"The U.K. likes discovering trends," Rushton says. "Because of the way that the media works, dance culture happens very quickly. It's not hard to hype something up." House slotted right into the mainstream English pop taste for fast, four-on-the-floor black dance music that began with Tamla in the early '60s (for many English people the first black music they heard). In the '70s, obscure mid-'60s Detroit area records had been turned into a way of life, a religion even, in the style called "Northern Soul" by dance writer Dave Godin. Other trends discoverd by British music journalists are rare groove, jazz-funk, acid-jazz, speed garage, northern soul, acid house, balearic and techno.
Faze Action
Could the producers, arrangers and song-doctors of Philly and Salsoul have ever, in their wildest, most self-aggrandising dreams, imagined that one day there would be such a thing as "classicist disco"? That's what Faze Action's Robin & Simon Lee (brothers, not a typo) are. Like Brian Jones and Keith Richards poring over their blues records, Faze Action are purist scholars of the form -- for them the Salsoul Orchestra is Howlin' Wolf and Walter Gibbons is Muddy Waters.
Nuphonic The label was set up by David Hill and Savash Remzi in 1995, with the objective of releasing contemporary jazz-music, in the broadest sense of the word. Both David and Savash are known for their activities elsewhere. David is a part of the Ballistic Brothers and Savash manages the Blue Note club.
Rude Movements (Sun Palace, 1983) "England produced some classic disco jazz/funk tracks - and this is probably the best. We used to play this at Delirium as acid house! It was sampled by Kenny Dope - a gem."
Journey/Double Journey Powerline's track, originally on Elite Records, is a timeless live-instrument jazz-funk masterpiece with vibrant piano rolls, funky rhythm guitars, snappy percussive highlights and hypnotic beats, anchored by some incredibly groovy bass work. The A-side Journey" is backed with the B-side dub "Double Journey," which features some haunting synth melodies that are oh-so-early-'80's!
Martin Hannett: Mixing a solid combination of dub, chant and beat, ESG--simply drums, bass and vocals--virtually stole the cosmic show with their first release, a six-song EP with a live side and a phenomenal studio side recorded under the hand of British producer Martin Hannett.
Music Journalists: there a lot of music writing going on in England, and the English are true connoisseurs of music. Favorites writers include David Toop for his intellectuality, Ian Dewhirst for his sponteanity (I'm sure I have got that spelt wrong, ahem)
Jazzfunk "It was because the most danceable of these Jazz Fusion recordings contained funk rhythms, that the music became known within the UK as jazz-funk. This term is generally used in the UK, to describe all the different styles of what is really jazz/fusion music."
Mastercuts records for excellent old school music comps of jazz-funk, salsoul, disco, garage, mix, slow grooves, eighties and seventies gems ...
Like many others, Neil Rushton was galvanized by the electronic music coming out of Chicago mid-decade, which was successfully codified in the English market under the trade name "house." A similar thing happened in Chicago as in Detroit: away from the musical mainstream on both coasts, DJs like Frankie Knuckles and Marshall Jefferson had revived a forgotten musical form, disco, and adapted it to the environment of gay clubs like the Warehouse. The result was a spacey, electronic sound, released on local labels like Trax and DJ International: funkier and more soulful than techno, but futuristic. As soon as it was marketed in the U.K. as house in early 1987, it because a national obsession with No. 1 hits like "Love Can't Turn Around" and "Jack Your Body."
http://www.thewire.co.uk Welcome to the official web presence of The Wire - the UK based, internationally celebrated music magazine with a global perspective. Mapping new developments in Electronica, Ambient, drum 'n' bass and post-rock through to free jazz, new classical, avant garde, World music and more, The Wire provides an ongoing adventure in modern music.
2001, dec 18; 22:37:
Cinematic Orchestra [Amazon US]
Motion, the debut album from DJ Jason Swinscoe's Cinematic Orchestra, is a future jazz classic. Each track perfectly marries mood and substance, mixing shuffling percussion and galloping drum breaks with chilled pianos, melancholy strings and live jazz horns. Heavy acoustic basslines mingle with samples of old blues singers and twinkly electric piano solos. It's a dark, late night brew that conjures up images of smoke-filled jazz clubs and dimly lit concert halls. But this is no exercise in jazz pastiche-Swinscoe genuinely loves the genre, and it shows. On Motion, he never slips into pointless jazz noodling opting instead for rolling breakbeats, moody soundtrack sounds and deft horn touches. Consequently, Motion is a brilliant album of dark, soundtrack jazz that'll make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end.--Matt Anniss
