After what seems like a never-ending and ever-changing debate on micro-genres, a new musical plateau seems to be developing in the UK. One which is allowing vast integration and experimentation. It's vocabulary not just stuck to tried and tested 4/4 beats and bass. The moods are tense and the atmospheres seem to rise up to space, often sounding spectral and haunted. But this time there is a difference, the focal point of vocals.
More than ever before, artists are using and experimenting with their own voice in experimental music. With the rise of The XX and other critically acclaimed 'bands', the once submerged scene (which almost was completely unheard of back when dubstep first came out the doldrums) is now becoming more and more frequent. It's successes clear in the huge number of people coming home from a hazy club and jamming out to now 'temporary modern anthems' (a term i coined to highlight the alarming and frequent brevity of love for a record).
For a start, James Blake, much talked about, often much-maligned, but definitely permeating the vocal aesthetic. Once a purely experimental dubstep producer, affiliated with Hessle and Hemlock known for their forward thinking approach, the young producer then turned to what seemed like an R&B approach, sampling Aaliyah, Kelis and more along with his own warped vocals. Now though it seems he has taken another U-turn. His debut album full of those experimental productions he was once purely known for, along with warped gospel synths, but more surprisingly his now very bare and stripped down vocals at the fore. His first outputs seemed to have helped him make this sudden change with relative ease, the freedom of working under luminaries David Kennedy and Jack Dunning seem to have allowed him such an ease in changing his direction. 'Limit To Your Love' might have been a curveball, the original seeming almost too similar and the JB vocal clearly weaker, but the rest of the album is ripe with stripped down vulnerability. James Blake's tender productions almost break apart and then rise together like a hazy come up. His vocals interplay with the instrumentation and often roll along smoothly like a lullaby, but always with a hint of heartbreak.
Jamie Woon too has been making similar moves. Although rather than being a versatile producer, his voice is his main instrument. Older songs like 'Wayfaring Stranger'and 'Spirits' use his looped vocals to create breathtaking layering of sound all from his mouth. Rather than play like a poor man's Beardyman, Jamie Woon oozes pure soul rather than b-boy prowess. His silky voice sounding apart from any smooth instrument. More recently his live shows pit him up with his sampler and guitar, ably crafting acoustic ballads, and up to date his releases 'Night Air' and his appearances on Platform Mag's The Boiler Room show a more layered and structured song-writing approach in his productions. Similarly to The XX, his debut album is sure to be compared to the Mercury award winners, but the strength does not this time lie in the vulnerability of production and performance. His voice this time is powerful, announcing and oozing soul and dare i say it, production and delivery along the lines of Justin Timberlake. But with the increasing openess of the 'scene' incorporating r'n'b idealistics, some might think that the comparison is not entirely a bad one.
On the other end of the spectrum, there is Sampha, Fatima, Olivier Daysoul, Dam-Funk. Two Brits and two Americans. Although all have been received the brightest in the continuum of the UK. Their delivery and performance all add to the stripped down aesthetic of the current beat scene in Britain, and most have been affiliated with at least one big producer in the bass game. Sampha taking his soulful delivery and adding to SBTRKT's garage and breakbeat productions, Fatima working with the up and coming beat collective Eglo records, Olivier Daysoul smashing Hudson Mohawke's intricate and kitch beatscapes and Dam-Funk creating a South-Cal funk resurgence that is currently taking the UK by storm. The way in which these artists perform so freely and with such vibrancy is case in point to my discussion. Producers see these cats having fun and WANT to work with them. It's an opening that DJ's clamber to get involved with and although live it might not be to everyone's taste, the fact that these guys are experimenting is testament to the scene's aesthetic of 'Can't stop, won't stop'.
What sets it apart though is the direction this scene is taking. Comparisons can be made to the independence of the bass continuum but the music is totally different. Often sealed with joy, often permeating sadness and pain, it's versatility and range compels and excites. There truly is something for everyone.
SK
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