Sunday, September 13, 2015

genre watch

dude at dissensus with inventory of new dance-ish genres of the 2010's so far and asks which one appears to be the biggest paradigm shift?

the list:

 - Deep Tech

- Jackin House

- Brostep 

- Chicago Bop

- Gqom

- Moombathon

- Trap

- Nu-grime/art-grime/industrial grime

- Ratchet

- Drumstep

- Zouk


paradigm shift? well lemme have a think 


deep tech
yes, down with this (although 2015 output been a bit flat, seemingly). that said, even its most fervent proponents ie. Dominic Datwun would not claim it as a Paradigm Shift

jackin house
niiiice - recombinant, though, another nuum-composite - and also it's gone away now, hasn't it?

brostep 
more a late 2000s thing? - fun enough, up to a point - the bastardization of dubstep and the best thing that could happen to it IMO (better than postdubstep's delta of diffusion) . Generative of some genuinely 21st Century sounds. Yes, verily, a paradigm shift.

chicago bop
a lusher Mustard-y extension of drill?

gquom
a distant relative of funky house? broken beat meets kwaito



Moombathon
s'alright. recombinant bizniz though.


trap
in the EDM sense (and things like DJ Snake, 'turn down for what') pretty exciting, but wears out its welcome.  Bit paradigm shifty, though. In the pure hip hop sense, gangsta part 345, so no P's shifted whatsoever.

Nu-grime/art-grime/industrial grime
the IDM-ification of a 13 or 14 year old genre; instrumentalizm, MC-free. As stand-alone audio objects, often impressively ugly, imposingly abstract. Stripped of all social energy = big minus for me.

Ratchet
yes love it, my favorite music of the 2010's so far probably. Although Mustard has spread himself a bit thin. But the extension of a long-running, not-terribly-fast-moving West Coast rap continuuum, if judged sternly. No Paradigm Shift, then. And perhaps run out of steam now, judging by what's been on the radio this year.

Drumstep
sort of baroque brostep really.... 




zouk 
cheesy! carnival sounds = knees up mother brown bizniz really. what Dr Paul Gilroy calls the sounds of "small island rapture"





Dissneus dude also mentions these are older-rooted sound that achieved wider popularity in the last 5 years:


- Footwork

- Jersey/Philly Club

- Azonto/Naija

- Kuduro


Of these I'd have to say that only footwork gets beyond recombinant bizness OR exoticified developing-world twist to existing North American/UK/European template

and footwork - it's got boring, don't you think? it's exhausted my interest anyway.





Another person on the tread mentions ballroom as a long established sound reaching a wider audience

Nightslugsy stuff also mentioned as nu - and i would agree that while mostly composite/recombinant they did in certain instances come up with some bracing and imposingly different - Classical Curves etc - but was it actually enjoyable I suppose is what I ask myself....  listening I would often think "yes this is striking - literally - the rhythms battering at one's body - but do i ever feel like listening to it again?' but perhaps this a lightweight objection....  i certainly don't mind "punishing" but there has to be some sense of bursting jouissance coming out of the ordeal

^^^^^^^^^


Overall i'd have to say, the tally is pretty poor, in terms of paradigm shifts


13 comments:

Domuseswords said...

2015 deep tech's gone more towards the techy side and further from the grimey/harder/uk side. Still loads of great stuff though! Though a scene massively suffering from the dire club situation in London right now... The economic and political forces at work in London (gentrification, social cleansing) represent a bit of an existential threat to the 'nuum I fear...

Anyway, deep tech, not a paradigm shift in turns of breaking any new ground or reaching any totally unexplored terrain, but a bit of a paradigm shift in the context of UK rave: the format of the 4x4 house beat and slower tempo teasing out new nuances, new permutations from the raw matter of the last 25 years of UK dance music.

And it's quite paradigm shifty in terms of the dynamics of the scene, the role of the shuffler, the centrality of social media, Instagram (Instafame)

Overall though what deep tech has recommending it is less about it's newness - it's more NOW sounding that futuristic - but more just the quality. As you say, there's some very 'experimental' dance music out there right now, but it seems to fail on the crucial point of actually being /dance/ music. The sweet-spot of UK music is between the dancefloor and outer space.

Anonymous said...

did grimey simey just say bop sounds a lush version of dj mustard?

please stop writing about rap music.

SIMON REYNOLDS said...

No I wrote a lush Mustardy extension of drill with a question mark after it suggesting tentative thinking aloud... You might want to read a bit slower and more accurately Anon who the fuckever you might be, courageous in your masked opinions

SIMON REYNOLDS said...

The real point being it doesn't sound like any kind of paradigm shift

Daze Of Reality said...

I wouldnt rate many of these to be purely from the last 5 years I guess ... drumstep is really just d&b tempo with drum patterns influenced by dubstep, showed up in 2008. And the day someone convinces me a genre called 'jackin house' is new.... I'll know I've lost it.
I agree with your grime remarks, but can't agree on brostep as any thing deserving, or the diffusion of dubstep as uninteresting, but thats just my taste i guess. And I'll admit I've never heard of gqom.... to the Soundcloud mobile!
Cheers

Joe said...

Oh no -- Footwork is dead because Simon Reynolds no longer has interest in it!!

SIMON REYNOLDS said...

it was incredibly exciting when it came along, no doubt about that (and "came along" isn't the right word because footwork existed for many years as a local genre before it got outside attention, right?)... but from what i've heard in the last year or two, it doesn't feel like it's going anywhere, developing particularly, as a genre.... so for me it's like watching an amazing acrobat or juggler or something, the first six times you catch the guest appearance on TV variety shows, your jaw drops.... but then it starts to seem a little stale, even though objectively it's still involving amazing feats

but do point me, Joe, to things that would correct this misperception, or "inappropriate feeling" as you seem to characterise it

Anonymous said...

bop is not an extension of drill.

it does not sound lush (quite the opposite)

and it definitely sounds nothing like dj mustard.

this is why everyone thinks you're so embarrassing when you try to write about rap.

you'd probably be better off just shutting up and sticking to writing about ariel pink in future ;)

SIMON REYNOLDS said...

Okay it is no extension (although there is some overlap between two it seems)

Lush isn't the right word but it does sound incredibly glossy to me, like the sounds are coated in digital frosting


But again anon I am curious as to why you hide your identity and what your public history of opinions and judgements might consist of

Daze Of Reality said...

Anonymous and Joe seem happy to rudely disagree with Simon, but offer absolutely no coherent opinion or facts, or alternative pov. I'm amazed he's being even remotely civil in his replies. I don't agree with all he or the usually thoughtful commenters on this blog say, but if you can't offer anything intelligent other than what sounds like a 3 year old learning the word No, piss off.

SIMON REYNOLDS said...

cheers Daze

got no problem at all with people pointing out that I've got the wrong end of the stick, or arguing that i've under-rated or over-rated something

i actually would be interested to hear if Joe thinks footwork is still going interesting places ... or if Anon really thinks bop is a paradigm shift or not

i do feel at a disadvantage, however,h when arguing with people where i don't know anything about their opinions / tastes / fundamental take on where it's at in music.... i have a long public history of positions and stances, which is fair game for anyone to take issue with, or point out inconsistencies... but generally, i feel if someone has a blog or is professional writer they really should identify themselves, then i can see where they are coming from...

also, i feel that perhaps some people don't understand what this particular place is about - it's one of my secondary blogs, it's a notepad for quick reactions and thoughts-in-process, really something i do for my own amusement and perhaps for the amusement of a small number of others... mostly posting soundclips and mixes that have caught my ear or old things i've been reminded or come across for the first time , accompanied by a dashed-off thought or two... so, no, i won't have done my homework... it should be taken in that spirit

Anonymous said...

instead of getting defensive grimey simey should probably edit the post and correct his mistake

SIMON REYNOLDS said...

Still posting Anonymously, still got nothing to say