off-topic for the blog really, but here’s something chuck had to say of late which i thought may as well be on the intertubes.
“MISTABISHI IS A FRAUD”
In case you haven't heard...
http://forum.breakbeat.co.uk/tm.aspx?m=1971700605
http://dnbforum.com/showthread.php?s=4986c6c83ca5d906abc33ebbde7de351&t=87316
Perhaps you find this amusing. That wasn't my reaction :-( I thought, it's not fucking Mistabishi who is the demon. This shit happens when the scene encourages it. It makes me want to scream:
I FUCKING HATE ALL THE MOTHERFUCKERS WHO HAVE SYSTEMATICALLY KILLED THE UK DANCE MUSIC WHICH IS PART OF MY HERITAGE AS A BRIT AND SOMETHING WHICH I CAN'T STOP LOVING.
THE YOUTH IS FUCKING ARROGANT FUCKING DICKHEADS WITH THEIR BULLSHIT CANT MIX WONT MIX PHILOSOPHY, ACQUIRING RUBBISH EASY COME EASY GO FANS AT THE COST TO THE TRUE HEADZ, THE REAL SHIT. I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT SOME DEVISIVELY WEIRD SHIT, JUST UNITY THROUGH DIVERSITY. STOP BICKERING ABOUT HOW ORIGINAL YOUR NON-ORIGINAL NON-DIVERSE SHIT IS AND LEARN TO MIX SO THAT THE MUSIC DOESN'T CONTINUE TO DESCEND INTO SELFISH MINDED NONSENSE WITH NO RELATION TO THE REAL TOGETHERNESS MUSIC WHICH IS 'ARDCORE AND ITS OFFSPRING -- DRUM N BASS AND OTHER HARDCORE BREAKBEAT SCIENCE FROM UK GARAGE TO DUBSTEP TO BREAKCORE. EXPERIENCE THE JOY OF SHARING THE VIBE ON A DANCEFLOOR WHICH IS FULLY CONTROLLED BY THE DJ and MC. THEN PUT IT INTO PRACTICE BEFORE THE ARTFORM IS DEAD.
I'm sick and tired of how modern producers who can't mix are making tunes for people who can't mix which forces the real DJs into the corner when they're trying to construct a set, because no one understands shit about the subtleties of the mix any more. Listen to old tapes by the originators of this sound -- grooverider, ratty, randall, ltj bukem, top buzz, ray keith, dj zinc, kemistry and storm, doc scott, brockie, frank de wulf if you like techno, frankie bones if you like house, i dunno about all the scenes but i know they used to know how to mix across the board, across different bpms. Listen to how the old masters and mistresses used to construct sets, move sideways in the mix as well as up and down. Listen to how the beat flips, changing the emphasis, how you can use this to change people's groove, change people's minds. Listen to the no-compromise people of the modern scene, loxy being a prime example of someone who sticks to his guns. Listen to James Brown for gods sake. Listen to King Tubby.
Basically, what i'm saying is... if you want to mix, then you must learn to mix. If you produce, then take this home go think it through, then go and write proper intros for a change, something inventive, something challenging to yourself and others. And if you really think, "i can beatmatch my CDJs, i know what i'm doing", then you should try some shit that they don't know yet, expand your techniques, learn how to do harsh cuts and slow blends. Learn how to perform the way you want to, but start with a wide palette of colours so that you can select exactly the ones you want, so that you're not pushed about by your limited technique. Learn how to drop a tune from the second breakdown and have it mixing out before the record runs out. Then go and write your outros better. Listen to Foul Play and old Moving Shadow records. Reinforced and Metalheadz, Certificate 18, Philly Blunt, Dread recordings and old V stuff too. And stop fucking double dropping shit 'like Andy C', you wouldn't know the skill of the man in any case, if you need to know, go look at the first five years of his productions and listen keenly... start with "Cool Down" and "Sound Control". Learn to mix that shit, if you can, if you dare. It doesn't mix like do wop be bop shoo be doo bullshit, it requires some skill, but you get amazing combinations of sound if you can handle it, astonishing diversity, and the creative freedom to express something truly personal. That's worth fighting for.
And if you think that i'm just talking about mainstream shit, nah nah nah, all the fucking breakcore artists need to fucking learn their shit too, all the wonk weird dubstep headz, all the fidget house crack business (i don't give a fuck what you call it, it's just some fucking breakbeat house at the end of the day), all the producers of vinyl and DJ recordings need to look at themselves and ask themselves honestly if they actually know shit about mixing, take some responsibility for making the scene better, compose tunes which develop, articulate structure as well as style. Yes, even the underground genres. Even the ones who are better than the shit that dominates, they shouldn't rest on their laurels, but try and raise their game back to the levels which we were used to in the mid 90s. Please. It's not enough to be better than the next man when he just chucked a mix cd on in the club. Don't compare, just raise your game.
Then, if all the fucking youth concentrated for a minute on writing tunes which mixed properly, trend surfers such as Ram Records would step up their production game, tutor their up-coming artists with more integrity, and the whole scene(s) would benefit (i'm including the dubstep scene here, whose shit intros are even shitter than the modern DnB tunes), just like when Ganja Kru pulled up their socks and dragged themselves back from the black hole of pop absurdity in the late 90s with a series of killer releases for the DJ. I admit it was somewhat easier, because at the time, True Playaz weren't carrying any 'apprentices', it was a tight crew. But before then, way back, Zinc was apprentice to Hype, and he wasn't allowed to put out any tunes until his basslines were of the requisite standard; this discipline resulted in Zinc's first release on True Playaz, a moderately successful effort called 'Super Sharp Shooter'. Good shit comes to those that learn their shit and apply their skills correctly. If Ram, Hospital etc want to play the game properly, they should be teaching their youth good habits, not picking up their bad ones, act responsibly. I look forward to decent releases from the likes of Subfocus and other wasted talent. Plus if someone actually supports the development of an artist like Breakage, imagine how good he could be! Not to mention a million fringe producers who idolise Amon Tobin, Squarepusher and their ilk, remember to find a method in your composition of constructing sets, not just a concert of tunes, or we'll be going back to the dark days before James Brown playing for 3 or 4 hours changed the way we dance to music forever, when concerts were dull and intermissions were common, when no one gave a flying fuck about how tunes went from one into the next. I want a better future than that.
THE NEW WAVE OF PRODUCERS, "DJs", and PROMOTERS OF THE 2000s AND BEYOND NEED TO LEARN SOME FUCKING HUMILITY. PLAY YOUR OWN TUNES IN YOUR SET, OF COURSE, BUT MAKE IT A GOOD SET... UNDERSTAND THAT MOST OF THINGS THEY'RE GOING TO TRY HAVE ALREADY BEEN TRIED BEFORE. INVESTIGATE NEW AVENUES OF CREATIVITY WHILST RESPECTING THE CULTURE, THIS SHIT GOES BACK TO METALHEADZ, AWOL, SPEED AND... RAGE... AND THE ILLEGALS OF COURSE... BACK TO PARADISE GARAGE, THE WAREHOUSE OF CHICAGO, THE DAYS OF SOUND SYSTEM IN THE STREET IN KINGSTON, JAMAICA. NOW IS THE TIME TO TAKE IT FWD TO SOMETHING NEW, BUT YOU CAN ONLY DO SOMETHING NEW IF YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED AT THE START, RIGHT!
Posts
