The Amen Break
Sunday, May 25th, 2008
There can’t be many people out there producing electronic music that aren’t already familiar with the Amen Break to some extent. It’s quite possibly the most reused piece of audio since the introduction of sampling.
A few months ago, Nathaniel pointed me in the direction of this tidy and concise 18 minute youtube clip doing an admirable job of explaining the enormous significance of this 6 second drum loop and it’s influence on anything breakbeat related since. I never got around to posting it here and eventually it slipped my mind completely but after it was pointed out to me again this week by someone else (thanks qiU!) I thought I better share before it gets lost again among the mess of other ideas swirling about my mindtank.
Non-Format
Friday, May 16th, 2008
“Non-Format is a creative team comprising Kjell Ekhorn and Jon Forss. They work together (often remotely) on a range of projects including art direction, design and illustration for music industry, arts & culture, fashion and advertising clients. They also art direct Varoom: the journal of illustration and made images.”
A Guy Called Gerald
Monday, May 12th, 2008
Here’s something nice for any of you who share my nostalgic fascination for the various characters who’ve shaped the last 25 years of electronic music.
Gerald’s been an innovator from the start. Setting a solid course in the late eighties with Pacific as part of 808 State and Voodoo Ray on his own, he went on to play a large part in the transition from Hardcore to Jungle. Of the many names that surface during discussions of early UK breakbeat culture, Gerald often seems to get brushed aside in favour of people like Goldie and Bukem. I have enormous respect for all of them but I think most of the original Drum & Bass guys would struggle to argue that they’re weren’t influenced by Gerald’s constant forward thinking approach during that early period.
Enough of my thoughts and opinions. I’m writing this because I stumbled across his site a couple of weeks back and the info section is great. The highlight is a short video made up of parts from a couple of old documentaries; Granada TV’s Madchester from 1990 and Channel 4’s Pioneers docu from 2000. There’s also a great page on Acid House which makes an ideal intro to anyone less familiar with his work or the period in general.
Theo Parrish interview
Thursday, May 1st, 2008
There’s a great interview with Theo Parrish over at Resident Advisor. The guy’s very opinionated but makes some interesting and solid points. I suggest checking out the links in the first paragraph before you get stuck in, especially the BBC interview.
