The Jungle Council, probably one of those undisclosed subjects only to be talked about in secret locations or at the back of your local record shop. A name the majority of under 30’s currently into the upfront Drum & Bass scene will probably never come across and a topic that nobody really knows too much about.
Cast your mind back to the glorious days of Jungle, where quality control was pretty high, record shops were in abundance and only a handful of producers, DJ’s and MC’s existed. It was this controlled environment that everyone seemed to thrive on, the ravers knew the big name artists, the bedroom DJs knew the labels to buy and large scale event promoters could be counted on one hand. The Jungle scene had pretty much exploded soon after its evolution from the Hardcore scene and while some DJ’s were still fusing the two styles it was clear which paths artists were going to follow. But the big question was, who was actually in control?
I think this is where the idea behind ‘The Jungle Council’ came in, that’s if the event actually happened but this is how I assume it went..
M-Beat featuring General Levy released ‘Incredible’ on Renk Records in the summer of 1994 which proved to be incredibly popular, both with the Jungle ravers and an unsuspecting commercial crowd. But who is this General Levy and why is he on a Jungle track? Why did he then go on to break the top 40 sales chart and remain in the top 10 for 3 weeks? What was he doing on Top of the Pops? These questions surely need answers?
The story starts with members of the Jungle elite arranging a meeting to discuss General Levy, this probably happened around the time when he proclaimed, or so they say, that he ‘ran Jungle’. I picture the scene something along the lines of Rebel MC, Grooverider, Fabio, Shy FX, Goldie, Ray Keith, DJ Rap, 5ive-O, Moose and others getting together to bring down this ‘Incredible’ tune.
This was the first time that Jungle had seen commercial success, granted the likes of Smart-E’s rocketed the rave scene into the charts in 1992 with a rip off of the Sesame Street theme tune but in terms of Jungle music this was something unseen. Levi’s track was banned from sets across Jungle raves, even promoters were roped in on the act to ensure that ‘Incredible’ wasn’t played. You would be hard pressed to hear the track being played by any of the assumed members of the Council during the summer of ‘94.
5ive-O in true fashion famously ranted about General Levy at a Roast event in July 1994, the set can be found on Youtube here. Moose joins in on the action on the full set but 5ive-O is clearly dedicated to the cause of burying Levy as far into the ground as possible. It’s superb in some respect to hear the passion in his voice, his dedication to the cause as such - you have to give him credit for his public service announcements, even the one about the stolen jacket will go down in Jungle history.
It was documented in All Crews that the main grievance with ‘Incredible’ was that it gave Jungle to the wrong people, providing access to what was once a undiluted underground movement to the mainstream.
General Levy’s biggest downturn was probably signing an autograph “Maximum Big up, From De Origigional Junglist - General Levy”. Considering he was about as original as a ‘classic Jungle’ set by DJ Phantasy it was no wonder that this caused the problems it did.
I remember reading about the mass overload of Ragga influence in Jungle around and shortly after the release of Incredible. At first I think this was probably welcomed until the likes of every man and his dog was pushing out ‘Ragga Jungle Hits Volume 250’.
You have to give Shy FX and UK Apachi credit, considering they released Original Nutta in the same year and the track literally blew up. The reason why this track wasn’t also banned was probably because Shy FX did the groundwork releasing his first tune in 1992 and signing to SOUR shortly after, in 1994. This is the key difference between Shy FX and General Levy - he earned the respect and probably why Shy FX got away with releasing more commercially acceptable tunes such as Shake Ur Body and Don’t Wanna Know years later. That or the fact that by this point nobody seemed to care about foundation or understand where Shy FX came from.
‘Incredible’ reared its rinsed to death head in 2002, this time featuring on Ali G’s - Ali G Indahouse. This then led to the youth of that era incorrectly repeating the lyrics as “Jungle is massive” and spawned even more ‘Jungle’ compilations.
Kool FM’s Maddness interviewed DJ Rap in March this year and briefly touched on the subject.
During the interview, Rap is adamant she strongly opposed the movement and even offers to make a tune with Levy. The World Dance New Years Eve beef with Ray Keith also gets a mention, I am certain that if ‘The Jungle Council’ existed then, the actions at New Year 2000 are connected.
Download the interview via Mediafire here
Rumours come and go and from time to time new pieces to the story are added - pieces that are potentially made up on forums to add some spice to certain events, like the tale of the council meeting around the start of the millenium to force producers to slow down the BPM of the music they were making. Did this ever happen? I have no idea but I suspect Fabio & Grooverider had something to do with it and Clipz had absolutely nothing to say on the subject!
![Blocks & Escher - Sagan b/w Broken [Narratives Music]
EDJ favourites Blocks and Escher turn up the heat this week with the introduction of their new label Narratives Music. The emphasis here is on ‘releasing music which encapsulates the atmosphere, emotion and excitement’ that made them fall in love with the genre in the 90’s’. So a label that is deeply personal and not afraid to show it, good news! Music is undoubtedly a deeply personal thing and too many labels trying to be all things to all people is partly the reason why the majors and the mainstream industry at large is in the state it is in today. People don’t feel the connection with music that they once did, predominantly because everything is so homogenised and essentially impersonal. I invites the question, why should somebody feel obliged to pay for something that is aimed in such a corporate scattergun fashion at anybody the marketing model’s remit picks up? I’m not condoning the theft of music and to be fair the factors outlined above generally don’t apply to our beloved genre, I’m just saying it’s partly understandable when you take them into consideration and apply them to the bemoaning masses.
Anyway, enough about that. Narratives’ first release lets two typically raw and pulsating rhythms off the leash for our aural pleasure. On ‘Broken’, heart melting synth lines and breathy vocals entwined with stone cold breaks produce an indefinable fusion that sounds quite unlike any other set piece of music out there in the realm of 170bpm at the moment. ‘Sagan’ with a percussive journey that twists, turns and rolls up and down throughout certainly keeps the listener on their toes. Both tunes are a healthy testament to the notion that you can take the polished sheen off of drum and bass and still make it listener friendly. A little bonus for digital lovers and supporters of those who buy from the labels online store over at Surus is a solo effort from Escher, ‘Cymbal Runner’ that’s been doing the rounds for a while now.With such a personal slant on the ethos of the label, I thought rather than the usual waffle that litters these reviews, it would be good to ask Phil [Blocks] to try and give us an idea of some music that inspires, particularly him and how this relates to the sounds we hear in the vinyl tracks, ‘Sagan’ and ‘Broken’. The result was as expected, a very broad spectrum including cult classic acts like Joy Division, Kate Bush, Radiohead and Neil Young, alongside some offerings from the more obvious sources of Photek, Boymerang and Susumu Yakota. The later of these creative sources offer the more obvious sonic assimilations. Having listened to Narratives001 it would difficult not to cite a Photek in the inspirations bracket. His penchant for making such succinctly underground, but ultimately tactile sounding music is a very close fit with B&E’s style. Not to say that Narratives001 is full of Photek rip offs, far from it. What struck me was the mutually innate melodic charm of both ‘Broken’ and Photek’s ‘Aleph1’. The hypnotic synth work in Kate Bush’s ‘Running up that Hill’ has always been a personal favourite. Less obviously though, the staunch attitude of an artist so uncompromisingly her own (although actually this tune had to be given a different name to that originally intended for fear of losing commercial appeal!) To me this reflects how B&E have carved out a strong identity of sound for themselves in the scene, build a good following and still manage to stay true to their craft. Having never taken the time to indulge in the buzz surrounding Thom Yorke and his ever influential band, I was shocked at the frantic percussion in Radiohead’s ‘In Rainbows’. ‘Creep’ this is not and although this may be a slight fallacy of logic, you can see how it may have influenced some of the more experimental electronic music to have graced our ears over the last few years. Another citation worthy of note is the general level of atmosphere that the tunes on Narratives001 create. Generally a building sequence of melodic elements is pretty standard these days but to let the composition get overcrowded and convoluted is all too easy in my mind. When you listen to the young Mike Sheridan’s ‘Stjernekiggeri’ (yeah I can’t pronounce it either) or the veteran Yakota’s ‘Imagine’ you are treated to a master class in how it’s done in the very subtle way witnessed in both ‘Broken’ and ‘Sagan’.One of my favourite things to do is garner an understanding of what influences artists to write the music they do. Some references are more blatant than others. Sometimes you can hear them at a micro level IE a particular sample or sound. Others are more macro, the general feel and atmosphere of a track or the artistic outlook. One way or the other I always enjoy coming away with an enhanced sense of understanding and affinity with an artist. Understanding for obvious reasons but affinity because you feel you’ve been given a personal insight into the mind of somebody whose work you respect and appreciate as a contemporary. That is part of the charm of not only this experience but the whole ethos of Narratives Music as an entity. With that in mind I have to whole heartedly recommend you keep a close eye on the future of the label.
Review by Tom (Taken Root) - follow him on Twitter here
Listen to the audio here](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxwbccZ3Ae1qb47iuo1_400.jpg)
Blocks & Escher - Sagan b/w Broken [Narratives Music]
EDJ favourites Blocks and Escher turn up the heat this week with the introduction of their new label Narratives Music. The emphasis here is on ‘releasing music which encapsulates the atmosphere, emotion and excitement’ that made them fall in love with the genre in the 90’s’. So a label that is deeply personal and not afraid to show it, good news! Music is undoubtedly a deeply personal thing and too many labels trying to be all things to all people is partly the reason why the majors and the mainstream industry at large is in the state it is in today. People don’t feel the connection with music that they once did, predominantly because everything is so homogenised and essentially impersonal. I invites the question, why should somebody feel obliged to pay for something that is aimed in such a corporate scattergun fashion at anybody the marketing model’s remit picks up? I’m not condoning the theft of music and to be fair the factors outlined above generally don’t apply to our beloved genre, I’m just saying it’s partly understandable when you take them into consideration and apply them to the bemoaning masses.
Anyway, enough about that. Narratives’ first release lets two typically raw and pulsating rhythms off the leash for our aural pleasure. On ‘Broken’, heart melting synth lines and breathy vocals entwined with stone cold breaks produce an indefinable fusion that sounds quite unlike any other set piece of music out there in the realm of 170bpm at the moment. ‘Sagan’ with a percussive journey that twists, turns and rolls up and down throughout certainly keeps the listener on their toes. Both tunes are a healthy testament to the notion that you can take the polished sheen off of drum and bass and still make it listener friendly. A little bonus for digital lovers and supporters of those who buy from the labels online store over at Surus is a solo effort from Escher, ‘Cymbal Runner’ that’s been doing the rounds for a while now.
With such a personal slant on the ethos of the label, I thought rather than the usual waffle that litters these reviews, it would be good to ask Phil [Blocks] to try and give us an idea of some music that inspires, particularly him and how this relates to the sounds we hear in the vinyl tracks, ‘Sagan’ and ‘Broken’. The result was as expected, a very broad spectrum including cult classic acts like Joy Division, Kate Bush, Radiohead and Neil Young, alongside some offerings from the more obvious sources of Photek, Boymerang and Susumu Yakota. The later of these creative sources offer the more obvious sonic assimilations. Having listened to Narratives001 it would difficult not to cite a Photek in the inspirations bracket. His penchant for making such succinctly underground, but ultimately tactile sounding music is a very close fit with B&E’s style. Not to say that Narratives001 is full of Photek rip offs, far from it. What struck me was the mutually innate melodic charm of both ‘Broken’ and Photek’s ‘Aleph1’. The hypnotic synth work in Kate Bush’s ‘Running up that Hill’ has always been a personal favourite. Less obviously though, the staunch attitude of an artist so uncompromisingly her own (although actually this tune had to be given a different name to that originally intended for fear of losing commercial appeal!) To me this reflects how B&E have carved out a strong identity of sound for themselves in the scene, build a good following and still manage to stay true to their craft. Having never taken the time to indulge in the buzz surrounding Thom Yorke and his ever influential band, I was shocked at the frantic percussion in Radiohead’s ‘In Rainbows’. ‘Creep’ this is not and although this may be a slight fallacy of logic, you can see how it may have influenced some of the more experimental electronic music to have graced our ears over the last few years. Another citation worthy of note is the general level of atmosphere that the tunes on Narratives001 create. Generally a building sequence of melodic elements is pretty standard these days but to let the composition get overcrowded and convoluted is all too easy in my mind. When you listen to the young Mike Sheridan’s ‘Stjernekiggeri’ (yeah I can’t pronounce it either) or the veteran Yakota’s ‘Imagine’ you are treated to a master class in how it’s done in the very subtle way witnessed in both ‘Broken’ and ‘Sagan’.
One of my favourite things to do is garner an understanding of what influences artists to write the music they do. Some references are more blatant than others. Sometimes you can hear them at a micro level IE a particular sample or sound. Others are more macro, the general feel and atmosphere of a track or the artistic outlook. One way or the other I always enjoy coming away with an enhanced sense of understanding and affinity with an artist. Understanding for obvious reasons but affinity because you feel you’ve been given a personal insight into the mind of somebody whose work you respect and appreciate as a contemporary. That is part of the charm of not only this experience but the whole ethos of Narratives Music as an entity. With that in mind I have to whole heartedly recommend you keep a close eye on the future of the label.
Review by Tom (Taken Root) - follow him on Twitter here
Listen to the audio here
So, this year the winners took a turn in a different direction - compared to previous years where Jump Up dominated the winners list it now seems that a more grown up, commercially aware list of winners has appeared. Has the stream of Pop Drum & Bass assisted with this years winners? In my opinion yes, without a doubt.
Gone are the days of the scene being a ‘Underground’ movement, that probably died a death way back in the middle of the 90’s. Now, in 2011 we have the likes of Hospital Records alongside Chase & Status actually pushing Drum & Bass to the mainstream and, I assume, making a actual living from it.
The die hard original Junglists will probably rage at this success, I know I did for a long time but I eventually decided that when I was 16 and playing upfront Jungle in the early 90’s the original Acid House crew probably thought the same about me. It’s called progression.
To be honest I am so far disjointed from the current scene that I can’t say my opinion is that valid but it’s nice to see the likes of Skibadee missing the top spot. It’s a game changer for some, especially the bait Jump Up producers such as DJ Sly who constantly put out the same old recycled spaff year after year.
Drum & Bass 2012 - time to accept progression I assume?
Personally I’ll just stick to vinyl and Jungle and let the new blood enjoy what’s now become a whole new scene.
The list of winners can be found here
