EVERY GENRE PROJECT - August 6 - Drumfunk

Genre of the Day - Drumfunk

Album of the Day - The Musician as Outsider by Paradox (2000)

Today’s subgenre drills a singular drum’n’bass tenet into your head: there is nothing but the drums. Percussion is king. Bass coming second isn't just a convenience of syntax: the drum breakbeats are always what you notice first, the all-consuming sharpness puncturing any initial ice on a dancefloor like a pickaxe. I can concur that across the many history-spanning genres I’ve delved into on this column, the most frequent constant is rhythm-driving percussion. Among the many genres across historical eras I’ve listened to, percussion is a more frequent constant than any other musical element, from drum-centric royal rituals in Korea and Burundi to d-beat in punk and hard drum’s electronic synthesis of percussion across the world. Drumfunk exalts percussion’s musical anchor in the modern drumset and drum’n’bass’s unique capacity to present it in hyperrealized glory. 

It’s shocking I’ve gotten this far without really covering drum’n’bass’s history given how many previous genres in this column bear its influence, so some necessary background before the drumfunking begins seems in order. Drum’n’bass, with its higher BPMs and striking dark basslines, poked its head above the canopy of the UK’s jungle scene in the early ‘90s as year-to-year breakbeat innovation advanced at a pace as rapid as the beats. Jungle and drum’n’bass both sped up drum breaks to dizzying speeds, the former connecting them with nostalgic reggae samples; different producers competed to push classic old-school breaks to their limit the most creatively. It was originated by producers in the Black British musical underground, where raves were a vital bonding space for young Black Britons in the wake of Thatcherism’s decimations of economic equity. These gritty, hard sounds became instantly distinctive and brought into being a British genre and sound that was proudly Black. 

Drum’n’bass stormed the UK’s dance world and pirate radios, and a variety of different takes on its wide sound design possibilities from manipulating the nature of the breakbeats to tinkering with the deep, shadowy Reese basslines typically underrunning the frenetic drums. Drumfunk emerged at the turn of the century as certain producers sought to evoke the live sound of the original funk and soul drum breaks d’n’b drew from. Though the drums are still sampled, its hallmark lies in the intricate manipulation to make them retain a sound of live spontaneity, though the speeds and chops sound as if the original drummer was injected with electricity. Focus on the melody and bassline takes a backseat in its burning obsession with the nature of the breakbeat. 

Paradox pioneered the coincidentally paradoxical sound live drums stretched to their limit through decidedly non-live production workshopping, and his 2000 debut LP slots in as drumfunk’s representative album. With song lengths stretching towards the ten minute mark, it’s interested in craft and digging deep into the individual realms and possibilities of each break. “Life Without Drums” is a ruse; this is life centered around drums. Shadowy industrial flashes and intrusive vocal samples decorate the rich, ringing qualities of the drums; there’s particular appreciation for the ride. “Paroxysm” ups the BPM ante with a mighty grit, congas adding extra funky depth. He explores a range of sonic moods from the spare, atmospheric approach of “Ambiguities are Realities” to the textured soundscape of “Drum & Chase” and its mechanical whirrs, ghostly choirs, and guest-star cowbell. The album is most biting in the snarling dense riffs and subwoofer growls chomping on “Furtive Drummers.” It’s a meditation positioning the power, timbre, and potentials of funk drum beats upfront, centering the universe around the all-knowing drum set.