If You're Listening To Music Right Now III

[Magnus Anderson]

Colonel Abrams - Trapped
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSNWeXGZMcU

[MagsJ]

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My vibe!

Street, not ghetto or gangster..



Disco, not R&B or soul..



Asian, but not necessarily Cuban or Haitian..

[MagsJ]

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Purple Sun by Cannons definitely has a touch of da reggaes in it, then it got me to thinking..

Who made the first reggae song?

For many of us, Jimmy Cliff's 1973 song “The Harder They Come” was the first reggae piece we'd heard. Reggae grew out of two earlier styles of Jamaican music, ska and rocksteady. And these were both preceded by the Jamaican folk/pop music of the 1950s, a style called mento.
https://www.knkx.org/behind-the-beat/20 ... n-dance-to

Da hell is mento? and this was my understanding of Rock Steady: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bc_dcims_Ww [though I am familiar with those sings in the above link]



Wikipedia says: Mento is a style of Jamaican folk music that predates and has greatly influenced ska and reggae music. It is a fusion of African rhythmic elements and European elements, which reached peak popularity in the 1940s and 1950s.[2] Mento typically features acoustic instruments, such as acoustic guitar, banjo, hand drums, and the rhumba box — a large mbira in the shape of a box that can be sat on while played. The rhumba box carries the bass part of the music.

[origami]

I think what they call mento falls under that whole callipso umbrella.

And yeah, reggae is just ska slowed down. Pretty sure it existed before 1973, but who am I. In the 60's, dub producers were already slowing ska down and remixing it basically. One such producer was Lee "Scratch" Perry, under whose guidance Bob Marley transitioned from ska to reggae. Lee Perry, for example, was the producer for Soul Rebel.

[origami]

Early Lee Perry:

[Magnus Anderson]

I had a chance to be exposed to some of the reggae music via an acquaintance but nothing really ever stuck (except for metal and punk varieties -- and even those weren't really that interesting to me.) Sure, there is jungle, and although I like the underlying idea, I don' t really like the reggae influence. I think the best kind of jungle / drum 'n bass is the kind mixed with jazz. Either that or Pendulum kind . . . or IDM/braindance variety.

As for ska . . . it sounds better on average. I like some pop varieties.

[origami]

I would like to say something violently back, but I actually prefer ska to reggae too. My favourite Bob Marley tune is One Cup of Coffee.

Problem is I like dub better than both, so I am a jungle man.

Also, there is no more intellectual electronic music than some varieties of jungle. When house gets close is when it's imitating it. Which is another nail in the coffin of anything but rhythm being the true brains behind electronic music.

Psytrance was never even in the race.

I guess house is well positioned because it is so adaptable. As long as you got that poom tsh pam tsh.

[origami]

A little of what is known as dub and bass in some circles. I never thought it was possible to make wind turbine farms look cool.



Bass baby, bass, bass. Bass, Magnus Anderson.

[Magnus Anderson]

There's more to life than bass. Pendulum's Slam has a lot of bass too but I've never heard a jungle track as good as it.



Are Pendulum the kings of drum and bass scene?

[MagsJ]

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[MagsJ]

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Just under three months sleep, before Hallowe’en

[MagsJ]

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I have yet to watch the film that accompanies this song.. tomorrow? I might have seen it.. decades back, but I was far too young to recall it now.

[MagsJ]

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Current, listening material..

[origami]

John Coltrane and the duke.

[Magnus Anderson]

[origami]

[origami]

Sitting in my dad's home office listening to this on repeat on his hi-fi system.

[origami]

The thing about Guns 'N Roses is that they were never the best, never the hardest, never the smartest.

But they were always the dirtiest.

[MagsJ]

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.as seen on Jools Holland Live Later, a few years ago..

[origami]

And then sometimes psytrance gets one right:

[Magnus Anderson]

Infected Mushroom are probably among the most mathematical type of psytrance out there. Some less intellectual pieces by the guys:

Infected Mushroom - Becoming Insane
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxhTbxMSvT0

Infected Mushroom - Cities of the Future
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs7Rpj7TAaY#t=2m00s

Metalheads love them. I don't care much about them beyond that above performance of "Cities of the Future" (which is pretty interesting.)

Compare that to the less mathematical and more emotional type of psy such as . . .

Astral Projection - Mahadeva
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onquKz5SYRs

Skazi - I Wish
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIL2ttBqTsM

And it all came from the more tribal, more trance-y, type of trance music of early 90's.

Phantasia - Inner Light [1991]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHRUPhPNKGA

Stardiver - Lifetime Mission [1991]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGECKNwHWgQ

And then, between 1990 and 1995, there was a move towards more melodic and more symphonic type that eventually lead to the late 90's and early 00's phenomenon. I probably like this kind the most.

Brainchild - Synfonica [1993]


Art of Trance - Gloria (Transparent Mix) [1993]


Skip to 2:00.

[Magnus Anderson]

"Brainchild" is an alias for one of the Cygnus X guys. Cygnus X is known for "covering" (how else am I supposed to call it?) that funeral piece used in A Clockwork Orange movie. They did that, I think, back in 1994. Obviously, these guys love covering and dancing to funeral songs (first the theme from A Clockwork Orange in 1994 and then Adagio for Strings in 1999.)

Cygnus X - The Orange Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ub4AzeZAiQA

[origami]

Cygnus X - The Orange Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ub4AzeZAiQA

This is good. All the other stuff really annoyed me, but this one is so good that it makes up for the others. Will looker deeper into it.

[origami]

Huh. Recognize pretty much everything. I guess Cygnus X is just one of those seminal bands.

[Magnus Anderson]

I like Synfonica better but maybe only because it's a recent discovery (I've known about The Orange Theme since forever.)

If we look at the number of YouTube views alone, Halcyon On & On is probably the most popular classic trance track.



18 million views. I guess that's because a lot of people who don't care and know nothing about trance music in general listen to it. It's approachable. But if we focus on those who are/were involved in the scene one way or another, The Age of Love (Watch Out For Stella Mix) is probably the most popular.