Soundsystem / Pirate style

[joe muggs]

So So I've just been listening to the new clips by Groove Chronicles and M2J on http://www.myspace.com/dprrecordings and there's something about them that even if I didn't know about the history of the music producers I would instantly tag as "pirate" or "soundsystem" sounding... Does that make any sense?

There are the obvious things like lo-fi siren/bleep dub sound fx, and that "hollow" bass sound - but other than that there is a quality that I can't pin down... El-B does it, Boka tracks often do it... It's maybe a similar approach to how Congo Natty did/do jungle? it's not dark like Vex'd or aggy like Rusko/Caspa or technoey like Peverelist or glossy like Pinch or full of big riffs like Skream or Benga... It's not necessarily retro-garage but somehow sounds "old school" if you know what I mean... Anyway, as you can see I'm struggling to pin down exactly what it is that I'm trying to describe here, so I throw it open: is there a subset of dubstep that fits this pirate/soundsystem sound category?

[sully_shanks]

think category is a bit strong
i hear you tho
i love that ruff diy-ness
it just evokes the rave haha

[stanton]

it just evokes the rave haha

That's the one. I'm so excited by these Price & Daega tunes dropping cos I cannot wait to hear them is the dance.

[spooKs]

So So I've just been listening to the new clips by Groove Chronicles and M2J on http://www.myspace.com/dprrecordings and there's something about them that even if I didn't know about the history of the music producers I would instantly tag as "pirate" or "soundsystem" sounding... Does that make any sense?

There are the obvious things like lo-fi siren/bleep dub sound fx, and that "hollow" bass sound - but other than that there is a quality that I can't pin down... El-B does it, Boka tracks often do it... It's maybe a similar approach to how Congo Natty did/do jungle? it's not dark like Vex'd or aggy like Rusko/Caspa or technoey like Peverelist or glossy like Pinch or full of big riffs like Skream or Benga... It's not necessarily retro-garage but somehow sounds "old school" if you know what I mean... Anyway, as you can see I'm struggling to pin down exactly what it is that I'm trying to describe here, so I throw it open: is there a subset of dubstep that fits this pirate/soundsystem sound category?

i feel that...

[joe muggs]

think category is a bit strong
i hear you tho
i love that ruff diy-ness
it just evokes the rave haha

Yeah I'm not trying to create a genre or anything. And yes it definitely has something DIY about it... yet it's precision engineered at the same time.

[noodles dpr recordings]

it's a vibe thing...

[hasezwei]

i definetly feel it too, i think it's the ruffness of particular sounds used and the arrangement. both congo natty and el-b's drums for example sound ruff, a bit lo-fi like they could've been played live but at the same time very artificial.
the sound's got edges, it's hard to describe but for example the individual parts of "stone cold" (absolute favourite garage tune of mine) are very accessible, they could be from a nu-jazz cd or so if you think about it. but the arrangement and that bassline give it such a different vibe it just makes me wanna skank out mad.

i think it's not a synth-heavy sound, and not very melodic. there's a stripped back approach to song arrangement, making the most of every element instead of cramming in yet another pad to fill out the tune. actually a lot of el-b's tracks feel almost skeletal to me, just the percussion with some samples thrown in and the bassline.

[joe muggs]

i definetly feel it too, i think it's the ruffness of particular sounds used and the arrangement. both congo natty and el-b's drums for example sound ruff, a bit lo-fi like they could've been played live but at the same time very artificial.
the sound's got edges, it's hard to describe but for example the individual parts of "stone cold" (absolute favourite garage tune of mine) are very accessible, they could be from a nu-jazz cd or so if you think about it. but the arrangement and that bassline give it such a different vibe it just makes me wanna skank out mad.

i think it's not a synth-heavy sound, and not very melodic. there's a stripped back approach to song arrangement, making the most of every element instead of cramming in yet another pad to fill out the tune. actually a lot of el-b's tracks feel almost skeletal to me, just the percussion with some samples thrown in and the bassline.

Woah, good bit of thread retrieval. I hear what you're saying, very much

I think LHF capture this feeling a lot, even though often their layering is paradoxically quite rich...

[hasezwei]

Woah, good bit of thread retrieval. I hear what you're saying, very much

I think LHF capture this feeling a lot, even though often their layering is paradoxically quite rich...

just noticed, where in god's name did i find this thread?
man i could swear it was on the frontpage

[slothrop]

Ha ha.

Old, but true.

I fucking love that vibe but absolutely couldn't pin down what makes it.

[joe muggs]

Also, the early tracks by TIME from Bristol absolutely had that vibe, even though they are on the heavier/noisier end of the scale - they just felt like signals from some warehouse rave at the end of time... What's happened to Time? Is he still on the forum?

[Sirius]

hey... this was on the new posts page before... hardcase,
I was guna post too, went & checked out DPR recordings myspace page to have a look & nada was there.
no wonder!!ahahahaha.
but ay bring back the ruff & rugged under produced tracks!

I just put a track in my sig that is reminiscent of the late 1970s era! check it if ya keen!

!!chea

[hasezwei]

thought about it a bit more, it's deffo the sounds used. i was driving through the city listening to trg on full volume and noticed that even though he's pretty garage-y his vibe is different. it's more clean and techy (which i like), even with all the shuffle going on.

made me think of uk funky, compared to regular house it's a lot more diy and raw, especially the drums. not really comparable to what you originally talked about but there's an influence...

[joe muggs]

thought about it a bit more, it's deffo the sounds used. i was driving through the city listening to trg on full volume and noticed that even though he's pretty garage-y his vibe is different. it's more clean and techy (which i like), even with all the shuffle going on.

made me think of uk funky, compared to regular house it's a lot more diy and raw, especially the drums. not really comparable to what you originally talked about but there's an influence...

Oh it is comparable I think. Especially the really early tracks by Apple, Ill Blu etc. Bare bones tunes, really raw, definitely soundsystem style....

[slothrop]

thought about it a bit more, it's deffo the sounds used. i was driving through the city listening to trg on full volume and noticed that even though he's pretty garage-y his vibe is different. it's more clean and techy (which i like), even with all the shuffle going on.

made me think of uk funky, compared to regular house it's a lot more diy and raw, especially the drums. not really comparable to what you originally talked about but there's an influence...

It's kind of the combination of being a bit grimey and raw but upbeat and celebratory with it, I think. And there's a kind of self confidence to it, too, which is hard to pin down. Not afraid to be raw, not afraid to be stripped down, not afraid to be a bit cheesy as well.

[joe muggs]

thought about it a bit more, it's deffo the sounds used. i was driving through the city listening to trg on full volume and noticed that even though he's pretty garage-y his vibe is different. it's more clean and techy (which i like), even with all the shuffle going on.

made me think of uk funky, compared to regular house it's a lot more diy and raw, especially the drums. not really comparable to what you originally talked about but there's an influence...

It's kind of the combination of being a bit grimey and raw but upbeat and celebratory with it, I think. And there's a kind of self confidence to it, too, which is hard to pin down. Not afraid to be raw, not afraid to be stripped down, not afraid to be a bit cheesy as well.

Yes definitely, and the cheese comes from the gung-ho attitude to sampling from pop culture sources, which just adds to the illegal vibe. White label ultra heavy garage bootlegs of R&B tunes FTW.

[_boring]

sirius i am really diggin the tune in your sig man. tried to hit u up on aim, sure we'll talk soon

[joe muggs]

sirius i am really diggin the tune in your sig man. tried to hit u up on aim, sure we'll talk soon

Wow me too! Drop me a line Sirius

[joe muggs]

'Boy Racer' - first track on this - has this vibe in bucketloads.

Soundcloud

[Sirius]

sirius i am really diggin the tune in your sig man. tried to hit u up on aim, sure we'll talk soon

Wow me too! Drop me a line Sirius

lol.. chea bruthaz, must os missed this a cupla months ago.
think I'm guna stay in the dubside of things for awhile,
my new sig is a nice dubby steppah & ya should hear what Im working on at the mo!

finally getn my mixdowns sorted hard!

!!chea