Drill 'n' bass is a subgenre of

drum and bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

which developed in the mid-1990s as IDM artists began experimenting with elements of

breakbeat Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that tends to use drum breaks sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as hip hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat hardcore, and UK ...

jungle A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅ ...

, and

music. Artists utilized powerful audio software programs and deployed frenzied, irregular beats that often discouraged dancing. The style was often interpreted as having a lightly

parodic A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...

relationship with the

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

styles that inspired it.

Simon Reynolds Simon Reynolds (born 19 June 1963) is an English music journalist and author who began his professional career on the staff of ''Melody Maker'' in the mid-1980s. He has since gone on to freelance and publish a number of full-length books on music ...

. ''Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture''. Soft Skull Press, 2012. p. 382-383

Characteristics

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

'' referred to the genre as "a spastic form of breakbeat jungle that relied on powerful audio software and patient programming to warp old midtempo beats and breaks into a frenzied, experimental potpourri of low-attention-span electronic music." Critic Simon Reynolds described it as "jungle by non-junglists for non-junglists," stating that producers are "free to take the idiomatic features of jungle — fucked-up breakbeats, mutant bass, sampladelic collage —and exacerbate them away beyond any conceivable use-value to DJ or dancer." Author Peter Shapiro called it "double-time

drum 'n' bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

with impossible-to-dance-to rhythms and

toilet humor Toilet humour, or potty or scatological humour (compare scatology), is a type of off-colour humour dealing with defecation, diarrhea, constipation, urination and flatulence, and to a lesser extent vomiting and other bodily functions. It sees subs ...

History

Early exponents of drill 'n' bass included

Luke Vibert Luke Vibert (born 26 January 1973) is a British electronic musician and producer, also known for his work under several aliases such as Plug and Wagon Christ. Raised in Cornwall, Vibert began releasing projects in the 1990s across varied genre ...

Aphex Twin Richard David James (born 18 August 1971), best known as Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born British musician, composer and DJ. He is known for his idiosyncratic work in electronic music, electronic styles such as techno, ambient music, ambient, and jun ...

, and

Squarepusher Tom Jenkinson (born 17 January 1975), known professionally as Squarepusher, is an English electronic musician, record producer, bassist, multi-instrumentalist and DJ. His music spans several genres including drum and bass, IDM, acid house, ...

. The style was pioneered by Vibert on his 1995 EPs under the name Plug. Other pioneering releases included Aphex Twin's ''

Hangable Auto Bulb ''Hangable Auto Bulb'' is a series of two 1995 EPs by electronic musician Richard D. James, under his alias AFX. The two were re-released by Warp Records as a single album on 31 October 2005. They marked James's first foray into rapid drill 'n' ...

'' EP (1995) (under his AFX moniker) and Squarepusher's '' Conumber E:P'' EP (1995). In 1996, the style appeared on long-form LPs such as Plug's ''

Drum 'n' Bass for Papa ''Drum 'n' Bass for Papa'' is a studio album by Luke Vibert, released under the alias Plug. It was originally released by Blue Planet Recordings in 1996, and in 1997 on Trent Reznor's Nothing Records with the bonus addition of Vibert's previous ...

'' and Squarepusher's ''

Feed Me Weird Things ''Feed Me Weird Things'' is the debut studio album by English electronic musician Tom Jenkinson under the alias Squarepusher. It was released on 3 June 1996 through Rephlex Records. It entered the dance albums chart at No. 10 on 15 June. The al ...

''. Subsequent artists like

Witchman John Roome (born 26 August 1968, a.k.a. Witchman) is a hip hop/breakbeat artist who has worked with The Orb and The Jungle Brothers. Having completed the score on five movies (''Messengers'', ''Dead End Road'', '' Song of Songs'', ''Want'' an ...

Animals on Wheels Animals on Wheels is the stage name of Andrew Coleman, an electronic musician based in Cambridge. Coleman collaborated with Adam Butler (a.k.a. Vert) to form Bovinyl, an independent record label, and released his first EP, ''Baits Bite'', in ...

Amon Tobin Amon Adonai Santos de Araújo Tobin (born February 7, 1972), known as Amon Tobin (), is a Brazilian electronic musician, composer and producer. He is noted for his unusual methodology in sound design and music production. He has released eight ...

, Mung, and Plasmalamp also explored the style. By the end of the 1990s, it had largely dissipated. Subsequent artists such as

Kid606 Miguel Trost De Pedro (born July 27, 1979), better known by his stage name Kid606, is an electronic musician who was raised in San Diego and later moved to San Francisco. He is most closely associated with the glitch, IDM, hardcore techno and b ...

drew on the style. It would help produce the IDM spin-off genre

breakcore Breakcore is a style and microgenre of electronic dance music that emerged from jungle, hardcore, and drum and bass in the mid-to-late 1990s. It is characterized by very complex and intricate breakbeats and a wide palette of sampling sources ...

, which took a more earnest and frenetic approach to the jungle sound.

References

{{Electronica Drum and bass subgenres English styles of music

Characteristics

History

See also

References