State of Bass: The Origins of Jungle/Drum & Bass

by Martin James

As UK government legislation, standardised music and bad drugs forced the euphoria of the rave into the darkness, a new underground movement emerged - jungle/drum & bass. It was the true sound of the beating heart of 1990s UK. A melting pot of Britain's multi-cultural urban hardcore rave distilled via the journey from Jamaica's Tivoli Gardens soundsystem clashes, through the UK's inner city blues parties and onto jazz-funk all-dayers and soul weekenders. The jungle/drum & bass nexus was like nothing else the world had experienced before. Drawing on interviews with some of the key figures in the early years, State of Bass explores the scene's social, cultural and musical roots via the sonic shifts that charted the journey from deep underground to global phenomenon. Originally published in 1997, State of Bass: The Origins of Jungle/Drum & Bass extends the original text to include the award of the Mercury Prize to Reprazent and brings new perspectives to the story of the UK's most crucial subterranean scene.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, History

226 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2020

Reviews

[Matīss Mintāls · Rating 5 out of 5]

Varētu teikt, ka tas bija sentimentāls ceļojums pagātnē. Ceļojums deviņdesmitajos, kad Apvienotajā Karalistē elektroniskās mūzikas underground dzemdināja hardcore žanru, no kura savukārt attīstījās jungle, un tas, savukārt, mutāciju rezultātā izauga par drum and bass, vienu no lielākajiem populārajiem mūsdienu elektroniskās mūzikas novirzieniem.
Kā UK no neiecietības un cīņas valstiskā un likumiskā līmenī pret tusētājiem nonāca līdz līdera lomai šajos mūzikas paveidos, turklāt pasaules līmenī. Interesanti bija lasīt, cik ļoti politiskās un sociālās krīzes 90to gadu sākumā ietekmēja tieši pašu mūzikas skanējumu, pēdējoreiz kaut ko tamlīdzīgu lasīju par ASV, kur sadzīve ietekmēja džeza saknes un krietni vēlāk arī rokmūzikas protestējošo raksturu.
Te ir gan romantiskie periodi, kad radošums vieno un paceļ, gan savstarpējas šķelšanās un ietekmes dalīšanas, kas reizēm rezultējās ar atsevišķu žanru krasu novirzīšanos savos sānceļos un pieņemšanos spēkā, bet reizēm vienkārši beidzas ar iesaistīto personu ilglaicīgu savstarpēju nepatiku.
Pāris gadus pēc gadsimtu mijas viss daudzmaz ir nostabilizējies, nekas diži jauns un revolucionārs lauzto ritmu elektronikā nenotiek, bērns ir pieaudzis un dzīvo savu pieaugušā dzīvi, un par to vairs grāmatas neraksta, jo tas vairs nav tas.
Nezinu, cik interesanti šo būtu lasīt cilvēkam, kas nav dnb cienītājs un entuziasts un kas nav dzirdējis lielāko daļu no minētās mūzikas jau pirms grāmatas lasīšanas, bet var mēģināt. Gandrīz katrai nodaļai ir pielikums ar klausāmo pleilisti, tā ka uzskates materiāls nav problēma.

[Joel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The minute I heard this updated version was being published I jumped on the pre-order, such was my excitement. Unfortunately, it didn't completely live up to my expectations and has left me feeling somewhat ambivalent. The content and themes are solid, however the book's structure of focusing on a style/subgenre per chapter means following a chronological timeline becomes nigh on impossible, with James zigzagging back and forth between dates. James presents some great anecdotes and is at times insightful, but the lack of inline citations or footnotes is a real let-down. He's done a decent job of addressing issues of class and race, however the topic of gender gets only the smallest of mentions. The book's strengths are in highlighting quality music and remembering the formative labels, club nights and artists of the scene. The recommend listening lists are excellent, and anyone with even a passing interest in jungle/drum & bass is sure to discover some quality tunes. Unfortunately there are a number of typos throughout and the typesetting could have been better. Despite these minor shortcomings, this book is essential reading for junglists everywhere and makes for a good companion to Brian Belle-Fortune's All Crews.

[Ebru Eltemur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though the title says "the origins", James makes it clear that Jungle and D&B are complex worlds that are intertwined through style, music and history, with no clear beginnings or ends. The book vividly describes the ebb and flow of the scenes throughout 1989-1996, bringing the golden days of D&B to life in your own imagination. James also seems to be an original admirer of Jungle and D&B, and shares many anecdotes with the iconic pioneers of the scene such as Goldie, Grooverider, Fabio, Shy Fx and many more. All of this is set upon the socio-historical context of Britain at the time, and James does a great job in giving attention to cities outside and north of London, which have also played an important role in creating the world of jungle.
My only critique would be the terrible amount of typos in this edition. There are so many typos and punctuation mistakes that at times it becomes actually annoying in the reading process. The copy editor definitely did not pay enough attention!

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars really, rounded up. It’s a great story, well-researched and very illuminating in parts. Some of the more difficult aspects of the jungle story (race, ‘the committee’, the split into dnb) are nicely dealt with. Way too many typos though, and a good copy edit wouldn’t go amiss. Still, big up 🙌🏻

[Rodion Krivoshein · Rating 5 out of 5]

В отличие от "библии джангла" - книги All Crews - здесь сделан упор на влиянии социо-экономических факторов на рейв-культуру, зарождении брейкбита/джангла именно в Британии и, походя, раскрыта тайна того, как в один момент вместо джангла появился драмнбейс.

[Aleksander Prus · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really great read on the history of jungle and drum n bass and tales of the various sub genres and scene that supported it all.

I made a playlist to accompany the book on spotify here - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3EH...

[Fidji Gomis-Mendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Understood a lot about the history of jungle and how it was the foundation for DnB! If it wasn’t for the Windrush Generation, it would be non existent.

[Camiel Leake · Rating 3 out of 5]

Does a fantastic job at exploring the mismatch of cutlures, genres and general vibe of the jungle dnb scene. The structure of the book with a focus on subgenres or ideas highlights that jungle and dnb are messy with their inspirations and origin. Because of the inherent messiness of the scene and strucutre it dies leave a timeline messy with the same tracks and artists appearing multiple times in different chapters. Making the scene seem much less culturally diverse than it was.
The epilogue on the new addition is interesting but is not able to properly capture and show where the sound has headed.
Thanks the quietus for writing an article about the university challenge complete failure of a jungle/drum and bass question without that i’d habe never heard of this