London, it should come as no surprise to learn that the various forms of dance music emanating from the capital played an overarching role in my musical socialisation. Indeed, and as an individual with now almost twenty years of experience as a DJ, it was by and large the genres of jungle and drum & bass which were responsible for originally piquing my desire to become more involved in the wider dance music scene, providing me with one of my first genuine experiences of an underground musical world which specifically related to my musical tastes and preferences (Thornton, 1995, p. 117). A derivative of the pre-existing UK hardcore and breakbeat dance music genres, jungle is widely believed to be a UK based variation of similar Afro-American electronic music innovations prevalent during the late 1980s and early 1990s, and it concretised itself as an independent genre between approximately 1992 and 1994 before ultimately shedding its association with rave culture in every way barring tempo (Prendergast, 2000, p. 367; Reynolds, 1999, p. 251). Furthermore, and commonly regarded a product of its environment, early Jungle relied heavily upon sampled breakbeats of often uncertain ownership, and hence vicariously, also upon syncopation, with minute fragments of silence within the rhythmic structure of the songs maintaining both tension and space, even at elevated tempos (Sharp, 2000, pp. 136 - 137). For instance, and as Reynolds notes:

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“It was as though Ecstasy culture had permanently hyped up the metabolism of a

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generation... Composed literally out of fracture (“breaks”), jungle paints a sound

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picture of social disintegration [but] the anxiety in the music is mastered and

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transformed into a kind of nonchalance... jungle contains a nonverbal response to

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troubled times, a kind of warrior stance” (1999, pp. 251 - 252). 1

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Heavily informed by both West Indian and Jamaican cultural heritage (Gerard &

Sidnell, 2000, p 22), the genre was also highly reflective of black expressive cultures in general, and as such it might be suggested that jungle represented yet another aspect to the black diaspora in Britain, where non-European traditional elements are mediated by the histories of Afro-America and the Caribbean, thus contributing to the formation of new and distinct black cultures amidst those considered indigenous to the UK (Gilroy, 1997, p. 340). Nevertheless, and aside from those quoted so far within this introductory section, during my time studying popular music over the previous three and a half years, I’ve noticed somewhat of a deficit of research into and surrounding both jungle and drum & bass, with much of the emphasis often upon better know dance music genres such as house and techno music, the likes of which are widely believed to have had a much larger impact upon the dance music movement or, as in the case of Thornton (1995), are simply studied in much greater depth. !

Hence, and with this in mind, I am hoping to conduct a diachronic case study that

will investigate and perhaps fill in some of the gaps surrounding both the roots and routes of the jungle and drum & bass genres, whilst simultaneously investigating the development of the genres into the twenty first century. For the most part, my research will take the form of text and literature based review, hopefully allowing me to expand upon existing research, as although there certainly appears to be a slight deficit in current investigation, there is still arguably sufficient literature to combine in order to compile a larger picture. Additionally, and in order to facilitate and widen the ensuing case study, instead of specifically focussing upon any one group of DJs, record labels, producers and so forth, I will attempt to investigate the generic and subcultural characteristics of both jungle and drum & bass, and break the discussion down into three distinct subsections as follows: •

Diasporic influences

•

The economy and rave culture

•

Technology and development 2

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Diasporic influences !

Writing several years before the widely accepted inception of the jungle music

genre, Paul Gilroy sought to highlight and identify a subtle yet underlying and pervasive train of racist ideology and discourse filtering through late 1980s England, noting that:

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“The oscillation between black as problem and black as victim has become, today,

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the principle mechanism through which ‘race’ is pushed outside of history and into

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the realm of natural, inevitable events. This capacity to evacuate any historical

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dimension to black life remains a fundamental achievement of racist ideologies in

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this country... Racism rests on the ability to contain blacks in the present, to

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suppress and deny the past... [using] forms of nationalism endorsed by a !discipline

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which, in spite of itself, tends towards a morbid celebration of England and

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Englishness from which blacks are systematically excluded.” (1987, pp. 11 - 12)

Hence, and emerging into an environment riddled with racial tension, jungle music not only added to the already rich diversity of emerging non-European, diasporic elements within British culture (Gilroy, 1997, p. 340; Prendergast, 2000, p. 367), but the style of the musical form itself also highlighted its marginality as a nascent subculture infused with West Indian and Caribbean musical influences: a genre designed specifically by and for those subscribing to the jungle subculture (Gerard & Sidnell, 2000, p 22; Sharp, 2000, pp. 137 140). If racism in England was/is intended to contain blacks in the present and deny their past (Gilroy, 1987, p. 12), then black cultural forms such as jungle music and its predecessors are arguably intended to reify black traditions, history and culture. !

Nevertheless, it would appear somewhat reductive to consider jungle music as an

exclusively black cultural form, and although it was perhaps heavily informed by the cultural syncretism of the black diaspora, the genres followers were a blend of individuals of various ethnicities, many of whom had migrated from the dying rave and acid house music scenes, or indeed much like myself and many of my teenaged friends at the time, 3

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who were merely occasionally rebellious white, middle class boys growing up in an affluent area of south east England (Gilroy, 1997, p. 340; Sharp, 2000, pp. 130 - 155). As such, it might be suggested that the influence of the black diaspora, with jungle music as a new channel for its cultural syncretism, in fact spread far beyond the confines of the often sullen and decaying, crime ridden inner city regions from which jungle music is widely considered to have originated (Elliott, 2012, internet; Sharp, 2000, p. 137). Furthermore, the rhythmically syncopated nature of the genre which lacked the metronomic, four-to-thefloor kick drum pattern common in house and techno music, was highly indicative of numerous pre-existing genres of black music such as hip-hop (Walser, 1995), dancehall and reggae (Ferrigno, 2011), and whilst this rhythmic uncertainty conceivably encouraged many dance music enthusiasts to return to the alleged rhythmic safety and regularity of house, the fractured and syncopated nature of jungle nonetheless appealed to a significant cross section of the dance music fraternity, the likes of whom found the ‘funky’ nature of jungle’s break beats more appealing and avant-garde than its dance music based forerunners (Reynolds, 1999, p. 253). !

In addition to this, there are debatably several similarities between Jamaican and

West Indian forms of music and jungle music, particularly with regard to the preservation of rituals and notions of community, and Paul Gilroy remarks of early Afro-Caribbean subcultures in Britain that:

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“The counter-cultures and sub-cultures of black Britain may have held the

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movement together at certain crucial moments. They provide, among other things,

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important rituals which allow its affiliates to recognise each other and celebrate their

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coming together.” (1987, p. 223)

Indeed, and when closely examining the practices of the MC - or master of ceremonies - in jungle and drum & bass music, a ritual in its own right where a live vocalist talks, raps or sings sympathetically along with the music played by the DJ (Gerard & Sidnell, 2000), the 4

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similarities between the early Afro-Caribbean subcultures in Britain of which Gilroy discusses, and the jungle and drum & bass subcultures perhaps become more apparent:

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“The majority of veteran Drum & Bass MCs are of West Indian, and more

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specifically, Jamaican heritage, and thus this style of club music is characterized by

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a significant degree of borrowing from the conventions of sound-system

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performances in Jamaican popular music (Rocksteady, Ska, Dancehall). Many of

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these MCs got their start chatting on British Reggae sound-systems as DJs and

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later applied their experiences to both Acid House and early Hardcore. When these

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DJs moved to Drum & Bass [jungle] (and henceforth applied the title “MC”), they

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brought their experiences with them.” [sic] (Gerard & Sidnell, 2000,p. 22)

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Therefore, it can largely be suggested that many of the conventions prevalent in the

numerous forms of Afro-Caribbean culture present in Britain as a result of the African diaspora were also present in the emerging subculture and musical genre of jungle, and latterly drum & bass. Borrowing from the convention of sound-system performances for which Jamaican popular music is renowned, jungle also appears to have borrowed many of the important rituals and notions of community that migrated to the UK along with the countless individuals comprising the African and Afro-Caribbean diaspora (Gerard & Sidnell, 2000,p. 22; Gilroy, 1987, p. 223). Indeed, one particular ritual - the concept of ‘call and response’ - is frequently discussed within academia and scholarly work focussing upon the study of the African diaspora, and said ritual is also a prominent feature of both the jungle and drum & bass genres:

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“A starting point for the analysis of the interactivity of the Drum & Bass performance

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is found in the concept of “call and response”, which is frequently invoked in both

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academic and popular ethnomusicology to describe African and African Diaspora

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music forms... The patterns discussed under this rubric are clearly observable in

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Drum & Bass. Almost every MC has adopted a call and response chant.” [sic]

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(Gerard & Sidnell, 2000,p. 23) 5

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Nonetheless, and although much attention has been drawn to the observation that

both jungle and drum & bass share many of the social conventions of the numerous cultural forms imported into Britain as a result of the African diaspora, the genres also appear to have adopted a sonic aspect that is not only synonymous with the Jamaican musical custom of sound system performances, but also allegedly associated with emotions of pleasure, loss, regression and nostalgia: namely, the extravagant use of low frequency bass sounds within the music (Christodoulou, 2011, p. 45; Gerard & Sidnell, 2000, pp. 22 - 23). Thus, and due to their prevalent utilisation of said low frequency sounds, particularly in a manner very similar to earlier forms of musics associated with the African diaspora, it might be suggested that the jungle and drum & bass genres are/were capable of invoking a sense of reminiscence and pleasure in listeners, allowing them to connect with aspects of their cultural past and heritage whilst also endowing them with a sense of home from home within the contemporary urban spaces that they dwell (Christodoulou, 2011, pp. 44 - 45; Gerard & Sidnell, 2000, p. 22). As such, although the liberal utilisation of bass by specific genres of popular music often suggests a link between said genres of popular music and the African or Afro-Caribbean diaspora, the application or low frequency or bass sounds within a musical genre or indeed a piece of music, also perhaps acts as a sonic means of generating emotional nostalgia: a powerful feeling of longing and remembrance capable of casting aside racist ideologies and discourses designed to contain black culture in the present and deny its historical roots (Christodoulou, 2011, pp. 44 - 45; Gilroy, 1987, p. 12).

The economy and rave culture !

As was discussed in the previous subsection of this study, both the genres of jungle

and drum & bass appear to have been substantially influenced by the African diaspora, and also appear to utilise elements within the music itself to both connote and invoke 6

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feelings of nostalgia and longing within the individuals who align themselves to the attendant subculture (Christodoulou, 2011, p. 44; Gerard & Sidnell, 2000, p. 22). Needless to say, and whilst these diasporic influences can not be overlooked, it would also seem somewhat shortsighted to disregard the impact that both the economic conditions and the existing rave and dance music culture within the UK had upon the formation and development of jungle and drum & bass. For example, and when discussing the inception of the genre, Ferrigno notes:

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“The genre of drum ’n’ bass emerged in early 1990s England, as part of a

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burgeoning yet underground electronic dance music scene. The musical

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characteristics of drum ’n’ bass reflected the dire socioeconomic conditions of inner

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city London, as well as the social and cultural dislocation experienced by its

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producers.” (2011, p. 95)

Indeed, the UK recession of the early 1990s was particularly damaging, with the country seeing unemployment peak at over three million and house repossessions hit record levels (Elliott, 2012, internet). The period also appeared to be marked by a great change within the UK dance music scene, with the formerly underground genre of hardcore losing its credibility as more and more hardcore songs began to gain commercial success, including tracks such as Urban Hype’s “Trip To Trumpton” and the Prodigy’s “Charlie”, both of which were considered nothing more than meaningless novelty songs by veteran hardcore fans (Gilman, 1999, internet; Sharp, 2000, p. 132). !

The result of this discord, although not universally agreed upon, is largely

considered to be a nexus for the onset of several new musical subcultures within the wider UK dance music scene, with those feeling disenchanted with hardcore regrouping into smaller and exclusive enclaves of house music aficionados, whilst the hardcore devotees were split squarely down the middle: those clinging to early rave music notions of inclusivity sought to infuse hardcore with an almost acid house-esque exuberance, hence 7

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resulting in the birth of ‘happy hardcore’, and the remaining hardcore outcasts seeking to expand and transform the genre into something new and unique (Gilman, 1999, internet; Sharp, 2000, pp. 134 - 135). Ultimately, it would be these hardcore outcasts who would go on to become the early jungle and drum & bass pioneers and innovators: a musical expression arguably as much a creative response to the afore mentioned discord within the UK dance music scene at the time as it was to the troubling socioeconomic conditions of the early 1990s (Elliott, 2012, internet; Reynolds, 1999, pp. 251 - 252). In fact, it has even been argued that these dire socioeconomic circumstances played a larger role in the formation of jungle and drum & bass than any influence drawn from racial or diasporic factors:

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“The unifying feature of the early jungle scene was more socioeconomic than

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racial. Inner city London was not segregated, and various ethnic groups struggled

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for survival together, becoming unified through the common experience of

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migration.” (Ferrigno, 2011, p. 96)

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Therefore, and when considering the material examined in the previous subsection

alongside the material discussed so far within this subsection, it is feasibly clear to see that existing academic study and research into the genres does not necessarily tie up, with one camp of scholarly thought declaring the African diaspora to be the most powerful influence acting upon the nascent genres of jungle and drum & bass (Gerard & Sidnell, 2000, p. 22), and another citing the socioeconomic circumstances of early 90s Great Britain as the most potent influence instead (Ferrigno, 2011, p. 96). Nonetheless, and as was touched on within the introductory section of this study, it has never been my intention to unquestioningly reinforce or corroborate any one existing strand of literature within the field, and the very basis of this investigation is to attempt to combine and build upon an existing range of often disparate research in order to create a broader and more uniform picture of the musical genres it is attempting to examine. In fact, so diverse are the investigative paths of existing 8

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literature that factors largely unrelated to either the African Diaspora or the socioeconomic circumstances of early 90s Britain are also cited as having played a role in the formation of jungle and drum & bass. For example, the DJ and rave scene of the early 1990s has also been credited with playing an important role in the initial development of the genres, with the act of DJing posited as one of the more common routes into the practice of music making for early jungle innovators, with residual elements of the slowly evaporating hardcore scene providing the fledgling jungle genre with an almost bespoke set of followers (Missingham, 2000, internet; Reynolds, 1999, p. 254). !

Thus, and at this point in the study, it is becoming somewhat apparent that the major,

overarching influences which have acted upon the drum & bass and jungle genres since their inception in the early 1990s are both multitudinous and diverse, comprising social, cultural, economic and racial factors. However, and as this subsection has attempted to demonstrate, it could perhaps be considered overly simplistic to deem any one of these influences as more important or consequential than another: a notion which feasibly becomes more discernible when one examines the impact of both the pre-existing rave scene and the socioeconomic circumstances of the early 1990s upon the jungle and drum & bass genres. As such, and bearing these ideas in mind, it would instead seem prudent to acknowledge the importance of the effects resulting from the combination of all of the currently examined influential factors, rather than attempting to assign a heightened level of import to any one of them in particular. Granted, it can of course be suggested that the African diaspora has had a marked impact upon the birth and continued growth of the jungle and drum & bass genres (Gerard & Sidnell, 2000, p. 22). However, and at the same time, the effects of both the early 1990s recession in the UK, and the increasing tensions within the wider dance music scene were conceivably just as influential, creating a backdrop of economic uncertainty and disillusion upon which the pioneers and innovators of jungle and drum & bass were able to build the foundations of a new and socially reflective dance music genre (Ferrigno, 2011, p. 96; Sharp, 2000, pp. 134 - 135). 9

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Technology and development !

Technological changes and developments in musical instrumentation and

technology since the onset of the digital revolution during the 1980s have been widely claimed to have facilitated the emergence of new and intriguing sounds within popular music genres, and this has not only facilitated musical diversity, creativity and processes or production, but has also provided musicians with a vast assortment of sounds, aural textures, musical patterns and samples that they often come to rely upon in order to create and compose music (Shuker, 2001, p. 51; Théberge, 1997, pp. 72 - 90). Furthermore, advanced developments in music technology have debatably lead to concomitant levels of affordability, and the price of microprocessor technology has steadily fallen since the 1980s (Chadabe, 1997, pp. 188 - 189; Théberge, 1997, p 73). As a result, it is feasibly clear to see how nascent jungle and drum & bass producers were actively facilitated by these new and affordable pieces of advanced music technology hardware, with gadgets such as the now legendary Akai S1000 sampler transforming those who could get to grips with the machine’s interface and functionality into jungle or drum & bass virtuosos (Sharp, 2000, pp. 139 - 140; Solida, 2011, internet). Hence, and undeniably falling squarely under the umbrella term of ‘electronic dance music’, both jungle and drum & bass are arguably as technologically rooted in the digital revolution of the 1980s as their dance music predecessors such as house and techno (Huq, 2002, p. 90; Shapiro, 2000, p. 7). !

Therefore, it can be largely suggested that both the jungle and drum & bass genres

are not only technologically reflective, but also technologically informed, with musical tools such as the S1000 sampler responsible for trade mark jungle and drum & bass sounds such as sample time stretching (Sharp, 2000, pp. 139 - 140; Solida, 2011, internet). Needless to say, the principle of time stretching itself was not an easy process to perform for either man or machine, with the effect requiring every last ounce of a samplers computational power, as well as a fair degree of technical knowhow and expertise on 10

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behalf of the device user (Reynolds, 1999, p. 253; Solida, 2011, internet). However, those producers who did eventually get to grips with the interface of the S1000 and its counterparts soon began using the machines to concoct their very own break beats from scratch, using cropped, ‘one shot’ samples of percussive elements such as snares, kick drums, hi-hats, cymbals and so forth (Reynolds, 1999, p. 253). Eventually, the taxing nature of such rhythmic composition - a form of borrowed drum programming - earned the title of ‘break beat science’, as it was renowned for being incredibly time consuming and patience testing, requiring near surgical precision in order to edit the desired one shot hits from the originally sampled drum loop displayed within the small LCD screen of the sampler (Reynolds, 1999, p. 253; Sharp, 2000, p. 139). !

In fact, this pseudo-scientific concept would eventually become a theme running

through the entire drum & bass genre, and although not every single drum & bass song strictly adhered to it, tracks such as ‘Dub Plate Style’ by Marvellous Cain (Cain, 1994) and ‘Metropolis’ by Adam F (Fenton, 1996) exemplified both sample time stretching and intricate drum loop editing respectively. Furthermore, and particularly when combined with the previously mentioned socioeconomic conditions brought about as a result of the early 90s recession, some have even argued that the pseudo-scientific aspects of drum & bass began to draw its producers to science fiction films and both the sounds and themes that they contained:

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“... these socioeconomic realities drew drum ’n’ bass producers to science fiction

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film, with its themes of disempowerment, mistrust and anger, escape, hope

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and redemption. Producers incorporated sci-fi film clips and sound effects into

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their tracks, titling them ‘Anti-Matter’, ‘Space Cameras’, ‘Galaxian’, ‘Parallel

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Universe’, ‘Time Traveller’ and ‘Terminator 2’... science fiction was a crucial

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ideological influence on drum ’n’ bass, not only through lyrical references but also

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through sonic embodiment.” [sic] (Ferrigno, 2011, p. 96)

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Be it time stretched or pitch shifted audio, sampled voices, rhythmic precision or elaborate sound effects: both science fiction films and the genre of drum & bass share these elaborate sonic conventions, with the musical form conceivably utilising them as a response not only the socioeconomic and racial alienation felt by its creators and followers, but also to their pre-millennial anxiety (Ferrigno, 2011, pp. 96 - 102). !

In addition, and drawing upon a similar parallel between science fiction and drum &

bass, Christodoulou suggests that the drum & bass song ‘Metropolis’ by Adam F and the Fritz Lang feature film of the same name are both examples of texts which represent or depict mankind’s continual struggle to come to terms with social and technological changes, with the dark, rhythmic and threatening aural unfamiliarity of the drum & bass song debatably capable of acting as an albeit significantly abridged soundtrack to the feature film (2011, p. 46). However, although the socioeconomic environment of the UK during the early to mid 1990s was undoubtably a time of great uncertainty and alienation for much of the population, especially when bearing in mind the impact of the early 90s recession (Elliott, 2012, internet), the theme of science and science fiction running through the drum & bass genre did not simply vanish as soon as the recession came to an end and the economy strengthened. On the contrary, and as the genre gained popularity throughout the rest of the UK and eventually also overseas, the science and science fiction theme became apparent in countless drum & bass songs, with notable twenty first century examples including ‘Satellite Type 2’ by Commix (Brewer & Levings, 2007), ‘The Bends’ by Malindi & The Upbeats (Maldini, Jones & Glenn, 2008) and ‘Desert Orgy’ by Phace & Misanthrop (Harres & Bräuninger, 2010). Hence, and regardless of an individuals musical preference, it is plausibly difficult to argue that all three of these songs do not share a sonic sense of unease, foreboding, menace and disquiet with their predecessors such as ‘Metropolis’ (Fenton, 1996). Perhaps therefore, the use of science fiction themes

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in drum & bass has latterly become more of an aesthetic and creative choice rather than a reaction to dire socioeconomic circumstances. !

As such, it might be suggested that although the science fiction aesthetic in drum &

bass music no longer specifically represents or reflects the socioeconomic and racial alienation felt by the subcultures followers (Ferrigno, 2011, p. 102), as a musical form it still remains technologically reflective and informed, perhaps even more so than it was during its inception. As a result, the genre now appears to place a significant premium on the technological expertise of its artists and composers, the likes of which is largely exemplified by the three twenty first century drum & bass tracks mentioned in the previous paragraph (see appendix). Granted, this technological reverence appears to have always been present, with the practice of sample time stretching and intricate sample loop editing, or ‘break beat science’, representing just two such historic examples (Reynolds, 1999, p. 253; Sharp, 2000, pp. 139 - 140). However, within the now global twenty first century drum & bass music scene, this technological reflectivity and virtuosity is conceivably no longer a sociocultural reflex to troubled times, but perhaps rather an extreme, music technology informed manner of sonic research and development or experimentation, with contemporary drum & bass producers not necessarily attempting to outdo one another, but certainly attempting to push their advanced pieces of music technology to the limit, all in the pursuit of the most abstracted of science fiction style sounds possible. Indeed, if proof of this assertion were ever needed, one need only listen to contemporary drum & bass tracks such ‘Satellite Type 2’ (Brewer & Levings, 2007), ‘The Bends’ (Maldini, Jones & Glenn, 2008) or ‘Desert Orgy’ (Harres & Bräuninger, 2010), the likes of which are undeniably littered with science fiction informed sounds and samples throughout their duration.

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Conclusion !

As this case study has attempted to demonstrate, the genres and subcultures of

jungle and drum & bass have been influenced by a vast array of social, cultural, racial, technological and economic factors, and whilst existing literature has often cited just one of these numerous factors as having exerted a more important or critical influence upon the subcultural movements than others, I have endeavoured to highlight the significance of the combined impact of all of these innumerable factors acting in largely unforeseen unison. For example, the work of Gilroy (1987), Gerard & Sidnell (2000) and Christodoulou (2011) all point towards the overriding influence of the African diaspora, with early jungle in particular borrowing heavily from the musical conventions of West Indian and Caribbean culture (Gerard & Sidnell, 2000,p. 22), utilising these conventions as a means of reifying black traditions, history and culture (Gilroy, 1987, p. 12). Additionally, these diasporic appraisals also suggest that sonic elements of the music, particularly the aesthetic use of bass and low frequency sounds typical of West Indian and Jamaican popular music forms, are also intended to illicit a sense of nostalgia and jouissance in jungle and drum & bass listeners, thus allowing them to reconnect with their cultural roots (Christodoulou, 2011, pp. 44 - 45; Gerard & Sidnell, 2000, p. 22), whilst simultaneously invalidating racist ideologies and discourses designed to contain black and African culture in the present by dismissing its history (Gilroy, 1987, p. 12). !

Meanwhile, the work of Reynolds (1999), Sharp (2000) and Ferrigno (2011) largely

contradict these diasporic approaches, with Ferrigno in particular stating that the unifying theme of the early jungle scene was more socioeconomic than racial (2011, p. 96). Furthermore, both Reynolds and Sharp contest that fractures amongst the wider dance music scene contributed heavily to the formation of jungle music, as those still loyal to the slowly dissolving hardcore subculture looked to take the music in a new and unique creative direction, which was most importantly away from the mainstream (1999, pp. 251 - 252; 14

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2000, pp. 132 - 135). As such, these approaches seem to imply that a combination of dire socioeconomic circumstances (Ferrigno, 2011, p. 96) alongside growing discord within the greater UK dance music scene of the early 1990s (Reynolds, 1999, pp. 251 - 252; Sharp, 2000, pp. 134 - 135) played a much more pivotal roll in the formation and development of the jungle and drum & bass genres, and largely overlook any of the diasporic influences posited by the likes of Gilroy (1987, p. 12) or Gerard & Sidnell (2000, p. 22). However, these same authors then also go on to posit links between developments in music technology and the evolution of the drum & bass genre, citing equipment such as the Akai S1000 sampler and practices such as time stretching and sample editing as central to the technologically reflective and technologically informed nature of drum & bass (Reynolds, 1999, p. 253; Sharp, 2000, pp. 139 - 140). Furthermore, these practices are also cited as having ultimately allowed drum & bass producers to borrow sonic themes of disempowerment, mistrust and anger present in science fiction films to express their socioeconomic circumstances (Ferrigno, 2011, p. 96). !

Indeed, in its life span of approximately twenty years, the subcultural phenomena of

jungle and drum & bass can not truly be said to be more or less informed by any one of the factors discussed in this study. Instead, and in order to accurately assess both genre’s cultural and subcultural roots and routes, as well as their technological reflectivity, conceivably all of these factors and the combined effect of their impact must be appraised. Thus, and in summary, the jungle and drum & bass music subcultures appear to have taken much of their early musical conventions and influences from an amalgamation of unsettling socioeconomic circumstances (Ferrigno, 2011, p. 96), generic tensions within the wider dance music scene (Reynolds, 1999, pp. 251 - 252; Sharp, 2000, pp. 134 - 135), and of course, the numerous forms of black culture which migrated to the UK with the African diaspora (Gerard & Sidnell, 2000, pp. 22 - 23). Utilising a combination of advanced music technology and music technology practices, alongside themes and sounds 15

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borrowed from science fiction films, jungle and drum & bass originally used these themes and sounds to musically represent the sense of socioeconomic and racial alienation felt by the genres followers (Ferrigno, 2011, pp. 96 - 102). Nonetheless, as the drum & bass genre has grown globally into the twenty first century, the science fiction aesthetic has remained; no longer specifically a creative response to troubled social or economic times (Reynold, 1999, pp. 251 - 252), but instead perhaps indicating that contemporary tracks such as ‘Satellite Type 2’ (Brewer & Levings, 2007), ‘The Bends’ (Maldini, Jones & Glenn, 2008) and ‘Desert Orgy’ (Harres & Bräuninger, 2010) are now more representative of the technological expertise of their producers, as well as the premium placed upon such expertise by the subculture as a whole.

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Bibliography Chadabe, J. (1997) Electric Sound: The Past and Promise of Electronic Music.New Jersey: Prentice Hall Christodoulou, C. (2011) “Rumble in the Jungle: City, Place and Uncanny Bass” in Dancecult: Journal of Electronic Dance Music Culture, Vol. 3, No.1, pp. 44 - 63 Desert Orgy (Phace & Misanthrop: Florian Harres & Michael Bräuninger, 2010, Neosignal Recordings, Germany, MP3 Single, 2010, 1 track, 6:46 minutes) Dub Plate Style / Jump Up (Marvellous Cain: Marvin Cain, 1994, Suburban Base Music & Leo Songs, UK, 10” Single, 45rpm, 1994, 2 tracks, 10:09 minutes) Elliott, L. (2012, December 7) British recessions: a short history [online]. Retrieved April 1, 2014 from www.theguardian.com: http://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/dec/07/ britain-recessions-history Ferrigno, E. (2011) “The Dark Side: representing science fiction in drum ‘n’ bass” in New Review of Film and Television Studies, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 95 - 104 Gerard, M. & Sidnell, J. (2000) “Reaching Out to the Core: On the Interactional Work of the MC in Drum & Bass Performance” in Popular Music and Society, Vol. 24, No. 3, pp. 21 - 39 Gilman, B. (1999) A short history of Drum and Bass [online]. Retrieved May 19, 2014 from http://www.globaldarkness.com: http://www.globaldarkness.com/articles/history%20of %20drum%20and%20bass%202.htm Gilroy, P. (1987) ‘There ain't no black in the Union Jack': The cultural politics of race and nation. London and New York: Routledge Gilroy, P. (1997) “Diaspora, utopia, and the critique of capitalism”. In K. Gelder and S. Thornton (Eds.), The Subcultures Reader (pp. 340 - 349). London and New York: Routledge Huq, R. (2002) “Raving, not drowning: authenticity, pleasure and politics in the electronic dance music scene”. In D. Hesmondhalg and K. Negus (Eds.), Popular Music Studies (pp. 90 - 102). London and New York: Arnold Metropolis / Mother Earth (Adam F: Adam Fenton, 1996, Adam F Publishing & Metalheadz Music Ltd, UK, 12” Single, 45rpm, 1996, 2 tracks, 11:34 minutes) Missingham, A. (2000) "Big Tings Ah Gwan": Junglist Music Takes Centre Stage An Introduction to Jungle Music And An Enquiry Into Its Impact On The London Jazz Scene [online]. Retrieved May 19, 2014 from http://www.popular-musicology-online.com: http://www.popular-musicology-online.com/issues/02/missingham.html 17

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Student #200760304 Topics in the history of popular music

Prendergast, M. (2002) The Ambient Century: From Mahler to Trance - The Evolution of Sound in the Electronic Age. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. Reynolds, S. (1999) Generation Ecstasy. New York: Routledge Satellite Type 2 (Commix: Guy Brewer & George Levings, 2007, Metalheadz Ltd, UK, MP3 Single, 2007, 1 track, 5:39 minutes) Shapiro, P. (2000) “Introduction”. In P. Shapiro (Ed.), Modulations: A History of Electronic Music - Throbbing Words on Sound (pp. 1 - 7). New York: Caipirinha Productions Sharp, C. (2000) “Jungle: Modern States of Mind”. In P. Shapiro (Ed.), Modulations: A History of Electronic Music - Throbbing Words on Sound (pp. 130 - 155). New York: Caipirinha Productions Shuker, R. (2001) Understanding Popular Music (2nd Ed). London and New York: Routledge Solida, S. (2011, January 24) The 10 most important hardware samplers in history [online]. Retrieved May 3, 2014, from http://www.musicradar.com: http://www.musicradar.com/ news/tech/the-10-most-important-hardware-samplers-in-history-361471/9 The Bends (Malindi & The Upbeats: Jason Maldini, Dylan Jones & Jeremy Glenn, 2008, Non Vogue Recordings, UK, MP3 Single, 2008, 1 track, 5:34 minutes) Théberge, P. (1997) Any Sound You Can Imagine: Making Music/Consuming Technology. Hanover and London: Wesleyan University Press Thornton, S. (1995) Club Cultures: Music, Media and Subcultural Capital. Cambridge: Polity Press Walser, R. (1995) “Rhythm, Rhyme, and Rhetoric in the Music of Public Enemy” in Ethnomusicology, Vol. 39, No. 2, pp. 193 - 217

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MUHA! MUSI 512!

Student #200760304 Topics in the history of popular music

Appendix Five jungle and drum & bass songs have been referenced within this piece. As such, and for the sake of comparison, all five of these songs can be listened to via accessing the following hyperlinks (ordered chronologically):

Marvellous Cain - Dubplate Style (Original Mix) (1994) https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/80015574/MUSI%20512%20Songs/Marvellous %20Cain%20-%20Dubplate%20Style%20%28Original%20Mix%29.mp3 Adam F - Metropolis (Original Mix) (1996) https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/80015574/MUSI%20512%20Songs/Adam%20F%20%20Metropolis%20%28Original%20Mix%29.mp3 Commix - Satellite Type 2 (Original Mix) (2007) https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/80015574/MUSI%20512%20Songs/Commix%20%20Satellite%20Type%202%20%28Original%20Mix%29.mp3 Maldini & The Upbeats - The Bends (Original Mix) (2008) https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/80015574/MUSI%20512%20Songs/Maldini %20%26%20The%20Upbeats%20-%20The%20Bends%20%28Original%20Mix%29.mp3 Phace & Misanthrop - Desert Orgy (Original Mix) (2010) https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/80015574/MUSI%20512%20Songs/Phace %20%26%20Misanthrop%20-%20Desert%20Orgy%20%28Original%20Mix%29.mp3

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