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Corpsey

bandz ahoy
4 of the first records I bought back in 2005/6, to give you an idea of where my taste was at in those days of Innocence:




 

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
Wow, I definitely owned that on vinyl, completely forgot about it.
Like most liquid drum n bass where it excels is in the sumptuous, gorgeous sounds, the filtered/reversed(?) guitar(?) tones. At the cost of sort of neutering the bass/drums, a thoroughly domesticated form of jungle, ultra linear and predictable.

I should get pilled up and listen to some of this stuff again, see what happens. Pricking up hairs or fuck it who cares?
 

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
There's something so "finished" about drum n bass that feels strangely dull, lifeless, pinned under glass.

All this only came into focus for me after I got into jungle, of course. And perhaps blinded me to its virtues.
 

thirdform

pass the sick bucket
Like most liquid drum n bass where it excels is in the sumptuous, gorgeous sounds, the filtered/reversed(?) guitar(?) tones. At the cost of sort of neutering the bass/drums, a thoroughly domesticated form of jungle, ultra linear and predictable.

I should get pilled up and listen to some of this stuff again, see what happens. Pricking up hairs or fuck it who cares?

I have a contension that liquid is sort of a update on that not quite dark, not quite happy hardcore sound of 93-94. See House Crew, Manix, Nookie etc. Something vibesy and London, but not quite LTJ Bukem style goodlooking just yet. Unfortunately for me at least it doesn't seem to possess the woozy post-ardkore soul of say, Manix - Alright Wid Me (Tek 9 Remix.)

But this aspect i always thought was slightly written out of the equasion - @Pearsall did a mix about it, but there was a sort of inbetween zone where even the tearout breaks and hoovers were interfacing with afroamerican black music - that's why its a london something, no way these tunes could have worked in Scotland or wherever, in fact maybe even less so than the 93 dark vibes, which would get you bottled off anyhow.

The problem I have with most liquid is it seems to not be housey/soulful jazz funk influenced dnb so much as big beat for connoisseurs. Just this incessant chugging with some soulful samples thrown over the top but not capturing its own vibe. You remember that Space Invader Jay Majik remix? Really a low point for him.

That pearsall mix is here, although of course it has a lot of the later 94-95 stuff, because those tunes in '93 were the absolute minority anyway. But the hard soul roller is something a lot of junglists need to rediscover, i feel. http://sonicrampage.org/blog/2018/08/pearsall-presents-rolled-in-sunshine-summer-ready-jungle-mix/
 

thirdform

pass the sick bucket
Incidentally this is why people started moving away from ragga jungle in 94-95 to garage as @luka says. Garage was vibesy and uplifting, but without being saccharine or amphetamine/E fuelled, a la happy hardcore. Good times for either A) a more self-conscious or B) an older, more smart shirtsnshoes crowd.
 

thirdform

pass the sick bucket
Like most liquid drum n bass where it excels is in the sumptuous, gorgeous sounds, the filtered/reversed(?) guitar(?) tones. At the cost of sort of neutering the bass/drums, a thoroughly domesticated form of jungle, ultra linear and predictable.

I should get pilled up and listen to some of this stuff again, see what happens. Pricking up hairs or fuck it who cares?

I'd say its more globalised than domesticated. Its something I tried to convince droid of, that part of why jungle had to abandon the cchopped up breakbeats is because they were so geographically concentrated to a reggae/rare groove/electro crowd which wasn't so much big out in the sticks.

Put it this way, if you see a northern dj do a breakbeat orientated drum and bass set or a london dj do a breakbeat orientated drum and bass set, and they will probably play the same tunes, have a similar level of skill, have shared influences. But there is also this contextual aspect that the Londoner has to do less explicit learning about, because it is all around her (E.G: 80s rnb on sunday pirate radio...) This is why I have no problem with the techno orientated direction of good drum and bass, my friend is a wicked northern choppage/drumfunk/weird dj and she has quite a techy approach, and I respect that a lot. Early Ed Rush and Optical should be appreciated on their own terms, as a genre based on belgian brutalism. Of course they became a parody very quickly but that doesn't mean that some of what they inspired (E.G.) Konflict - messiah is not a colossal tune in its own right, it's just that you have to not judge it against a 94 L Double roller, but more 94-95 Joey Beltram.
 
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