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Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 1:41 pm
by optimum
yeah I'm not really sure about 'wonky' as a name that tries to catch all these different types of artists. Most stuff seems pretty quantised to me and I don't really see the link.

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 2:00 pm
by stanton
prisoner wrote:wasn't "wonky" used to describe tunes like artwork's 'red' back when it came out (along with a ton of other proto-dubstep tunes)?
It's been used to describe lots of techno, electro and house for the past few years, though the house was sometimes called Ketamine House (but not on flyers/posters obviously). It's all good in any genre I reckon. Good to hear people doing something different to their chosen genres.

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 3:39 pm
by elgato
there are two things im really excited about with this lot of artists

the reconnection with pop, club hip-hop and rnb, which for me is a very very good thing

the fact that a number of them are tearing up the idea of what 'good' production or engineering should sound like, and opening up new directions for textures and sound design

those things and the fact that the tunes are sick

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 5:28 pm
by [b]racket
stanton wrote: It's been used to describe lots of techno, electro and house for the past few years, though the house was sometimes called Ketamine House (but not on flyers/posters obviously). It's all good in any genre I reckon. Good to hear people doing something different to their chosen genres.
In the world of techno, this was largely down to my good mate Jerome having a section in the record shop he managed in Camden called 'wonky techno'...describing all the fucked up experimental stuff. This was all about 10 years ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonky_techno

Nice read as always blackdown...

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 5:44 pm
by Krumb
I like a bit of wonk but i see what others are saying, theres standout tracks/moments and some of it just washes straight over me.

Still, theres some really exciting stuff being made.

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 5:49 pm
by ory
http://www.discogs.com/release/4858

Wonk techno classic. Really abrasive though.

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 5:51 pm
by [b]racket
Ory wrote:http://www.discogs.com/release/4858

Wonk techno classic. Really abrasive though.
A classic indeed. Landstrumm is a pioneer of wonk :D

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 11:39 pm
by jay
wonky
A
adjective:


turned or twisted toward one side; "a...youth with a gorgeous red necktie all awry"- G.K.Chesterton; "his wig was, as the British say, skew-whiff''



www.myspace.com/darkstar001

Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 1:08 am
by datura
Corpsey wrote: My favourite part of seeing Kode 9 at Bloc was when he dropped in the pb.synth from GZA's '5th Chamber' for about ten seconds. Now there's an example of a tune that uses one of those synths sparingly but effectively. I see Dilla and Madlib mentioned a lot in connection with this wonky stuff (and Timbaland?), I suppose RZA and Dre (Deez Nuts) could have a hand in it too...
fly lo dropped some wu tonight and there's definitely a wonky element in a lot of the earlier tracks with the discordant keys etc.

I don't think i'd describe fly lo as wonky though..he comes more from a madlib/dabrye/prefuse73/j dilla type direction, but probably a bit more energetic.

Thren was playing a succulent c track tonight that definitely has a wonky element, but applied to the bass instead. He's defintely one to check, some interesting sounds there.

Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 6:54 am
by fractal
nice write up, feelin the wonky vibes!


and dilla and madlib are quite often on the wonky tip... donuts is almost 100% wonk

Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 9:50 am
by threnody
Succulent-c is the master. Badboy productions!

http://www.myspace.com/succulentc

The Wonkyesque track is called 21st Century Box....Check my show archive for audio...will up later today.

Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 10:10 am
by laurent
Very nice read as always, big up mister Clark!

Funny timing too, I've just finished a feature on roughly the same idea for a magazine in Spain, though I'm looking at the whole thing from more of an hip hop angle i guess. To me a lot of that stuff, a lot of the wonk, is just a logical progression of the classic boom bap from hip hop's 'golden age'.

Dilla, Madlib, Dabrye, Prefuse and others are definitely part of the equation too, in a way its like they prepared the ground for some of the stuff coming out recently.

Also in the UK, Danny Breaks was doing wonky, but with more 'classic' hip hop drums and breaks, back in the early 00s with the series of EPs on his Alphabet Zoo label. And tehre's also a bit of it in Mark Pritchard's Harmonic 33 stuff on Alphabet Zoo and also now with the Harmonic 313 stuff.

And for those who like the L.A/West coast beats, you need to check Take, Ras G, Kutmah, Black Monk and all these guys. They're all sick. The Take stuff I find to be particularly incredible for many reasons.

Oh yeah and on the mid-range, synth-y tip there's also edIT and the Glitch Mob, who're doing some interesting stuff too on a whole dancefloor / club friendly hip hop tip.

I reckon the more you dig around and listen to stuff, the more you realise that in the last 5 or more years there's been a link between all these genres and styles, and it's manisfesting itself more prominently this year.

On the downside, with a lot of this wonky stuff, whether wonky in the synth or the drums, it does feel a bit faceless at times too.

Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 11:21 am
by beatkingz
wkd read!

Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 12:08 pm
by 4linehaiku
I must say I prefer the terms 'aquacrunk' and 'lazer bass'. It's all pretty good though, just watch for the backlash in 2009. "Dubstep these days is shit, it needs to be more rigid, I remember when blah blah blah".

Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 12:12 pm
by datura
4linehaiku wrote:I must say I prefer the terms 'aquacrunk' and 'lazer bass'. It's all pretty good though, just watch for the backlash in 2009. "Dubstep these days is shit, it needs to be more rigid, I remember when blah blah blah".
I just don't think I'd term a lot of it wonky, but that is in the context of my own definition of the term.

I do like a lot of this music though, and the forthcoming Samiyam on Hyperdub and Flying Lotus - Los Angeles album are prob. my most anticipated releases at the moment.

Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 1:23 pm
by rekordah
Laurent wrote: Dilla, Madlib, Dabrye, Prefuse and others are definitely part of the equation too, in a way its like they prepared the ground for some of the stuff coming out recently.

Also in the UK, Danny Breaks was doing wonky, but with more 'classic' hip hop drums and breaks, back in the early 00s with the series of EPs on his Alphabet Zoo label. And tehre's also a bit of it in Mark Pritchard's Harmonic 33 stuff on Alphabet Zoo and also now with the Harmonic 313 stuff.

And for those who like the L.A/West coast beats, you need to check Take, Ras G, Kutmah, Black Monk and all these guys. They're all sick. The Take stuff I find to be particularly incredible for many reasons.

Oh yeah and on the mid-range, synth-y tip there's also edIT and the Glitch Mob, who're doing some interesting stuff too on a whole dancefloor / club friendly hip hop tip.

I reckon the more you dig around and listen to stuff, the more you realise that in the last 5 or more years there's been a link between all these genres and styles, and it's manisfesting itself more prominently this year.
What he said.