STREAMING MADNESS: SPOTIFY’S “MASSIVE DRUM & BASS” PLAYLIST
“THE WORLD’S BIGGEST DRUM ‘N' BASS PLAYLIST!”
Back in the belly of the beast, just swimming around. It’s Streaming Madness.
At this point, pretty much all music is both in and out of style at the same time. With that said, it feels like over the past decade at least, drum and bass has really been both in and out of style at the same time. Zoomers seemingly discovered it a minute ago. Has that passed already? The last PinkPantheress single I heard was more on that UK Funky tip. I’m out of my mind.
Anyways, I’ve loved jungle and drum and bass my whole life. I have fond memories of buying techstep tape packs at Massive Record Source back in the day. I’m also a fan of PinkPantheress and revivalists like Tim Reaper. You won’t really hear any of those things on this playlist, though. This is the kind of drum and bass that gets banged at festivals or in soccer “adverts.” Not exactly sure what I’m on about this week…
Clownstep. It’s a genre. It’s called clownstep because the swing and the bass sounds like a clown wobbling around. I remember the first time I heard clownstep. It was through a series of YouTube videos featuring looping images of clowns: gotta say, that really sold the music. I’m not sure if this is technically clownstep, or if clownstep is even considered a genre anymore. But this sounds like clownstep to me. The swing is silly enough. The rapping here is very questionable.
Gardna and Skibadee “Every Time That I Land (Skibadee Version)”
Skibadee is a legendary British junglist and Gardna is a vocalist I have not heard of but seems to have a bit of a Mike Skinner thing going on. This is a remix of a Gardna song. It doesn’t sound all that different from the original, and Skibadee’s role is kind of minor. A better use of my time would be to track down this DVD, which is an oral history of jungle pirate radio.
Vibe Chemistry is a sick thing to call your drum and bass project. It sounds like the name of a jam band. Maybe even a jam band with a backpack rap element. What we have here is a tropical jungle track with rapping that reminds me a bit of Cardi B. I’m picturing this in a high-end liquor ad.
I really don’t have the reference points to describe contemporary, moody drum and bass other than it is clear that these producers are probably using very new synths and plug-ins. Sound design is a powerful thing: it can change a track from feeling somewhat “authentic” to sounding like a remix made specifically for a drum and bass moment in a superhero movie trailer. Maybe the latter is actually more interesting? Who knows. Streaming Madness.
Pretty nice rolling, jumpy jungle featuring a Cocoa Tea flip and original vocals and a fairly fire Amen drop. This track has already been taken off of the playlist. Too bad: maybe my favorite here.
Coco, Alchemist, DnB Allstars “Allstars MIC (feat. DnB Allstars)”
There is a brand of British rapping that I can’t really fuck with so much. When I hear this song I think of middle aged men in all over print hoodies and clean straight brim fitted hats standing in the corner of a lightly populated club. I love those men.
The track here’s harsh, midrange synth drop is kind of sick. It almost reminds me of some of those contemporary Baile Funk songs that sound like they were designed strictly to break smartphone speakers. That reminds me of a great blog post from last year about the state of Baile Funk.
America runs on complicated Drummin'
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