UK bass

This article is about UK scene and genre. For umbrella term, see Bass music.

UK bass
Stylistic origins
Cultural originsMid-to-late 2000s, United Kingdom
Other topics

UK bass, also called bass music, is club music that emerged in the United Kingdom during the mid-2000s under the influence of diverse genres such as house, grime, dubstep, Future garage, R&B, and UK funky.[1] The term "UK bass" came into use as artists began ambiguously blending the sounds of these defined genres while maintaining an emphasis on percussive, bass-led rhythm.[2]

UK bass is sometimes conflated with bassline or post-dubstep.[3][4] It is not to be confused with the hip hop and electro-based genre Miami bass, which is sometimes called "bass music" as well.[5]

Origins

The breadth of styles that have come to be associated with the term preclude it from being a specific musical genre. Pitchfork writer Martin Clark has suggested that "well-meaning attempts to loosely define the ground we're covering here are somewhat futile and almost certainly flawed. This is not one genre. However, given the links, interaction, and free-flowing ideas… you can't dismiss all these acts as unrelated."[3] Dubstep producer Skream is quoted in an interview with The Independent in September 2011 as saying:

The word dubstep is being used by a lot of people and there were a lot of people being tagged with the dubstep brush. They don't want to be tagged with it and shouldn't be tagged with it – that's not what they're pushing... When I say 'UK bass', it's what everyone UK is associated with so it would be a lot easier if it was called that."[6]

In the United Kingdom, bass music has had major mainstream success since the late 2000s and early 2010s, with artists such as James Blake,[3] Benga, Burial, SBTRKT, Sophie, Rustie, Zomby,[7] and Skream.[8] The term "post-dubstep" has been used synonymously to refer to artists, such as Blake and Mount Kimbie whose work draws on UK garage, 2-step, and other forms of underground dance music, as well as ambient music and early R&B.[9][10][11][12][13] Outside of nightclubs, UK bass has mainly been promoted and played on Internet radio stations such as Sub.FM and Rinse FM.[14][15]

References

  1. ^ Ryce, Andrew. "Bass / House". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  2. ^ timi. "The Best UK Bass Music of 2012 (so far)". Archived from the original on 7 May 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  3. ^ a b c Clark, Martin (4 May 2011). "Grime / Dubstep". Pitchfork. Retrieved 12 June 2011.
  4. ^ Richards, Sam (14 June 2011). "The UK leads the way". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  5. ^ See for example: Allmusic biography on electro act Dynamix II.
  6. ^ Moir, Sam (13 September 2011). "Skream: "I want to make sure once this fad dies out, I'm still standing"". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 26 December 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  7. ^ "Zomby: Ultra Album Review – Pitchfork". Pitchfork.
  8. ^ Fitzpatrick, Rob (30 June 2011). "Example: 'I have a formula now'". The Guardian.
  9. ^ Aaron, Charles (4 March 2011). "10 Post-Dubstep Artists Who Matter". Spin.
  10. ^ Moore, Thad (12 July 2011). "SBTRKT adds to post-dubstep genre". The Daily Gamecock. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011.
  11. ^ Guidry, Jake (19 May 2011). "Blawan takes post-dubstep and UK house out of its comfort zone". XLR8R. Archived from the original on 2 September 2011.
  12. ^ "Fantastic Mr Fox (No 910)". The Guardian. 6 January 2011.
  13. ^ "A profile of James Blake – post-dubstep artist". BBC News. 6 January 2011.
  14. ^ Tidey, Jimmy (5 April 2008). "The Rise of Online Radio". Archived from the original on 19 July 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  15. ^ Clark, Martin (17 November 2010). "Grime / Dubstep". Pitchfork. Retrieved 10 September 2017.