Welcome to the
Features section of Underlondon, the online fanzine of vinyllondon,
for all connoisseurs, collectors, fans and music lovers. We aim
to provide interesting reportage on a variety of different aspects
of the scene, from Clubs and discographies and artist profile
through to think pieces and articles about collecting itself.
Contributions are welcome to the editor@vinyllondon
.com. Please let us know about anything you think should be
covered.
New Features
Lee “Scratch”
Perry
How such a frail looking
old man gives off so much energy will always be a
mystery to me. Resplendent in a crushed purple velvet
coat, mirrored boots and a crown made from glittering
CD’s; Lee “Scratch “ Perry has the
audience eating out of his hands.
This is stranger still,
as Perry is known for his work in 60’s and 70’s
Jamaica, now, here he is playing to a mainly white,
late 90’s English crowd, and they love it! He
positively bounces across the stage, belying his probable
70-something age (nobody is quite sure) belting out
tunes from seminal 60’s album “ Roast
Fish and Cornbread” next to material from his
1990 “From the secret laboratory” album.
Both sound equally good despite the fact that Perry
used only a four-track studio in his early days.
It was Perry’s
unrivalled studio technique whilst working in Jamaica
that really put him on the map. This is the man who
invented Dub, by layering several sounds onto each track
in the studio he was able to extend his four-track technology
to create tunes much more sophisticated, beautiful and
complex than any other producers of his time……
In the Black Ark studio in Kingston, Perry experimented
with sound and technology developing the “studio
as instrument “ idea long before Electronica began
to become popular.
Add
to this Perry’s relentless search for talent
and workaholic determination and you have reggae’s
one and only superstar producer. His “Hippy
boys” session musicians can be found on many
of the records produced in Jamaica in the 60’s
and 70’s- Junior Murvin's “ Police and
Thieves”, Max Romeo’s “ War in a
Babylon “ to name but two. However, even with
all these achievements there is one event that really
bought Perry to the world, Perry produced the best
of Bob Marley’s early work and was instrumental
in bringing the Wailers together.
Perry was born in St. Mary’s
on the island of Jamaica, as a youngster he traveled
to Kingston and got a job at Clement Dodd’s
famous Studio One. There he learned all the basics
of the music industry from production to sales, live
performances and sound systems. During this period
he worked mainly as a singer recording a great deal
but by 1968 he left, working with Joe Gibbs, before
forming his own “Upsetters” label….. The “Upsetter”
as he became known had solo hits with “People
Funny Boy” and “ The return of Django
“ as well as a string of Bob Marley and the
Wailers productions.
For
their first release, Full Tilt have called upon the
dynamic talent of T-Boy and the funkwit. T- Boy, began
engineering professionally eight years ago at Gnomis
studios, part of the Sanctuary music group. During
his time at Gnomis, Tim’s clients included Lee
“scratch” Perry. Tim then metamorphasized
into T-Boy, first by becoming a mastering engineer
and then by producing and recording his own music.
T-Boy’s first release
in 1997 on Acid Jazz records was well recieved. Soon
after this T-Boy signed to Sacred records releasing
four tunes, including “King of the Land”
featuring Knati, that crashed straight into DJ magazine’s
Top Ten Beats Tunes of 2001, receiving a wealth of
blinding reviews and chart placings in other magazines.
T- Boy has also worked with fellow breaks artists
Terminalhead and Chris Carter, and produced for Kilowatt
and Effective records.
T-Boy’s inspiration
comes from his days as a DJ in Free Party collective
the “Pineapple Tribe” who during the late
80’s and early 90’s terrorized the police
and Greater London area with their wild outdoor events.
It is this fierce independent spirit that has lead T-Boy
to form Full Tilt records, along with original collaborators
from the “Pineapple Tribe”, DJ Funkwit,
Theo “gaffer” Humphries and Dirti Pineapple.
T- Boy’s first release with DJ Funkwit on Full
Tilt records is “Freaks and Weirdo’s”,
a Breakbeat monster that embodies the DiY aesthetic
of the ”Pineapple Tribe” and the Free
Party days, whilst ripping it up with the dirtiest
basslines straight from the darkest recesses of T-Boys
deranged mind. “Freaks and Weirdo’s”
is scheduled for release around the “Pineapple
Tribe’s” legendary Notting Hill Carnival
performance. (August Bank Holiday @ Southern Row/Eastern
Row)
DJ Funkwit, has
been a stalwart of the underground dance circuit for
over ten years, starting out DJing and organising
parties in and around the M25 in the late 80’s.
DJ Funkwit helped to form, and plays for, the “Pineapple
Tribe” a 20k Free Party Sound System that has
featured at Glastonbury and Tribal Gathering, headlined
the “Guilford Live” festival’s Dance
stage since 1999 (July @ Stoke park, Guildford) and
are long standing Notting hill Carnival favourites.
It’s not just the Free Party
scene that has benefited from DJ Funkwit’s encyclopaedic
knowledge of music and fanatical dedication to beats,
breaks and bass. DJ Funkwit’s stunning style
of mixing through genres yet always reading the crowd
to perfection has seen him storm through the Capital’s
top clubs including the End, the Leisure Lounge, the
414, the Wag, the ICA and the Fridge, across the country
from Brighton to Scotland and Manchester to Cornwall,
and globally to the US, Canada, France, Spain, Slovakia
and Holland.
DJ Funkwit has now joined with
long-term “Pineapple Tribe” collaborator
T-Boy to form production duo T-Boy and Funkwit, and
to start their own independent label, Full Tilt records.
Their debut release, “Freaks and Weirdo’s”
is scheduled for the “Pineapple Tribe’s”
much loved Notting Hill Carnival appearance at the
end of August, and is set to be the maddest fastest
biggest Breakbeat tune of the Summer.
One of the hardest playing/working
DJ’s on the underground scene DJ Funkwit is
looking happily forward to translating his knowledge
and experience into consistent commercial success
both for himself T-Boy and Full Tilt records.
In recent times the species
Musicus Dancicus has expanded beyond belief. From the
early days of Hip-hop, House and Garage we now have
Techno, Gabba, Handbag, Hardbag, Hardcore, Horrorcore,
Rap, G-Funk, New Jack swing, Nu-energy, Trip hop, Ambient,
Jungle, Drum’n’Bass, Hard step, Tech Step,
Ambient Jungle, Trance, Goa-Trance, Euro techno, Balearic,
Speed Garage and the list goes on ...To a certain extent,
however, no one really knows what they are talking about
any more. We are in danger of building an inpenetrateable
tower of classification and definition. After all ,
at the bottom line, Dance music is about dancing not
definition. These days, I tend to go by the blanket
term Dance, simply for the sake of being understood.
It is certain that anyone new to the genre, would not
have a clue what you were talking about if you said
that; Intelligent Drum’n’Bass takes off
where Jungle started, and mixes it in with Ambient and
Jazz.
As a scene we are
in danger of “trainspotting” ourselves
out of existence. Dance is about Music at the end
of the day, and if, anytime anyone makes something
new, we cloy for classification, then we are surely
in deeper than we had realised. It is a path reminiscent
of the scientists, who have built themselves such
a dizzying tower of definition, that none but the
most educated dare to enter their portals. Also, what
happens to definition when one comes across a Duck-billed-Platypus
of a tune, comprised entirely of familiar styles,
but strictly, truly unlike any of the beasties from
which it is composed ?
It’s not like these problems
are going to go away either. Ten years ago when the
early signs of House were beginning to rise to the surface,
no one could have envisaged what was to come. Today,
Dance has topped the popular charts, filled arenas and
made international superstars of its’ top performers.
Producers and remixers have crossed over and worked
for mainstream Pop’s biggest names, and dozens
of sub-genres have been born from the original concept.
Dance music could be the most significant step forward
in Music since recording and amplification, and continues
to grow.
The amazing thing about dance is that
the concept is unlimited. This is because of the power
of “techno”, with a small “t”
Techno with the small ”t”, is the technology
that can allow a full orchestra in your front room,
allows access to sampling any sound, not just music,
and plays at perfect pitch and tempo. For instance ,
a drum roll in Jungle can go faster than a human musician
could play it, the drum roll would of course be perfectly
timed and lose nothing during the course of the song.
It also provides the foundation upon which all styles
and techniques can be fused. Overall, in effect technology
has removed the limitations from making music, and Dance
music is the sound that is breaking the mould and pushing
the possibilities forward. Dance is not a fad, but the
dawning of a new time where reality is only limited
by our imaginations.
Further, as a result of technology
we are seeing widespread changes across the industry.
Fusion of different styles has never been easier, the
Chemical brothers being a prime example, mixing Hip
hop, Rock and House into a seamless and popular new
form. The technology also allows us to fuse music with
graphics and text. Using a computer we can breakdown
the waveforms of a tune, discover the production techniques
and completely reconstitute the tune. Individuals have
been empowered so that anyone with passion can now be
a music maker, with access to the full range of sounds
with perfect timing and seamless mixing. This individual
empowerment may go some way towards explaining why Dance
music is considered such a threat to the establishment,
prompting draconian measures such as the Criminal Justice
bill.
In the market place today our traditional
products are being replaced. The four minute slice of
pop, is no longer. Leading proponents of the technological
revolution, Coldcut, were not only, the first band to
release a tune comprised entirely of samples, but they
are now the first to release an interactive, multimedia
CD-ROM. No longer the simple club playing music. Our
clubs are becoming indoor festivals, Megatripolis and
the Big Chill are examples of clubs where, as well as
DJ’s , we have VJ’s. VJ’s are image
mixers, dedicated to the stimulation of our eyes. These
clubs also have stalls, massage, lectures and food.
A consumer can now , therefore, revel in multisensory
experiences both at home and when out dancing. On the
increase also are places where one can dance and listen
to music, as well as surfing the net or simply have
a chat over a cup of cyber tea and space cake.
This explosion of Dance through technology,
is genuinely cutting edge , and truly exciting. It is
typical of the enlarged potential that technology has
bought to many areas of modern society, particularly
the arts and media. It is quite something to go out
and be stimulated simultaneously on every level of the
senses, and in the mind. It is empowering, that as an
individual we can begin to interact with the thing that
produces the sensations themselves. This in itself will
bring many new creative minds to the fore, and it also
gives us a wider range of choice. Soon enough , through
technology it is likely that the individual will have
almost unlimited choice and power, that is , ability
to create.
“Songs in the Key of Knife”
is an absolutely classic tune; caned by the likes
of Fabio, Grooverider and Gilles Petersen it firmly
announced London Electricity’s arrival. The
Drum and Bass scene has had a lot of criticism in
1998, but with exciting and original tunes like this
around it’s obvious that it is only the profile,
not the quality of Drum and Bass that has dropped.
London Electricity record on small
independent label NHS Recordings founded in 1996 by
Tony Pondlife and Chris Goose. Tony and Chris are
also responsible for sister label Galactic Disco Music
and record as Dwarf Electro, Peter Nice Trio, Future
Homosapiens and Funky NASA as well as London Electricity.
It’s all in a day’s work for today’s
independent producers.
Despite the fact that NHS is only 10 recordings old, “Songs
in the Key of Knife” shows a remarkably mature blend
of Classical, Jazz, Soundtrack and Drum and Bass. This maturity
comes from Tony and Chris extensive experiences elsewhere
in the Music industry.
Tony was the main man behind Acid Jazzers “IZIT”
from 1990 until 1995, Chris, a DJ and Graphic artist working
at Soul Jazz records, where the two met in 1993. NHS’s
early releases were anonymous, allowing the public to make
their decisions based on the music alone.
According to Anthony,
label manager at NHS, London Electricity is “Tony
and Chris at their most pure.” Follow up single “
Pull the Plug “ follows where “Songs in the
key of Knife” left off, and is quality Jump up Jazz
that takes no prisoners. February 98 saw the lads take off
to Japan, for a two week tour, where their “Ultrasound
“ compilation CD has sold in Van loads culminating
in no.7 Tokyo Hot100 hit.
Drum and Bass scene in decline?
With lively talented independent labels putting out
tunes like these, I don’t think so. In 99 NHS
has a busy release schedule, London Electricity vs.
Jon Forte “PBE”, plus vocal anthem “Rewind
“ and an album in April or May. If you want
to hear more of the Hospital sound the they have a
weekly Internet radio show, Thursdays 6-7 at www.pirate-radio.co.uk
and a website (under construction) at www.hospitalrecords.com
Some tunes last forever and some fade
away, but do you remember when and where you heard that
new tune on the Carling ad? Has it been re-released, did
you love it and buy it when you first heard it?
If the answer is yes to any of the above
then you may be sitting on a hidden goldmine. Bigshot Hollywood
producers and hot young City advertising execs can increasingly
be found trawling the racks of Cds in your local HMV looking
for that classic yet passed over tune from the early 90's
to star alongside their latest beefcake in their ad campaign.
And the next thing you know its getting airplay and the
record execs are thinking about cashing in and the new found
interest. However, before they can ruin the market this
is your perfect time to sell. Artists are wise to the potentials,
so as collectors we should be to. Take Rob Dougan's "clubbed
to death" Its stirring composition and dramatic stings
caused little more than a ripple at ti's time of release,
yet it was chosen to amplify the best scene in recent Hollywood
blockbuster " The Matrix". It was only a matter
of time before the rerelease, a quality one at that featuring
Tom Middleton, but for a short while originals of the tune
on Mo Wax from 1994 were changing hands for as much as £40.
Many bands and artists are wise to this
now, from Royksopp to Moby and Boards of Canada, so an early
relase or something simply overlooked, represents gold dust
to Soundtrackers and ad execs as it did to rare groove and
Northern Soul DJs and so brings an exciting and volatile
edge to collecting modern and limited dance music.
