UK garage
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UK garage | |
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Stylistic origins | |
Cultural origins | Early to mid-1990s, London, UK |
Subgenres | |
Fusion genres | |
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UK garage, abbreviated as UKG, is a genre of
UK garage encompassed subgenres such as speed garage and 2-step, and was then largely subsumed into other styles of music and production in the mid-2000s, including bassline, grime, and dubstep. The decline of UK garage during the mid-2000s saw the birth of UK funky, which is closely related.
Origins
The evolution of house music in the United Kingdom in the early to mid-1990s led to the term, as previously coined by the Paradise Garage DJs, being applied to a new form of music known as speed garage. In the early '90s, American DJ Todd Edwards, a pioneer of the speed garage sound, began remixing more soulful house records and incorporating more time-shifts and vocal samples than normal house records, whilst still living in the US. However, it was not until DJ EZ, the North London DJ, acquired one of Edwards' tracks and played it at a faster tempo in a nightclub in Greenwich,[when?] that the music genre really took off.[citation needed]
MJ Cole once stated, "London is a multicultural city... it's like a melting pot of young people, and that's reflected in the music of UK garage."
History
Relationship with jungle
In the United Kingdom, where jungle was very popular at the time, garage was played in a second room at jungle events. After jungle's peak in cultural significance, it had turned towards a harsher, more techstep influenced sound, driving away dancers, predominantly women. Escaping the 170bpm jungle basslines, the garage rooms had a much more sensual and soulful sound at 130bpm.[4]
Role of MCs
Since then,
Speed garage
Speed garage already incorporated many aspects of today's UK garage sound like sub-bass lines, ragga vocals, spin backs and reversed drums. What changed over time, until the so-called 2-step sound emerged, was the addition of further funky elements like contemporary R&B styled vocals, more shuffled beats and a different drum pattern. The most radical change from speed garage to 2-step was the removal of the 2nd and 4th bass kick from each bar. Although tracks with only two kick drum beats to a bar are perceived as being slower than the traditional four-to-the-floor beat, the listener's interest is maintained by the introduction of syncopating bass lines and the percussive use of other instruments such as pads and strings.
Speed garage tracks were characterised by a sped-up house-style beat, complemented by the rolling snares and reverse-warped basslines that were popular with drum and bass producers of the time.
Among those credited with honing the speed garage sound, New Jersey producer
Two-step (1997–1999)
Arguably one of the earliest examples of a
The UK's counterpart to Todd Edwards was MJ Cole, a classically trained oboe and piano player, who had a string of chart and underground hits in the late 1990s and early 2000s, most notably with "Sincere" and "Crazy Love". MJ Cole has also won a BBC "Young Musician of the Year" award.[9]
American influences
R&B influences can be heard in early UK garage, the genre offered more complex drum beats, with heavy syncopation (swing) and a more energetic feel due to a higher tempo (normally between 130 and 138 BPM). However, in tracks like "Twentyfourseven" by Artful Dodger, a slower and simpler R&B infused drum pattern can be heard. This was to allow for these tracks to be aimed at a more commercial scene rather than for the dance floor. Garage producers then proceeded to churn out UK versions of US contemporary R&B hits, notably with Brandy and Monica's "The Boy Is Mine". The Architechs sped up the vocals through time-stretching and added sound effects to increase the competitive nature. "B&M Remix" eventually sold twenty thousand copies as a bootleg.[4]
1999–2000: Role of pirate radio, UK chart success
With the continued support of
Many more UK garage acts followed into the new millennium by releasing commercially successful singles, thus making UK garage and 2-step a stable fixture on the UK charts for the next couple of years. Debut singles of various UK garage artists were hitting the number one spot on the
2001 hits
2001 gave
2002: 2-step and grime
2002 saw an evolution as 2-step moved away from its funky and soul-oriented sound into a darker direction called "
Notable early grime artists around 2001–03 include
During this time, there was also a strong division of class in UK garage. In the heyday of garage, the late 1990s, it was a highly aspirational genre. When people went to the club to hear garage, they dressed stylish and smart. Clubs such as Twice as Nice enforced a dress code of no tennis shoes, jeans, or baseball caps. Having a formal dress code changed the importance placed on nice clothes from a style to excluding people. The dress codes were meant to "encourage people to make an effort", but also to "keep trouble out." In time, the club installed a metal detector, because "gangstas like to dress expensive," but theoretically could still carry a gun.[4] Eventually, when groups like So Solid Crew attracted more urban, lower-class audiences to raves because of their lyrics over the garage tracks, garage began to transition to grime because previous audiences were less likely to listen, so radios and clubs stopped giving garage opportunities.[11]
2007: Garage revival
In 2007, several DJs helped promote and revive UK garage's popularity, with producers creating new UK garage, also known as "new skool" UK garage or "bassline".
The end of 2007 saw "new skool" UK garage push to the mainstream again with notable tracks such as T2's "Heartbroken" and H "Two" O's "What's It Gonna Be" both reaching the mainstream charts. The revival was galvanised by DJ EZ releasing Pure Garage Rewind: Back to the Old Skool, which contained three CDs of "old skool" UK garage and a fourth CD with fresh "new skool" UK garage.
2010s resurgence
Early 2011 saw the start of a gradual resurgence of 2-step garage.[12] Producers such as Wookie, MJ Cole, Zed Bias and Mark Hill (formerly one half of Artful Dodger) made a return to the scene, by producing tracks with more of a 2-step feel. Electronic music duos Disclosure and AlunaGeorge, both successful throughout 2012 and 2013, often use elements of UK garage in their music, and arguably, some of their biggest hits including "You & Me" and "We Are Chosen" respectively, are entirely 2-step with an updated cleaner sound. Shortly following this, "original" style garage had made a return in a big way, with producers such as Moony, DJD and Tuff Culture paving the way. One of the genre's pioneering labels, Ice Cream Records, responsible for anthems such as "RipGroove", True Steppers' "Out of Your Mind", Kele Le Roc's "My Love" and more, opened up their permanent roster for the first time to include DJs outside of the legendary trio that launched the label.
Other hits in the 2010s include
2020s
The 2020s saw new releases such as "
In May 2020, English band the 1975 released their fourth studio album Notes on a Conditional Form which is heavily influenced by the British dance music scene, and specifically UK garage. Notable titles include "Frail State of Mind", "Yeah I Know", "Shiny Collarbone", "Having No Head", and "I Think There's Something You Should Know".
Genres evolved from garage
Dubstep
The dark garage sound that was being produced by the likes of
UK funky
Some UK garage/dubstep/grime/bassline producers have moved to a different sound called
Future garage
A contemporary offshoot of dubstep heavily influenced by UK garage is future garage.
See also
References
- ISBN 1-904041-96-5.
- ^ Reynolds, Simon (1998). "Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture". Two Steps Beyond UK Garage and 2Step: 451.
- ^ Reynolds, Simon (1998). "Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture". Two Steps Beyond UK Garage and 2Step: 450.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-330-45420-9.
- ^ "Todd Edwards: The Stylus Interview - Article - Stylus Magazine". stylusmagazine.com. Archived from the original on 2013-11-27. Retrieved 2013-11-20.
- OfficialCharts.com. Archivedfrom the original on 2018-12-01. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
- OfficialCharts.com. Archivedfrom the original on 2018-12-01. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
- ^ "FABULOUS BAKER BOYS | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com.
- ^ a b "40 of the best UK garage tracks released from 1995 to 2005". MixMag. 15 March 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-04-01. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
- ^ "How 'Flat Beat' changed the world · Feature ⟋ RA". Resident Advisor.
- ^ "Rewind 4Ever: The History of UK Garage". Rewind4ever.co.uk. 25 June 2013. Archived from the original on 4 June 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
- ^ "The UK Garage Revival". MTV. 13 May 2011. Archived from the original on 4 September 2011.
- ^ "AJ Tracey Drops His Self-Titled Debut Album Featuring Giggs, Not3s, Conducta and More". versus.uk.com. 8 February 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
- ^ "PinkPantheress's 'Pain' - Discover the Sample Source". WhoSampled.
External links
- UK Garage History & Family Tree Music Is My Sanctuary