Hello and

[stickman05]

Hi folks! I have been reading some stuff here and I like it very much. I am a student and look forward to talking drums and exchanging ideas! Just want to introduce myself and say hello.

Stickman

[Dazzler]

Nice to see you Stickman - come on in... the water's lovely!! [img]wink.gif[/img]

[stickman05]

HI Dazzler...What's it like to live in London? Do you play allot out there? What is the latest style of music coming from there? I think there is much electronic stuff right? Electro style house? I have some idea because my girlfriend likes house music and all that.

stickman:-)

[Dazzler]

Hey Stix, London is just great and there are lots of things happening. Lots of creative jazz is being made, the RnB and Breakbeat scene is cool and there's some great beatz being made (just ask Sweep!). There is a healthy Salsa scene too and basically lots and lots to see and hear... There are lots of collectives being set up by different groups of musicians and this is pushing and furthering musical styles.

The clubbing scene has been huge here for years and Garage, Drum n Bass, Jungle, Dance and House are still flourishing, but for me, House hasn't moved on at all since 1994 and the same shit is still being churned out. Personally, I prefer DnB to house as it's far more creative and exiting. Artists like Aphex Twin, Kid 606 and Squarepusher are just incredible and are re-inventing the 'techno' genre with everything they turn out.

Obviously musos are still doing functions and what have you, but generally I'd say ythat the scene in London is extremely healthy.

[stickman05]

Wow...sounds like you know all about those electronic styles! That's cool! So there is lots happening there huh? Why do I keep hearing that the scene in London is not good? That it's all about DJ's and house etc...my girlfriend is totally into that stuff that's where I hear this. Do you know about electro? she says that is the "happening" style at the moment. I am very curious about all this because of the drumming possibilities. I have done a few jobs with DJ's where I just play along to the dance music all night long. Have you heard Thomas Lang out there? he lives in London right? He's supposed to be great and drum and bass!
thanks for your time.
Stickman

[Dazzler]

Sticks, what exactly do you mean by 'Electro'? If you mean electronic music then that encompasses lots of genres such as House, Garage, Hardcore, Drum n Bass, Techno, Jungle Trance etc etc etc.

[stickman05]

I guess thats the name of this style. Electro was started from what she tells me by an italian DJ. It sounds real super electronic, almost no melody at all and mostly talking for vocals. Thats all i know. Its called Electro. A DJ called it the "newest hippest thing...Electrooooo!
whatever...i guess it's not as popular as some might want you to beleive. There seems to be so much fragmentation of these styles, deep house , house, electronic house, Techno, ambient, chill out, Trance...etc etc and more etc...where does it end?
Most of the drumming seems to be determined by mixing styles more than beat variations. Breakbeats, Industrial, its great! Kind of cool.
but from what i here the hippest house and electronic comes from London. True?
Stickman

[spaceotter]

Not always. Some great stuff comes from Paris, Amsterdam, Cologne, San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Detroit, even LA. For instance, Chicago and SF kind of took over and were doing new things with house in the mid-90s when the European house scene wasn't going anywhere, and the focus had shifted in UK to breaks, jungle, DnB, and trancey "progressive" house (ala Sasha, Digweed, Oakenfold). Chicago took house and put some funk and psychedelic soul back into it in '95 (Derrick Carter, Terry Mullan, Cashmere, Gene Farris), while SF was doing some similar things mixing with downtempo raggae and latin (Garth and Jeno). SF also had a fairly credible DnB/Breaks scene when I lived there in the late 90s, with plenty of styles (hardstep, darkstep, intelligent) which has since kind of fragmented. A lot of the club/rave scene here in California and elsewhere just collapsed after 9/11.

But it does seem like London/UK are ground zero for most electronic music.

I've always heard electro in the hip-hop idiom, as an early predecessor to the current strands of gansta/pop/R&B hip-hop. It was about old-school programmed keyboard sounds (303s, etc.) and breakin'. I've heard some breaks fanatics and househeads, and some folks into that old school acid sound who have pulled it out of the hip hop scene and made it into kind of a purist thing that harkens back to electro hip-hop but without the vocals. Not sure if this is the same thing you're talking about.

Cool too see Aphex Twin and Squarepusher mentioned on a drum board. Richard James is a sick, sick man who does some of the raddest and most chaotic drum programming I've heard. I love how in drum&bass (the electronic form) the drums are out front as a dominant, aggressive, often melodic instrument with the whole detuned snares/bass drums thing. I really haven't seen any live drummer do this style well, to be honest. Some folks call what they are doing "drum and bass" but most of them don't get it. Would love to hear of good examples of people who can really get that vibe, live. It's spicy.

[stickman05]

Yeah ...I know, "from what I hear"!!! Oh well:-)

[stickman05]

How was it that you got so much information about this stuff? I am pretty much into it because of friends, but it's basic knowlegde. Do you play any of this stuff live? I have seen Jojo Mayer do some great stuff with D&B. Apperantly Johnny Rabb has some good stuff in this style also. The programming is excellente and real up front like you say. I wish it was more popular with REAL drummers doing the gigs:-)

By the way, can I fix my posts once they are posted?
Spelling mistakes and etc...?

I heard of a guy in LA who plays this stuff real well. Coincidentally he is from Chicago. His name is Franklin Vanderbilt...something like that...he plays with Stevie Wonder now. Anyone hear about him?
Thanks for your response
S