| Speed garage | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Early to mid-1990s, United Kingdom and United States |
| Derivative forms | |
| Other topics | |
| UK hard house | |
Speed garage (occasionally known as plus-8 [1]) is a genre of electronic dance music, associated with the UK garage scene, of which it is regarded as one of its subgenres. [2]
Characteristics
Speed garage features sped-up NY garage 4-to-the-floor rhythms that are combined with breakbeats. [3] Snares are placed as over the 2nd and the 4th kickdrums, so in other places of the drum pattern. [4] Speed garage tunes have warped, heavy basslines, influenced by jungle [5] and reggae. [6] Sweeping bass is typical for speed garage. [7] It is also typical for speed garage tunes to have a breakdown. [8] Speed garage tunes sometimes featured time-stretched vocals. [9] As it is heavily influenced by jungle, speed garage makes heavy use of jungle and dub sound effects, such as gunshots and sirens. [10] [11]
A widely regarded pioneer of the speed garage sound is record producer, DJ and remixer Armand van Helden, whose Dark Garage remix of the Sneaker Pimps' " Spin Spin Sugar" in 1996 helped bring the style of speed garage into the mainstream arena. [12]
Notable songs/remixes
The following is a list of notable songs and official remixes which not only charted but were popular within the speed garage scene:
- " Sugar Is Sweeter (Armand's Drum 'n' Bass Mix)" (1996) / " Spin Spin Sugar (Armand's Dark Garage Mix)" (1997) / " Digital (Armand Van Helden's Speed Garage Mix)" (1997) – Armand van Helden
- "Dancing for Heaven" (1995) / "Saved My Life" (1996) – Todd Edwards
- " Gunman" (1997) / " Kung-Fu" (1998) – 187 Lockdown
- " Deeper" (1997) / " God Is a DJ (Serious Danger Remix)" (1998) – Serious Danger
- "Hype Funk (Dub)" (1997) – Reach & Spin
- " RipGroove" (1997) – Double 99
- "Vol. 1 (What You Want What You Need)" (1997) – Industry Standard
- "I Refuse (What You Want)" (1997) – Somore featuring Damon Trueitt
- "Oh Boy" (1997) – The Fabulous Baker Boys
- "Ripped in 2 Minutes" (1998) – A vs B
- "A London Thing" (1997) – Scott Garcia
- " Something Goin' On (Loop Da Loop Uptown / Downtown Mix)" (1997) – Loop Da Loop
- " Superstylin'" (2001) – Groove Armada
References
- ^ DJ magazine, 1996–97, "Raggage": "...earning the scene the slightly mocked nick-names of 'plus-8' or 'speed garage'."
- ^ History of Speed garage: "There are many different forms of garage music, most of these were of little interest to UK hard dance fans until the latest mutation came along, speed garage."
- ^ History of Speed garage: "Speed garage can be broadly defined as a mixture of slightly sped up garage beats..."
- ^ 2Step: "In the original 1997 speed garage, the snares are fussy and clattering over the stomping 4-to-the-floor kickdrum."
- ^ History of Speed garage: "Speed garage can be broadly defined as a mixture of slightly sped up garage beats with a heavy almost junglistic bassline"
- ^ (2004) "Popular Music Genres: An Introduction", ISBN 0-7486-1745-0, ISBN 978-0-7486-1745-6, p.216: "Speed garage basslines were drawn from Jamaican reggae..."
- ^ (2004) "The Dance Music Manual", ISBN 0-240-51915-9, ISBN 978-0-240-51915-9, p.157: "The sweeping bass is typical of UK garage and speed garage tracks and consists of a tight yet deep bass that sweeps in pitch and/or frequencies"
- ^ History of Speed garage: "Speed garage can be broadly defined as a mixture of slightly sped up garage beats [...], and usually with a break in the middle where the beat is stripped down and then builds up for a long period of time."
- ^ History of Speed garage: "Speed garage can be broadly defined as a mixture of slightly sped up garage beats [...], sometimes with timestretched vocals"
- ^ (2004) "Popular Music Genres: An Introduction", ISBN 0-7486-1745-0, ISBN 978-0-7486-1745-6, p.216: "Jungle and ragga-style sound effects, such as the rash of gun shot volleys heard on popular speed garage tracks,..."
- ^ (2004) "Popular Music Genres: An Introduction", ISBN 0-7486-1745-0, ISBN 978-0-7486-1745-6, p.216: "Overall, two-step [..], less relied on the dub sound effects [...] of speed garage"
- ^ Keith, Jonathan (19 February 2016). "The 15 Greatest Remixes of All Time". Magnetic Magazine. Retrieved 10 September 2017.