Influences in dnb music

Dustek

Dustek

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I've been working on the wikipedia article about dnb

The house music article has an excellent list of influences on house music.

I want to put something of similar quality in the dnb section.

All you old skool junglists, give me your list of influences on dnb.
 
There is alot to be said about the early metalheadz catalogue...Alex Reece, Doc Scott, Hidden Agenda, Dillinja, J.Majik, Photek & Goldie.

I would also add Klute for his transition through many different styles of music. Punk with the stupids. To Commercial Suicide and all its Luster.

Guys like LTJ Bukem, need to be named. And anyone involved in the amazing sounds of Good Looking / Looking Good.

Teebee is pure genius and helped to define many different styles and technics that are mimicked by many others.

Ed Rush & Optical helped to form and shape a specific sound that is seminal to most producers lately in the return of the greatest fad NeuroSound. (eventhough i love it to death, it is what it is)

The ORIGINAL Bad Company (fresh, vegas, d.bridge & maldini) They had there share of quality releases. Some would argue that Fresh or D.Bridge are better on there own after the split (i myself am partial to d.bridge he is genious)

The Soul:R sound and the start of liquid. (Calibre, Marcus Intalex & ST.Files) These were definately some frontrunners to the development of the smoother "liquid" side of dnb (eventhough i hate the term liquid, it does have meaning descriptively) Other notable people in launching this new sound would be DJ Flight and the 1Xtra crew. And the many smaller labels that have perked up to carry on the exploration...like progress & horizons.

Great yesterdays and sad tommorows. Adam F had some memorable moments. Total Science is another hero in the past. Sonic & Silver - what happened? Influx datum to Influx UK - we know where all the talent went? Im sure there are a few more that can fit in this catagory for sure.

But that is all that is on the top of my head. I may be back later to fill some of these jagged thoughts in.
 
I interpret your question as influences on dnb from outside dnb? As I think this is much more interesting topic?

I will have a think mate.
 
Iron Maiden
Slayer
ZZ Top
Happy Mondays
Beach Boys
Bob Marley
The 007 Movie Series
All the beatnik and beach music of the 50s
Peter Tosh
Wendy Carlos
Bob Moog
Devo
Raymond Scott
Motown Records
The Winstons
James Brown.
......Theres no point in listing everything.

How about this.
Simon Reynolds once described 'Ardkore as being a musical Amoeba that sucks in anything and everything. I agree. Thats not his exact quote however, to find the quote check out his book Energy Flash or the lame US version, Generation Extasy.

Unfortunatly DnB is not so lucky. DnB pretty much relies on whatever pop music is going on at the time and DnB is mostly influenced by itself. So perhaps.... just perhaps, the first person who responded was correct.
 
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WOW!!! Wikepidia is really fucked! For "UK Hardcore" they speak of really bad happy hardcore. Thats sick.
 
1992 said:
How about this.
Simon Reynolds once described 'Ardkore as being a musical Amoeba that sucks in anything and everything. I agree. Thats not his exact quote however, to find the quote check out his book Energy Flash or the lame US version, Generation Extasy.

Unfortunatly DnB is not so lucky. DnB pretty much relies on whatever pop music is going on at the time and DnB is mostly influenced by itself. So perhaps.... just perhaps, the first person who responded was correct.
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while I agree that dnb can be a bit insular (I think thats what Dustek was addressing in his 'funk, flava, quotes' thread) it doesnt exist in a bubble. And I put to you that 'ardcore was similarly guilty of chronic self-referencing.
I think Goldie described dnb as like a switchboard from which you can easily access other styles of music that may not have crossed your path before. I did not like jazz or thrash music until I got into jungle.
 
I'm interested in influences from outside dnb.

I can create a list of 'classic' tracks in the article but I'm worried it would just get a lot of junglists getting their nuts in a twist, much like the massive argument about whether dnb is jungle.
 
i reckon personally that DnB is influenced quite heavily from itself as 1992 originally said, but on the same note, the genre cannot be totally cyclic as in it has to have "started" from somewhere. I'm not exactly old enough to remember when DnB started to develop into a genre in it's own right but there has to be certain pioneers that brought DnB from it's infancy to the full fledged sub-section of dance. Those that i think are worth a mention are Fabio and (much as i hate him) Grooverider for their radio1 show, Roni Size and the reprazent crew, AndyC and Shimon for Bodyrock as it brought DnB to a mainstream audience and DJ Hype and the rest of the Tru Playaz and Ganja Records Fort for stickin to the DnB scene since its birth.

P.S - i have left out jungle as i know near enough nothing about it's origins.
 
Lets see...DnB does draw off many different styles and has continued to borrow and merge sounds forging forward and inventing something new. Some definate influences on the evolution of DnB would be:

First and foremost: Miles Davis. (How many times have you seen a Dj rocking a Miles Davis Shirt, this is not a coincidence) Davis pioneered a mellow organic blues sound that begs to be sampled. Other notable Jazz & blues influences would be: Leadbelly, Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton, Muddy Waters & B.B King.

Al Green & Marvin Gaye (Guys so smooth they could sweet talk there way into your bed after a discussion about NOT being gay) All the old Soul & Funk Heros: Ella Fitzgerald, Gladys Night & The Pips, Temptaions, Jakson 5, Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Smokie Robinson & The Miracles, Dianna Ross & The Supremes, The Commodores, The Marvellettes, Jr.Walker & The Allstars, Four Tops, the Delfonics, Edwin Star, George Clinton & The Parliament Funk, Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Louis, Herbie Hancock, James Brown, Sam Cooke, Jill Scott, and last but not least Michael Jackson.

The original Dub & Reggae sound outta Jamaica before it was echoed into a worldwide artform. Pioneers that defined the sound are: King Tubby, The Scientist, Pete Tosh, Sly & Robbie, Bill Laswell, Lee "Scratch" Perry, The Scattalites, Mad Professor, Roots Radics, Bob Marley & The Wailers and Buju Banton. Although it seems short on artsits this small group of people changed the world of music. Not enough can be said of the influence of men like King Tubby or Lee Perry or Bob Marley. These Jamaican artists are some of the most important and understated artists, and should not be overlooked in the discussion of influence behind DnB.

As a spin-off to these first three influences and powerful musical artforms...we get early hip-hop. I know Dustek was talking about this in a different thread. Some of the Artists that must be highlighted are: Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambata, De La Soul, 2 Live Crew, Wildstyle, Jungle Brothers, Kool Keith, Run DMC, Public Enemy, Schooly D, NWA, Wu-Tang Clan, Dr.Dre, Mos Def, Pharoe Monch, Guru's Jazzmatazz, Erykha Badu, The Roots, Alicia Keys, Lauryn Hill & The Fugees, Tribe Called Quest, Arsonists, Jurassic 5, Beasty Boys and the Pharcyde.

KEEP IN MIND. ALOT OF THIS MUSIC IS DEEPLY ROOTED IN BLACK CULTURE. IT IS NOT A COINCIDENCE THAT PEOPLE CONSIDER DNB TO BE A BLACK MUSIC ARTFORM. THAT IS NOT A BAD THING CONSIDERING ALL THE BEUTIFUL MUSIC THAT HAS BEEN MADE OVER THE LAST 60 YEARS, AND HOW ANYTHING NOTABLE HAS ITS ROOTS IN BLACK MUSIC & BLACK CULTURE.
 
Excellent work Daedalus.

Now about samples & quotes, does anyone have a list of samples that appear in dnb tracks? (the original track name & the dnb track).
 
1992 said:
Unfortunatly DnB is not so lucky. DnB pretty much relies on whatever pop music is going on at the time and DnB is mostly influenced by itself. So perhaps.... just perhaps, the first person who responded was correct.
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Nowadays I agree, dnb is frigging hermetic and incestuous. But back in the days of jungle, dnb was basically every music style, fused together with a 160 bpm and phat bassline.
 
mesh said:
while I agree that dnb can be a bit insular (I think thats what Dustek was addressing in his 'funk, flava, quotes' thread) it doesnt exist in a bubble. And I put to you that 'ardcore was similarly guilty of chronic self-referencing.
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Well thats very true too. However it was a bit more open to influences much more then dnb is.


I did not like jazz or thrash music until I got into jungle.
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I'm the same. Although for me, getting into metal and even jazz was my way of coping with the fact that DnB started sucking bad after 2003. I suppose I owe DnB a debt of gratitude because if it stayed at the awesome level it was at in 2002 I would have never bothered to have expanded my musical tastes. I can now say I actually feel like one of those really annoying stuck up music fans with that attitude. I mean, unlike most ppl my age, I listen to more then one thing.
 
1992 said:
Well thats very true too. However it was a bit more open to influences much more then dnb is.

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okay I'll pay that

I guess this is meant to be objective but is still personal. I mean I can't know something is an influence unless I've heard it myself.
Big influences in the music were late 80s / early 90s hip-hop like Public Enemy, with teh Shocklee production and miltant stance; NWA with the amen gangsterism aka Straight Outta Compton, Eric B and Rakim.
I think the b-boy spirit is really something that spread from the States to the UK and worldwide, and co-mingled with other styles to create the sound. but there are other huge influences.
Techno and rave were the precursors, and dnb kept a lot of the big elements of 4/4 rush-based noise.
People's deepest connection with their rhythmic impulse comes from being inside a percussive experience like jungle/dnb, and as soon as producers started shying away from the 4/4 kick drum there was a treasure trove of sampled breaks. so thanks to the list daedalus made.
i guess there's more but hey. In particular the ska sound from Uk in late 70s on. there was also what they called 'two-tone', the revolutionary idea that a production outfit could incorporate black and white together. anyway, love The Specials, and others.
I do not perceive dnb as a black music artform. While it is impossible to deny the huge influence black culture had on the evolution and tunes, they simply would not exist without all races and cultures in the mix. When I was into gangsta rap as a 15 year old it was like a window into a world that showed me things I hadn't seen; jungle was like I was IN the world I loved being in.
 
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