All comments here are my own unless it is stated otherwise. I own the CD examples.

Garage Music. The Paradise Garage, 84, King St. New York 1976-1987 Comments Column MUSIC OVER If music has any value, why is it talked over time after time? There's no use in having digital radio if it uses music as, in effect interference all the time? Even Classic FM is doing it now. NEWS of all types is polluted by thudding noise all too often on R 1. Any hard of hearing listener has no chance of hearing clearly! Chart Dance singles have, by and large been lyrically dire, thud ridden and with the most elementary and ofter extremely irritating "electro music" loops. When is an Anthem not an Anthem? Dance "Anthems" so called on Radio 1 are anything but! I find it impossible to listen to the show for more than a few mins at a time. It seems that there is a basic core THUDDDD noise which everything else hangs on. Any "Choon" seems to have a rising or falling 4 or 5 note fragment repeated, with a break every so often for a lyric which is also repeated!! then back to the fragment again! Experimental New Bands? See here. Contact this site or write. #302 Recruitment Services 25,Gwendale, Maidenhead, Berks. SL6 6SH Webring link too, to others using sampling software etc. Seen on C4 Teletext Dance versus the rest? Comments keep appearing on the lines of "dire and dreary" or "slow and dull". This is usually when referring to an "Indie" or guitar based band. Some music is written to LISTEN to and to SING along with, anthem style. This is one of the appeals of, say "Bittersweet Symphony" or "Why Does it Always Rain On Me?" and the other Travis tracks. Dance is written to be DANCED to surely. I'm not sure if it deserves so much radio time! The two "schools" are diametrically different! As to which is more "musical", I suppose I have to come down on the side of the "Indie" and other "playing" bands. Hear'Say Or as I say Heresy. How can you take a "band" created on live television seriously? This idea really sends up the whole UK music industry! The pop genre picked is the most uninteresting musically and easiest to fabricate, since it merely asks for a modicum of vocal skills and co-ordination. Hardly "rocket science" so to speak!

Nathan's page? This page was prompted by a comment made by one of my student friends. Most of it is my idea, since we have lost touch. Any other comments by e.mail are welcome. Song and Dance Acts. There are two broad varieties here. The vocal harmony group and the so called "Boy" and "Girl" "bands".Hardly any are bands in the strict sense of the word, relying on backing tapes or session musicians as a rule. Composing and other musical ability is mainly left to outsiders, such as S.A.W. It's not quite true that they only have the one backing tape by the way. Many of the latter have been manufactured one hit wonders, dropped by labels as they aged or fell out of favour. Take That. Purely an artificial "band" since they were set up from an audition list. I have actually got copies of Do What U like on 7" and 12" vinyl. Any offers? The scan is the 7" sleeve. Several have now had "solo" releases. Mark Owen's Green Man is underrated. As for Robbie? Take a guess! S Club Seven I can't say I've been very impressed in the least with this lot. As regards them being a musical influence well not really. Popular yes, musical merit? Null points! A mixed sex version of the Monkees, with rather less talent! Why they merit a TV series? No comment. Too formula driven and predictable. Theres an internet Trojan with a similar name! Five A collaboration with members of Queen has produced a fair cover of a Queen classic track. Do this lot actually play? They seem to have some writing talent and have made a few decent tracks.The most recent "cover" has seen the full cooperation of the original artists! The Spice Girls Did they really start a trend? There were girl groups before, like the Supremes or Ronettes, but this lot do seem to have lowered standards! They became caricatures all too quickly. Steps Er yes.. the name sums em up! The "Remix" Phenomenon. (see also Dub) This dates back rather a long time. The Club culture (see Garage links) was a minority element in the early years, and spawned a very large number of limited special edition issues. These were often on 12" vinyl only and often on highly specialised Labels. Depeche Mode have a huge remix list! When "sampling" started, I'm not sure, but on balance it does not appear to have been a good creative idea. The same goes for computerised applications. The most recent example is the "Avalanches" from down under! This band are less extreme, and have much instrumental ability too.The track "Everyday" to my mind reminds me of Isaac Hayes "Shaft" backing at times. Sampling has produced many legal cases, the best known being "Bittersweet Symphony", for which The Verve and Richard Ashcroft have had no reward at all. I see the estate of Robert Johnson have now got a similar action against the Stones, which is rather appropriate! Some examples included in my collection Leftfield Leftism A groundbreaking album which has not been bettered. This album has a RANGE of tracks and holds my interest far better than any of the Oasis albums which are so much more samey and derivative. The 2000 Glastonbury showed that the touch is still there.They go beyond the rather basic stuff which enters the UK chart for a couple of weeks and then vanishes (until the next remix). The Chemical Brothers. Remixed the Charlatans and others. They also have several albums to their name. Tugboat Artists Check this Website Spring Heel Jack is Drum'n Bass and Breakbeat. This CD seems to have stirred things a little! This Label has an impressive roster of acts who seem to be worth looking up. Dance is one of the categories. The label is linked to Rough Trade incidentally, not a major. Spring Heel Jack single release. Refer to the Tugboat site for details. This CD is from a BBC Radio 3 series "Mixing It". The series is on Saturdays at 10.45pm. Disco Inferno's last recording - a session for Radio 3's night owl cupboard of future beat and out-jazz, "Mixing It." Based on Saint- Saen's, "Carnival Of The Animals," the session took DI's narrative sampling to it's logical conclusion whilst flirting with Carl Stalling's playful comic soundtracks and throwing down the gauntlet for the new breed of sample scientists. (taken from the Tugboat site) It's easy to see why drum'n'bass purists have a problem with Spring Heel Jack. Since 1991 they've been lending the tools of the genre to build their own inimitable contortions of the breakbeat and the low end bass mumble but with what's often described as "cimematic" flair. In fact, it's easy to imagine these tracks as soundtracks to the films of 2020 - multi faceted, hyperspeed, violent, calm, melancholy in turns, "Treader" genre-hops like a flickbook. (taken from Tugboat site) Fatboy Slim. An odd choice of name here, and I have few examples thus far. Saw part of his Glasto set though which was impressive. Now where's that compilation CD got to? New album out November 2000. Moby He is included in the Dance music category, but his choice of content really transcends that genre. Into The Blue, Play and others. He is a remixer, but has ALSO been remixed in turn. Paul Oakenfold New release of "Travelling" seems to be worth a listen. "A triumph of melody over jackhammer trance monotony" says Channel 4 teletext. I caught one of his remixes recently. He does put a lot into it, but how much is down to technology alone? His "live" sets must show a degree of spontaneous creativity on top of a pre set element too. Tappa Zukie This CD is a reissue of mixes put together in 1976. The basic first issue on vinyl of 300 copies sold out very fast. This CD reissue on Blood and Fire BAFCD108 was being played in Piccadilly Records in Manchester. I liked what I heard and bought it there and then. I wonder if the Leftfield album was influenced by it? Reggae clearly has an influence. The early date shouldn't put you off. http://www.reggae-vibes.com/rev_sin/tappazuk.htm Link to a review of the album. UNKLE (James Lavelle, DJ Shadow) Dance DJS. and Related. The term DJ is, perhaps incorrectly used here. A Disc Jockey plays the disc or cd produced entirely by another artist. The "Dance DJ" rarely does this these days. He or she is, perhaps better described as a Mix Desk Jockey. Samplers and sequencers are used too. It is not a simple task! The individual MDJ often has a very dedicated following, at first based at their main venue, but now on the broader radio market too. To the average radio listener most of this style sounds similar, and not really very listenable at all, since it varies so little, especially in the case of the so called "Trance" variation. Sorry folks but I don't find Trance in the least uplifting. Now Barbers original adagio That's uplifting! Doc Scott "Breakbeat" mixes in Mixmag series.There were a lot of albums in this series, including some radio DJs as well. I intend to check out the recent material shortly. There seems to be no Mixmag as such now? Indian Ropeman Elephant Sound. Has a few "explicit lyrics",notably on "Dog in The Piano" but boring it ain't! I picked this up after a comment on teletext. Label website should be able to give you more information. The label is Skint records. A link may be set up shortly. The ORB Comment on Teletext recenty saying a live set is different to the original recorded track. This rather states the obvious. It is far harder to recreate a remix on stage other than at the most basic level. It is much more CREATIVE to produce a variation of it instead. it also depends who is onstage as part of the live element as opposed to the sampled material. A type of improvisation on a theme in fact!

This Page June 2000. Updated 18th. April. 2001. Last updated 20th November 2021.