Gone are the days of the legitimacy of the question “This music is a bit before your time isn’t it?”
At the click of a button we can access all there is to hear from any musician that may come into our consciousness due to Spotify, YouTube and Shazam, however here are a passionate section of purists, collectors and obsessives who will have nothing to do with the fore mentioned technological shortcuts. They pride themselves on their first hand adventures into the annals and depths of musical history, which enables the formation of their own tastes and knowledge. A history of evolution so fascinating that the subject has, and forever will, spark debate and discussion – at least amongst those who really care.
This poses the second inevitable question “What is an era?”
We all know the definition of ‘era’, but an era within the context of popular music is not as clear cut. It can be argued that this can only be measured as a wholly personal experience. An era for one may not constitute the same for another. It must also be pointed out that a genre is separate to an era. An era is a specific time period of a direction within one specific genre. It is not one without the other.
My early childhood memories contain a constant musical score. Backseat return journeys between Birmingham and South Wales were made all the more bearable due to Fleetwood Mac sing-a-longs and Elton John duets. My twin brother and I innocently forming the foundations of our future musical interests as a result of our parents own tastes at that time. As a captive audience our early interest was enforced but now, 30 years on, gratefully appreciated. Neil Young’s ‘Harvest’, Paul Simon’s ‘Graceland’ and lashings of Zeppelin and Dire Straits exposed us to the joy that popular music can catalyse.
With age comes independence and free thinking and as my record collection grew, so did my wider understanding of music and the importance of its history. Punk happened well before I was old enough to realise its existence, but as I approached secondary school the exponents of the movement soon became my favourites. The Stranglers and The Clash dominated my thoughts and my ears.
The categorisation of an era and its branding is by definition synthetic, however Punk is widely accepted as an era – and an important one at that. As quickly as punk came it went, melting away into different forms as commercial success and capitalist marketing opportunity devoured the seed from which it came. ‘Here today, gone tomorrow’, is that a characteristic of what an era in music is?
Although bands like The Damned, The Buzzcocks, The Jam and The Undertones claim they were punk, was the real punk era over before those bands were aware of it and inspired to be a part of it? Many argue that the movement was over by the summer of 1977, as The Sex Pistols’ Bill Grundy appearance 6 months prior introduced them to the censored and over sensitive disgust of the public majority. Is an era a fleeting moment in time that requires a number of factors to be present simultaneously?
Punk has evolved from itself. Not just the sound but the ethos. When the early nineties arrived I was swept away by grunge music and the whole Seattle scene without ever having been there. On hearing ‘Go’ by Pearl Jam in 1993, my hair instantly grew into an undercut of curtained blonde capping off a ripped and baggy corduroy look. This, I thought, was my time. But was it? Grunge encapsulated the authenticity and integrity that punk did, just as it housed the youthful angst against the mainstream. Based on this, an era is opposed to the majorities acceptance. It is alternative and stands against pop culture. But as is the case of western capitalist culture, the media and money makers are quick to pounce on a potential gold mine, and the exploitation of it renders that era obsolete within the blink of an eye.
Nirvana’s global success with 1992’s ‘Nevermind’ album catapulted them to stardom and therefore signalled the beginning of the end for grunge. Or, more appropriately, the end of the beginning. What we can take from this is that the integrity of an era is paramount. It must be lived without the threat of the awaiting mainstream; the major label vultures and their high street consumer cousins. A real era is not a marketable product: when it becomes such, it will contradict itself. An oxymoron must be starved of oxygen and when the heart of a movement is robbed of its life-blood then the body will die. Some will endeavour to continue but they must then evolve in order to exist.
To this day I adore the likes of The Melvins, The Meat Puppets, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains and Mother Love Bone, but it is apparent to me that that was not my era. I only knew about it because of its popularity. A suburban kid in South East Wales can rock the look and rock to the songs, but when under your parents guardianship then how is it possible for one to be fully involved? To belong to an era one must be in some way involved before the media frenzy robs you of its essence. It must also be a subconscious happening, only seen as such in hindsight because if one was aware of it then the integrity of the era would be directly compromised. Does that mean that to be genuinely involved in an era you must be ‘coming of age’ at the precise time that that musical movement is on the move?
There has been no more blatant example of exploitation of an era than the desperate media construction of Britpop in the mid nineties. The NME and the tabloid newspapers seized upon the success of Oasis and Blur in an opportunistic and cut throat fashion. They succeeded in convincing the public to buy into an exaggerated war between respective camps. As a result a yobbish terrace like culture was born. You were either one or the other. It suddenly wasn’t about the music any more, it was overtaken by a mainstream identity of acceptance. At least in the late 80’s, in the playground it was us, the 8 year olds who constructed the same hypothetical battle between Iron Maiden or Guns ‘N Roses. I was Maiden.
The media’s tiresome and incessant coverage of Britpop eventually bored the public and it soon became evident that few bands, especially those with any substance, wanted any part of it. The likes of Pulp, Suede and Primal Scream were listed under the banner with acts that had no right to be mentioned in the same breath. These bands had been going for years before, but the ignorance of the Britpop concept ignored this ‘indie’ branch of the rock/pop family tree. Suddenly anyone from the UK who held a guitar was Britpop and thus, the taste filter was removed and prolific sales substituted output with credibility and quality.
The bubble had to burst and thankfully it did, however the quality of guitar music sank quickly into an abyss and my buying habits changed. I found myself walking out of Diverse Records with a brand new direction in my shopping bag. The nineties saw a revolution in electro music and the evolution of this form was arguably faster and more innovative than any other genre.
From Acid House came a confidence to expand and expand it did. Happy Hardcore, House, Techno and an ambient down tempo flooded the underground in the decades early years, inspiring the greatest exponents of the art to make their own versions providing they had the technological know how and available software.
Orbital, The Orb, Leftfield, Underworld and The Chemical Brothers would soon become house hold names, yet they still retained their credibility and pushing of the boundaries of what was possible in electronic music. The Chemical Brothers in particular were able to bridge a gap between the electro underground and the indie sound, thrusting them to the forefront of an exciting time in music.
One day in 1996 my brother came home with a record that changed everything for us. Ever the pioneer in our musical education, he introduced me to Tosca, The Thievery Corporation and The Peace Orchestra. But on the day in question, he exposed me to an alien life form that would possess me for the foreseeable future.
LTJ Bukem’s ‘Logical Progression’ was like nothing I had heard before or since. A concoction of jazz, soul, psyche and dance immediately transported me to another galaxy in which extra terrestrial fluidity poured over my senses. I was aware of drum ‘n’ bass but I had no idea it was capable of this. It was an enlightenment that inspired an exclusive crusade into drum ‘n’ bass. Suddenly all I saw was the possibilities of a music that I had previously scoffed at. ‘So Far’ by Alex Reece, ‘Colours’ by Adam F and ‘Timeless’ by Goldie consolidated my allegiance to an intelligent and spiritual music that seemed so far ahead of its time – of any time.
The factors were all in place according to my perception of what made an era. At 15 I could attend these events – not legally – but I did. I had a job that enabled me to finance my missions into music and I bought as much as I could. More over, this ambient drum ‘n’ bass somehow eluded the mainstream press. Magazines like Q, Mojo and Mixmag were more concerned with Radiohead, U2, The Stereophonics, The Beatles(?) and Trance. It was all mine.
A Radio 1/Slinky Essential Mix in Brighton on a spring night in 1997 brought me face to face with my new prophet who, unassumingly, just introduced himself as “Danny. Pleased to meet you”.
As the main hall throbbed with diluted, regurgitated house music broadcast live to the nation, the twin and I nestled into a dark back room of The Brighton Centre ready to be cloaked in the wonders of our voyage into Bukem’s progression sessions space walk. Peshay, Dillinja and Ray Keith were all present on that night and would soon be familiar figures as I swapped home for London.
1998 and 1999 did contain an acknowledging nod to big beat and a more tribal and deeper house music in the form of Layo & Bushwacka and Jon Carter. But it was the cast list of the drum ‘n’ bass royalty that ruled our evening’s recreation. Fabio & Grooverider at The Velvet Rooms and Home in Leicester Square, Goldie’s Metalheadz promotions at The Blue Note in Angel and of course the pop-up Progression session nights.
Perhaps it was when Roni Size and Reprazent won The Mercury Prize with New Forms that signalled the end of this era. But even now, 20 years later, the music is timeless and never bettered in this particular field.
At no point did I ever consider that a fleeting moment in as broad a category as dance music was my era. But it was, whether I like it or not. A subtly different approach to the production and formation of a fast paced and predominantly urban sub genre chose me, rather than vice versa, to be a part of it.
To this day, dance music has never felt so fresh. It could be concluded that no version of electro music has been as advanced, both conceptually and technically. The seminal albums from this time brought the past and the future together as one – not by accident but by design. Jazz elements of horn ghosted over dense thickets of bass that resonated through your body, especially when encountering it in some dark basement. Impeccably produced and arranged, tracks like Danny’s Song, Demon Theme and Horizons demonstrated the control these producers and Dj’s had on time and space – none more so than LTJ Bukem.
Drum ‘n’ bass has continued on and derivatives of drum ‘n’ bass have followed. UK garage, dubstep and now grime can find their roots in the movement of the mid 1990’s (but that is for another to discuss). Only on reflection can I commit to the fact that Bukem’s inspired intelligent drum ‘n’ bass was my era.
As the millennium came and went, Primal Scream’s ‘Exterminator’ signalled a sea change in guitar music and a new approach by embracing the elements of electronica. This album drew upon influences such as The Chemical Brothers, it was not only highly fashionable but widely accepted as a mechanism to achieve artistic growth and thus have the tools to diversify into a more versatile outfit. Historically, collaborations between music makers in electronic music were common place. This then paved the way for musicians to release the shackles of their scepticism and they followed suit.
In adopting this flexible and unrestrictive style, guitar music again blossomed and its followers will forever more find their true era.
Words by Jimmy Gallagher
Quiffed Owl 