It’s a jungle out there
April 2013
Speak Percussion and Terminal Sound System team up to explore the sounds of jungle and D&B for the Metropolis New Music Festival, which is celebrating contemporary British music for its 2013 program
Led by multi-instrumentalist and composer Eugene Ughetti, Speak Percussion is an avant-garde and experimental percussive arts outfit that has commissioned more than 60 Australian compositions and collaborated with everyone from architects to astronomers. So, why drum and bass? Ughetti says he’s had a love affair with jungle and drum and bass ever since the genres “shattered his world” as a teen.
“City Jungle was a chance to connect with a unique genre that has brutal power, finesse and an alluring sensuality,” he explains. “This music sits outside the contemporary classical music world but connects beautifully when given the chance.”
A uniquely British sound, (although some say Detroit techno identity Carl Craig created the drum and bass blueprint with his track Bugs in the Bassbin), drum and bass and jungle exploded in the mid 90s with innovators such as Grooverider, Fabio and DJ Hype. Jungle emerged out of the hardcore rave scene with a UK flavour in the early 90s while drum and bass evolved from jungle with a slicker and more jazz influenced sound.
Drum and bass was the true underground club sound of Britain, which along with grime, garage and two-step represented Britain’s contribution to urban or city music. Never quite gaining mainstream acceptance, although Sky FX and T-Power came close with their massive hit Shake Ur Body, drum and bass gained critical acclaim through artists such as Roni Size and Reprazent, Goldie, LTJ Bukem, Klute and London Elektricity and his Hospital label. Even though it contained frenetically paced breakbeats, drum and bass could also sooth with the sub-genre liquid drum and bass, which was influenced by jazz as well as genres such as reggae, dub, breakbeat, hip hop and film score-like soundscapes.
Primarily known as a club sound, Ughetti says the club element of drum and bass was always secondary to him.
“For this event I’ve opted for combining cabaret seating and standing room; people will be able to move, drink and most importantly listen.”
Sound Percussion first held a City Jungle event in 2011 at the Planetarium where they used the Planetarium’s domed ceiling to project visuals creating an “overwhelming sensory experience”.
“For the Metropolis New Music Festival, we are in one of Australia’s best acoustic spaces and we are focusing on the pure sound aesthetic,” Ughetti said.
Collaborating with Terminal Sound System, Ughetti says the producer and musician is the “heart of all the sound in City Jungle” and is one of “Melbourne’s little known programming geniuses”.
“Speak Percussion has orchestrated, sewn together and remixed his work to create what is both a unique set of his tracks, but also something that has a distinctively Melbourne drum and bass sound. Whilst he doesn’t perform with us live, we worked closely together with him in the studio to create a strong solution to this collaboration.”
Although drum and bass still has a loyal following across the globe and in Australia (especially in Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide) it has lost some of its prospective audience due to the emergence of another English underground club sound, dubstep, which has morphed into a monster of a genre and, unlike drum and bass, has conquered the mainstream. City Jungle won’t be covering dubstep.
“We superficially skim over dubstep, and in doing so cross over into much less popular genres such as glitch, breakbeats, doom ‘n’ bass and free jazz. For the music aficionados, they will likely get excited by the historical and cultural links between these genres. It’s true that drum and bass has been fractured and has suffered from some commercialisation, however the spirit and energy of the movement is still well and truly alive.”
Speak Percussion performs City Jungle as part of the 2013 Metropolis New Music Festival on April 19 at 6pm and 9.30pm.
melbournerecital.com.au
Photo: Jeff Busby
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