Drum & Bass - help me get my head/ears around it

[Fishfacefour]

As bass players, perhaps squarepusher might be a good way in?

The missing link between jazz funk and jungle 

 

Edited August 7, 2022 by Fishfacefour

[Barking Spiders]

Squarepusher's 'drill n bass' might probably be a bit hard on the ears for some. I recommend Hospital Records, whose stuff is at the more melodic end, particularly London Elektricity and High Contrast

[Mykesbass]

7 hours ago, Nail Soup said:

A lot of Jungle D&B is based around the 'Amen break'..... here's a short YT vid on the topic.

The man on the rght is the drummer who originally payed it - Gregory Coleman.

 

Thanks. Got to catch up with all this tonight.

[Frank Blank]

Just in case you feel like frying your noggin...

 

 

[StingRayBoy42]

A gram of speed and a couple of decent Es, you'll soon get into it.

[Frank Blank]

Just now, StingRayBoy42 said:

A gram of speed and a couple of decent Es, you'll soon get into it.

 

A glass of Ribena and a mouthful of sherbert pips more like.

[gt4ever]

Good place to start would be Goldie’s album Timeless.  Also Roni Dize live at Colston hall is pretty damn decent, with live band.  Anything by Congo Natty is a good way into the jungle vibe, need 18” plus speakers 💥 

[moley6knipe]

13 hours ago, Leonard Smalls said:

Sort of!

 

 

Good shout! Ali from Red Snapper is a GREAT upright player. So much good stuff in their back catalogue!

[moley6knipe]

I have no real idea if this IS D&B and/or jungle. Always liked that style / sound but didn’t really seek it out. Though this I have on CD and I think this is brilliant. There’s some GREAT music in here:

 

 

[JoeEvans]

 

The important thing to remember about drum and bass is that it’s not as good as it used to be when I was a lad.

 

Edited August 8, 2022 by JoeEvans

[SumOne]

Jungle basically became DNB. Jungle is typically the 'Amen' drum break (or similar) cut up and looped at about 170BPM with Reggae/Dancehall vocals and samples and basslines. It became DNB as it got more 'techy', not built around samples and Reggae vocals so much, more of a focus just on the drums, bass, synths. 

 

Take some pills, go to a loud dark club and get on the dancefloor at 2am is about the only way I'd say it's fully undertstood. There is 'daytime radio' type DNB but that's not the good stuff in my book and not where DNB originated or where it's soul is.

 

This tune for example - nothing flashy, but if you know the feeling then you love DNB. It's not for everyone though I guess. It's the same sort of ethos as Dub or Techno or minimal funk, or tribal drumming, there's not really anything to 'get' other than how the groove of it makes you want to listen to it loud and dance.

 

 

Edited August 8, 2022 by SumOne

[Dad3353]

Edited August 8, 2022 by Dad3353

[Nail Soup]

I'm not any expert on D&B, but am open minded towards it and my feelings on it are as follows:

• Not too keen on the jazzy stuff (but that goes for any genre to be honest !)
• Prefer the weirder, noisier stuff (but that goes for any genre to be honest !)
• I think I've not really heard it properly - mainly on radio speakers and earphones - D&B sounds like it needs to be heard on a massive sound system.
• It maybe doesn't fit for me in the context of my life-style.... it's more of a "going-out" type music and I'm more of a 'bedroom' listener.

There used to be a kind of pirate radio station in Luton which used to crash my car radio sometimes which played mainly D&B.... it would have sounded ok, but the 'DJ' just talked over it so much.... nothing interesting or imaginative, just an endless stream of "shout out to XYZ" 😞 .

 

[Frank Blank]

Just now, Nail Soup said:

• Prefer the weirder, noisier stuff (but that goes for any genre to be honest !)

 

I think you'd dig Venetian Snares and maybe some Nurse With Wound.

[Mykesbass]

1 hour ago, Nail Soup said:

I'm not any expert on D&B, but am open minded towards it and my feelings on it are as follows:

• Not too keen on the jazzy stuff (but that goes for any genre to be honest !)
• Prefer the weirder, noisier stuff (but that goes for any genre to be honest !)
• I think I've not really heard it properly - mainly on radio speakers and earphones - D&B sounds like it needs to be heard on a massive sound system.
• It maybe doesn't fit for me in the context of my life-style.... it's more of a "going-out" type music and I'm more of a 'bedroom' listener.

There used to be a kind of pirate radio station in Luton which used to crash my car radio sometimes which played mainly D&B.... it would have sounded ok, but the 'DJ' just talked over it so much.... nothing interesting or imaginative, just an endless stream of "shout out to XYZ" 😞 .

 

Think I'm in the same boat when it comes to points 3 & 4.

 

Glad to see that even the big fans of the style seem to feel it is much more something to experience rather than listen to. Makes me feel better about not really liking what I hear on the radio.

 

Really appreciate everyone's input. Thanks 

[Saul Panzer]

I don't listen to a huge amount of dnb these days unless I'm exercising, when I do it's usually Feint.
 

 

[zbd1960]

On 07/08/2022 at 09:09, Fishfacefour said:

 

Listening to individual tracks only gives you half the picture. This is dance music and the performance is in the mixing of the tracks together to make new hybrids. 

The 'music' exists in the timbre, the rhythmic complexity and subtleties in programming. It's hard to appreciate in a single YouTube track.

Also most of the tracks originally had an extremely short shelf life, only existing as dubplates. The attraction was similar to reggae dancehall where the newest sounds are an attraction. This is why they style changed so rapidly over a relatively short space of time (93-95), after that it became codified in to a genre, with bandwagon jumpers a plenty ( cough David Bowie).

 

 

 

It's all very alien to me... I never went clubbing etc as a youngster

[Frank Blank]

Really enjoying this thread, reconnecting with some old music and hearing some new stuff too, what could be better? Here's Black Sun Empire, not too bonkers, not too mellow, good grooves.

 

 

[Frank Blank]

 

[SumOne]

15 minutes ago, Frank Blank said:

 

That into this:

 

 

And then perhaps some:

 

 

[Reggaebass]

Slightly slower tempo but along the same lines, 

 

[Fishfacefour]

Home listening is definitely my preferred approach these days. Most recently been loving this whole mixtape:

 

 

 

 

Edited August 8, 2022 by Fishfacefour

[Frank Blank]

A classic IMHO...

 

 

[Reggaebass]

You must remember this classic , the bass just drops 

 

Edited August 8, 2022 by Reggaebass

[Frank Blank]

More Red Snapper...