funky house sceptics, let me draw your attention to this

OK, I listened to this crap. Can I have the last eight minutes of my life back?

Please list reasons for crapness with citations and sources.

Yeah that was pretty awful. Something the DJ would spin VERY early in the evening while s/he's sorting through records and no one really wants to dance just yet. Polite house over martinis. And there are no dynamics to it; nothing slams into place. The vocals are bland. The lyrics are banal. And finally, it's not all that funky!

Now go record something good please.

needs a DJ Gregory dub

Yes but the loli-sex vocals and the socafied beats, you don't find that kind of different and kind of essentially london-ish somehow? I don't see how anyone could think this sounded like Hed Kandi or Naked or whatever...

i quite like the double-tap piano hook on this 'awful gay terrible house music'

It's more attenuated than the Hed Kandi norm. But I bet it wouldn't prick up my ears if it was thrown on one of their comps. And I don't live in London so I can't comment on how different-yet-same it is.

I mean, I guess it's okaaaaaaaaaaay on a second listen. But definitely nothing to write home (or start a thread) about.

Yeah that piano hook is my favorite element. I'm trying to place the 1980s video game where I first heard it.

Right you know how people have started talking about a revitalised funky house scene in London, how exactly does this differ from the funky house scene that's been all over London for the last few years?

who's been saying it's revitalised?

it's whats upfront that counts

Why people gotta hate on Hed Kandi and Naked???

I like this quite a bit, though it's not the best funky house (in the strict london '08 sense) tune I've heard. I like that the genre is increasingly coalescing around that post "Cure & The Cause" sound but with a stronger Carribean influence - I'm hoping it becomes even more syncopated. Funny how bassline and funky house have so cleanly split speed garage influences between them.

Secret prescient and lost funky house tune before the fact: Mis-Teeq's "Eye Candy".

Pleasant enough but I agree the lyrics and vocal hooks could be stronger, although the singing itself is fine. The worst thing for me is I don't like the piano and snare sounds they've used, especially the piano (something about its tone grates with me).

Why people gotta hate on Hed Kandi and Naked???

-- Spencer Chow, Tuesday, April 22, 2008 11:48 AM (1 week ago) Bookmark Link

spencer otm

i still think kjb opinions4u are the worst

oh and what do u know hes wrong, this is dope

also is "lol this is polite house" the lamest critique or what. how could that not describe 90% of that dixon mix he loves??

One thing that's important to note is that UK equivalents of vocal house, esp. in the post-speed garage tradition, have never been interested in lyrical profundity or vocal power in the way that the US tradition has been. There's very few stirring diva performances - most of it is more focused on how very simple vocal phrases are situated in the mix. So people looking for good "songs" from this genre will inevitably be disappointed. But, you know, Dem 2's "Destiny" didn't need to be a "good song" to be fabulous, and nor does this stuff.

Blackdown had a great little bit on the lyrics to this track on his blog.

But Dem 2's "Destiny" was indeed fabulous whereas this...just isn't.

"good" point

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/db/Yamaha_DJX.jpg/800px-Yamaha_DJX.jpg

I'm hoping it becomes even more syncopated

and in addition to that overly obnoxious gear snob post I just made can I just throw in another old jackoff opinion that if this track is what counts for "syncopated" in dance music in 2008 then I would also LOVE to hear what "more syncopated" means

perhaps it will include a BASS DURMP on the OFFBEATIES

Tombot did you want a serious answer?

I'm honestly a little surprised the snare on the offbeat of 2 still counts for anything, I guess. I've always thought it was just obnoxious outside of jungle/dnb

I would go into my usual spiel about that particular rhythm, but even I'm bored of it.

Anyway, fuck the hataz, this is hot.

Well it's not like "wow this is the most syncopated music ever", but it's more syncopated than mainstream house, speed garage or bassline, let's put it that way. Given the hyper-stiffness of bassline in particular, it's interesting to see the syncopation/carribean vibe of this stuff emerging as its point of distinction from "funky house" in the broad sense.

When I say "more syncopated" I'm thinking of 2001-era soca-beat 2-step basically - see stuff like TJ Cases's "One By One", or Bump & Flex dub mixes from that period.

Not so much this track, but other Crazy Cousinz tracks strike me as verging on broken beat - esp. the broken beat-like vocal housey tracks Zed Bias was making circa 2002.

Actually there's a kind of back-to-early-2002 feel across the whole post-UK Garage spectrum, e.g.

- "Wearing My Rolex" sounds a bit like "Rush The DJ", "Standard Flow" etc.

- Tectonic/Punch Drunk dubstep reviving the first Horsepower Productions album, 2562 reviving Zed Bias (in a different, "deeper", and more substantially syncopated way than funky house does).

- Bassline sounding like "Dutty", and also like El-Tuff remixes.

Of course early 2002 (as 2-step was losing its grip as the reigning sound, but before the fully-fledged emergence of grime) was the last time this cluster of styles was really not quite clear as to where it was going, so a return to this temporary impasse makes sense.

you don't find that kind of different and kind of essentially london-ish somehow?

Apart from the vocals this tune sound more like something coming out of the Spanish scene. Like this maybe.

you guys know a lot of stuff.

The Marcus Nasty funky house DJ set on DejaVu FM that Martin Clark talks about and links to here is sick.

There's a track in the first section that actually sounds 95% of the way to my dreams for the genre, halfway between TJ Cases' "One By One" and Davinche's old 'R&G' productions ("Leave Me Alone", "Mr. DJ" etc.). But the whole thing is really exciting and vibey feeling.

Martin's right as well when he says that this stuff sounds more exciting with MCs chatting over the top.

I cannot stop listening to this Marcus Nasty set. If you've wondering how on earth "funky house" can form it's own distinct genre you've gotta check it, I've never heard a house set that captures this specific vibe. It's really making me flash back to 2-step in the best possible way (i.e. the feel rather than the specific sound).

this is great but is there a reason it starts with track 2 instead of track 1? why was the mix divided into trax anyway?

also can anyone find this kyla rmx on vinyl??

Finding any of this stuff for love or money seems impossible.

I guess the best way to get the tracks would to be get at the producer's individual Myspace accounts.

I really wish Apple would get something out I could buy.

"Bongo Jam" - song of the year???

"SOMETIMES I WAKE UP EARLY IN THE MORNING, TO PLAY MY CON-CON-CONGO!"

BTW Deej I think Marcus Nasty just uploaded enough of his set to fit onto a CD, hence the missing part one and the way it cuts off suddenly. No idea why it's split into parts.

I got to say that I think I prefer the kyla to "bongo jam" but anyways...

Re: buying records - Rinse are putting out a Supa D mix CD and the blurb that comes with it says this is the first time any of these are getting a release of any sort. The Kyla original (prod by paleface) is getting a rerelease on Ministry this year so they might put the Crazy Cousinz mix on that...

Jacob "Bongo Jam" sounds fairly pasty on myspace, on marcus nasty's mix it sounds awesome. Mind you the Kyra track improves from myspace to mix by roughly the same margin.

Yeah I heard both on his mix too - and I completely agree. I just like the sexualness of the Kyla track which makes it the kind of song people will really get into in that leather shoes and designer shirts garage type environment. Every time I hear it I can really picture that scene, although the picture in my head probably has way too much moschino for it to be relevant to 2008. Bongo Jam straddles a line between goofiness, seriousness and Manu Chao that makes it totally dependent on mix context to work. No bad thing that, but I can see it sounding horribly cheesy 90% of the time, especially on radio.

Ha that's true but, y'know, go goofiness!

I'm hoping to start seeing proper Caribbean crossover stuff soon. I wonder if the ragga-ish version of "Calabria" is big in this scene.

stelfox tipped me to "bongo man," and it's currently blowing my mind. i do think it's hilarious how close it comes in sound and feel to villalobos' remix of the horrorist's "one night in nyc"!

Two more recommendations:

1) Sticky - How Very Dare You
Yes, that Sticky! And this isn't too far from what he was doing circa 2002, great ridiculous diva vocals, huge bass drop, clattering breakbeaty rhythms. Not 4X4 at all but definitely "funky house". Love it.

1) Seany B - Stomper
This reminds me a bit of my beloved "Are You Really From The Ends (VIP Remix)" - stomping and insatiable as the title suggests. Very big 4X4 kick but with all these awesome bongo flutters and counter-rhythms.

myspace rip of 'bongo jam', if anyone's interested. produced by flukes of wifey riddim fame btw!

not really relevant to this thread but i'm liking sticky's 'i'm in love'. first song on his myspace. 'mr dj' was another one of his tunes more in the funky vein.

whoa "whole night" w/ shantie = A+++++++++++++++++++

oops i think it's called "do you mind"

"Who's gonna be that dancing king???"

Shantie is pretty amazing. He's so nimble and prissy!

"Too much war/Everywhere you go what you fightin' for?/I don't know/Back in the day man raves fi look wife/nowadays man a come rave fi take life/can't deal with it, the trouble and strife/formation that, left to the right!"

I would totally start using "formation that" myself if I didn't know I would sound ridiculous.

STICKY????????!!!!!!!!!!!
fucking finally!

now jamming: bongo jam

This flukes kid = big things

I think the last time an area of music so suddenly and completely emotionally/intellectually monopolized me was dancehall in 2003 and before that 2-step in 1999. (grime not so much only because it was harder to find totally hypnotic DJ sets etc.)

Tadow's "Rising Sun" remains the archetypal "makes no sense on its own but is the best tune ever in the mix" track.

I for one never forgot and will never forget the "Find Your Love" remix.

My treasured Marcus Nasty 2008 sets are sounding particularly excellent to date. I think I've been in mourning ever since funky died .

do you still listen to (current) UK radio Tim? I haven't for a long time. always wonder if I'm missing much... to be honest what I do miss recently is dropping in here to ILM casually and seeing you and r|t|c raving about dance bangers on threads like this. after decades of underground dance and a houseful of 12"s it was a relief to slow things down. what I want now is tunes that scratch every itch!

https://beta.mixcloud.com/RadarRadioLDN/ahadadream-w-crazy-cousinz-17th-december-2016/

here be flukes, back solo under the crazy cousinz moniker with a half hour guest mix and short interview at 45mins in which he reflects on his "captivating year" having pound notes pouring from every pocket enjoying the patronage of a nice group of teenagers that are currently proudly purveying a super ultra new global bass type post-funky zzz (you may have seen it around being enticingly referred to as 130bpm). (all the yuppies lex stabbed in the back in that final episode of funky house of cards revenged themselves upon him by having kids i guess). "people are taking it more seriously than the scene we had before".

the mix is not unpleasant with the old riddims to begin with but swiftly nosedives into a dog's breakfast of irrelevant semi-modern solecisms. the usual.

brother tim will now join me in donning the old ceremonial robes and gravely chanting "i'm a wise old yoot and i know what's what."

10 years' time let's see what we got.

God knows I might hate it, God knows I might not.

http://i.imgur.com/u8J3nQI.gif

^^^ otm

crying @ funky house of cards

that ahadadream set was so tedious i've decided to share the gift of xmas with some liquidated stock

https://soundcloud.com/iambru/bru-c-x-tc4-marimba-freestyle-1
https://soundcloud.com/tc4wolves/bambo
https://soundcloud.com/tc4wolves/tc4-x-moad-corona-1

these frootloopy tc4 2016 treetz should actually really be filed in the old PVC thread i guess, except the chocolate puma student whiteboy grimey bigbeat basshouse scene never reveals itself to me whenever i delve. maybe because it doesnt exist!!! oh well enjoy

https://soundcloud.com/rinsefm/marcusnasty211216

OI.

actually everything after vapour arrives at 50mins is a towering garbage inferno, don't even bother. but that first half!!!

^^^^^

This is tremendous.

I don't even recognise most of the tracks from about 23 minutes (other than the obvious like "Rass Out" and "Seasons").

grateful not to have been commuting when 'crackish' crept in. woulda done a madness.

i love the whole bit where coldsteps is like 'alright let me give them a conscious one' and you just hear shants in the background going YES. YES. YES. YES.

also funny cos coldsteps has only ever had one conscious one and it is his horrible apocalyptic "bodies burning ending up in bins" piece. which still sounded fucking incredible because somehow, impossibly, only marcus-ly, warm queasy synth pads suddenly bloomed from the tune out of nowhere at the very exact moment he says "take a look things just got worse", just like a poisoned 4hero 'loveless'. incredible scenes

Sad to think that some people don't get that this music is the nicest vibes of all time.

I tried to write "biggest vibes" but my phone changed it to "nicest vibes", my phone otm tbh.

jam with the usual "shout out to jack poppy olivia and gabriel in halls" beeb biz. [actual transcript, no golby]. least he got tadow horns in there i spose

― r|t|c, Thursday, 9 June 2016 01:38 Bookmark

https://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/article/exclusive-mistajam-response-independent-drake-top-boy-working-class-culture
https://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/article/exclusive-mistajam-response-independent-drake-top-boy-working-class-culture
https://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/article/exclusive-mistajam-response-independent-drake-top-boy-working-class-culture

EEDIAT

Just to let you all know about my new mixcloud where I'm uploading all the classic era uk funky sets I can find, 60 sets so far.

https://www.mixcloud.com/Classic_UK_Funky_Sets/

You'll find most of the sets that got raved about and discussed in this thread - Marcus Nasty 2008> on Deja/Rinse, formative 2007 sets from Supa D, Taffa, Kismet, Hardhouse Banton & Dubplate Wonder, funkystepz, Ill Blu, loads of my own recordings of live FM from Petchy, Devine Recordings and whatever else I could gather together.

I've already gone a bit mad on this and don't have much more to upload but I'd like to keep it going, so if any of you lot have got classic material that I haven't got, please share and I'll upload it.

OMG Benny.

I lost so many of my favourite funky sets when my computer died last year, this is a godsend.

This is my favorite ilx thread of all time. Thanx Benny

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy5T7gl2j08

Baby J - I Wanna Tell You Something ^

didn't know where else to put this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsaXoYa9pL0

Done a zip of some old funkystepz tunes. If you want it you have 7 days to ask me for it.

— Funkystepz (@Funkystepz) May 6, 2020

I got mine this morning and it is the best. Pastor Lucas! The Whitney refix! All the Rihanna versions!

Damn! missed it

i asked twice :(

hint taken, keep an eye on your DMs

:)

could you send it to me too, please?

thx <3

bj - 😌

thx a lot boxedjoy!

A little history lesson on why UK Funky was actually called UK Funky..... Because so many people have asked me this.

— N:Fostell (@nfostellmusic) June 11, 2022

Thanks for sharing!

I miss uk funky

https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/SPxzVZLrDatFm1rN9

Burt Cope - Let U Go

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWMampOyIQM

sick

been listening to some of the early uk funky mixes this mixcloud account has been posting https://www.mixcloud.com/Classic_UK_Funky_Sets/

finding myself drawn to the very earliest ones, like this incredible august 2007 mix by supa d https://www.mixcloud.com/Classic_UK_Funky_Sets/supa-d-rinse-fm-8-august-2007/

am i wrong that funky gotless “house” and more “bass” as it went on? some of the 2010-11 mixes have really phat basslines. tim and rtc were still posting itt regularly through 2012. i so so love the fruity besotted r&b sound of the earliest stuff tho

Just to let you all know about my new mixcloud where I'm uploading all the classic era uk funky sets I can find, 60 sets so far.

https://www.mixcloud.com/Classic_UK_Funky_Sets/

You'll find most of the sets that got raved about and discussed in this thread - Marcus Nasty 2008> on Deja/Rinse, formative 2007 sets from Supa D, Taffa, Kismet, Hardhouse Banton & Dubplate Wonder, funkystepz, Ill Blu, loads of my own recordings of live FM from Petchy, Devine Recordings and whatever else I could gather together.

I've already gone a bit mad on this and don't have much more to upload but I'd like to keep it going, so if any of you lot have got classic material that I haven't got, please share and I'll upload it.

― Benny B, Thursday, 3 May 2018 5:16 AM (six years ago) bookmarkflaglink

ha cool, didn’t remember that this was posted in this very thread. must’ve been where i saved the link from

"Bongo Jam" - song of the year???

"SOMETIMES I WAKE UP EARLY IN THE MORNING, TO PLAY MY CON-CON-CONGO!"

― Tim F, Monday, 5 May 2008 08:28 (sixteen years ago) bookmarkflaglink

what a fucking track

been listening to some of the early uk funky mixes this mixcloud account has been posting https://www.mixcloud.com/Classic_UK_Funky_Sets/

finding myself drawn to the very earliest ones, like this incredible august 2007 mix by supa d https://www.mixcloud.com/Classic_UK_Funky_Sets/supa-d-rinse-fm-8-august-2007/

am i wrong that funky gotless “house” and more “bass” as it went on? some of the 2010-11 mixes have really phat basslines. tim and rtc were still posting itt regularly through 2012. i so so love the fruity besotted r&b sound of the earliest stuff tho

― flopson, Sunday, December 1, 2024 12:29 AM (twenty-two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

In a broad sense yeah, esp. if based on say Marcus Nasty DJ sets. Though there was a lot of R&B-ish tracks right up through 2010. By 2011 the vibe had changed enough that he was talking about doing blocks of "ladies tunes" (e.g. https://www.mixcloud.com/Classic_UK_Funky_Sets/marcus-nasty-mc-rankin-mc-shantie-ladies-tunes-1st-hour-rinse-fm-25-may-2011/) to distinguish from the muscular stuff.

lol nice ladies tunes

was wondering about djing some of this stuff. it’s super hard to buy anything, most links that do exist seem to be dead. could rip off youtube but most are uploaded so early quality’s gotta be low. gonna add like 100 words to slsk wishlist and pray

courtney dennie - signed and sealed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-tUVbEeTdk

one of the highlights of the supa d mix. amazing bassline, filter on it kinda sounds like the one in ginuwine’pony’. love the 90s r&b backup vocals

i know it organically grew out of stuff happening at the intersection of many uk dance music scenes, but when you consider all the pieces together it kinda blows my mind this music was ever invented. like, there’s a genre that mixes the afro-latin syncopation, bubbly girly/loverboy r&b, house, and 2step, and yet has an indelible sensibility that’s so much more than the sum of its parts? with many different producers creating iconic tracks in the style that all jibe so perfectly in these early online radio dj mixes??

Tadow's "Rising Sun" remains the archetypal "makes no sense on its own but is the best tune ever in the mix" track.

― Tim F, Friday, September 2, 2016 9:11 PM (eight years ago) bookmarkflaglink

Listening to stuff like that Supa D set really reminds me of how important a piece of the puzzle the addition of MCs was for me, in this double-action sense whereby, first, the MC's chat introduces an additional rhythmic line that combines with whatever the underlying track is already doing to really underscore the music's rhythmic complexity (which is not just about the literal drum track), and secondly, once the scene started shifting in this direction you can hear producers start to lean into the possibilities it opens up.

But it's not like Supa D's track selection here predates that dynamic either chronologically or stylistically - that set is from August 2007 and my broad understanding is that live DJ sets with MCs became noticeably huge in Ayia Napa at precisely that time, and DJs were still caning tunes like DJ MA1's "I'm Right Here" and DJ Naughty's "Quicktime" a year later.

The distinction is most starkly apparent for Tadow's "Rising Sun" (Supa D calls it "Sunrise" here) - as I said upthread, it never quite sounds complete by itself, but Shantie and Rankin going back and forth over the top of it just after the hour mark on this set from April 2008 is one of my favourite moments in music ever:

https://www.mixcloud.com/Classic_UK_Funky_Sets/marcus-nasty-mc-rankin-shantie-deja-vu-fm-april-2008/

^^^ more generally that set would be two of my favourite hours of music ever

tbh i never understood the appeal of the mcs

Few things are more nostalgic for me than listening to old UK funky radio sets and reading the section of this thread where I (and maybe one or two others) was reacting to the same set in real time.

Sometimes it seems amazing to me that this music even existed, both in the sense that it was so perfectly suited to my tastes and in the sense that often there is no surviving evidence that it did exist other than the discussion in this thread.

(it's also funny to read back and see evidence of my at-the-time thinly-veiled contempt for so many other posters ITT)