| About jungle music |
| Artcore/Jazz 'n' Bass |
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| Jump-Up |
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| Techstep |
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| Hardstep |
| Shortly after Jungle rose to popularity in early '90s London, producers took the classic "Amen" and "Apache" breaks-the classic sampled beats which had given rise to the Jungle genre-and began cutting and splicing them into intricate patterns. At the same time, influenced by Acid Jazz and Ambient styles, they introduced soulful vocals, warm strings, and lush atmospheric sounds into a music that had been previously dominated by Hardcore aggression. This new breed of Jungle, often dubbed "Artcore" after the influential compilations of the same name, was designed more for the chill room and the living room than the dance floor. In a parallel development, some artists left the breakbeat intact, but added live instrumentation. The artists who perfected this diverse group of styles have proven that Drum 'n' Bass serves more purposes than merely dishing out tough breaks for ambitious B-Boys or providing hard-edged beats to rock the party. |
| In the mid-1990s, London producers hit on a magic formula for making danceflor stomp! Beat masters such as Aphrodite and Ray Keith took the convoluted, polyrhythmic Jungle beat and straightened it out to the point where it resembled sped-up hip-hop breaks. Cooking up a seemingly endless batch of rolling, hip-shaking basslines, they punctuated the tracks with anthem-like hardcore hip-hop and Ragga samples. Occasionally an MC would flow over the top of this mix. The result: Jump-Up, a warmer and funkier brand of Jungle that took more influence from the organic sounds of hip-hop and Dancehall reggae than it did from Hardcore Techno. |
| Tech Step rose out of the experimentation of a core of Drum 'n' Bass programmers from the No U-Turn label: Trace, Nico and Ed Rush. Pushing their drum samples to the point of distortion, they generated dirty, aggressive breaks and created ultra-low frequencies -- inaudible on most stereos -- rather than catchy synth hooks. The anxious Jungle breaks and rumbling bass frequencies created a very physical, sometimes unsettling sensation. Tech Step is a dark, mean sound, miles across the dance floor from ecstasy-inspired Techno. Still, as much as Tech Step pushes the boundaries of sound, it remains true to the dance floor and does not ignore a groove for experimentation. |
| Hardstep turns the anxiety of Techstep and the good-natured brashness of Jump-Up into anger and chest-pounding bravado. In mid-'90s London, impassioned producers high on testosterone and vitriol added several bass kicks to the basic two-step breakbeat, creating tough, swaggering breaks that ruthlessly stomped their way across the dancefloor. Turntable scratches, greased-lightning synth squiggles, vocal snippets, and seething basslines create a snarling, aggressive atmosphere that brings to mind a tribe of warlike post-industrial scavengers gearing up for battle. |
| Techstep |
| Jump-Up |
| Artcore/Jazz 'n' bass |
| Hardstep |