It's been over 40 years since Miles Davis added instruments that required electricity into his music, over twenty-five years since the first techno record came out, almost twenty years since the first drum and bass record, and conversations like the below are still happening. Thankfully, not only does Mtume have a talent for dope early 80s r&b but also for comedy! As Miles would say, he's a motherfucker.
9 hours ago
2 comments:
'Juicy' is one of my favourite early 80s tracks - way ahead of its time in its sparseness and beatbox lustiness.
Weird to realise that drum'n'bass is two decades old. I can remember when it sounded oh-so-futuristic and cutting edge. Is rhythmic innovation in club music - or all western popular music - dead now?
I don't know. I buy mostly old records.
Most of the new records I hear are pretty boring drum-wise. But most of the records I hear are reverent, retentive. Ironically, for some, the best way to pay tribute to Chicago and Detroit is to not change the drum pattern on a regular basis. Of course, many older records, especially from Detroit, have very intricate hihat patterns. Those records were actually designed to make people sweat; the new tracks, not so much.
So I don't know if the new is impossible. I just know most people aren't trying.
"Juicy Fruit" is truly a great one. I like the style from back then, too. Whenever I see the cover of that record I tend to feel a bit cheated; I really believe people had more fun in the past.
It's true the current purveyors of pop/r&b aren't exactly targeting, well, me, but whatever cliched stuff I could say about 90s Euro-Dance biting American pop, ultimately I don't like it because it sounds like hard work, if that makes sense.
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