what do u say about footwork / juke?

first time i heard the footwork style was through planet mu … and i kinda hated it , seems very childish and repetitive … as for now im hating it and loving it at the same time , some stuff are really bangin’ , mostly when mixed with jungle influnces , but there’s also stuff which are extremly sucks
i wonder what people here thinks about this genere, will grow even bigger ?.. if they dig the sound? or hate it …
for those who aren’t familiar … there’s a link to chrissy murderbot mixes , one of the leaders of footwork Chicago movement…

http://www.mixcloud.com/ChrissyMurderbot/

I think it’s the opposite of repetitive, there’s usually repeating loop in the back, but then with parts on part that are constantly changing on top.

I think it’s kindof cool anytime a style manages to arise that’s quite distinct from anything else. I think the RP Boo stuff is particularly interesting to me - he’s a true originator. It’s also impressive how starkly minimalistic it can be and it reminds me a bit of plastikman in that respect (even though the rhythmic patterns it uses are completely different). This track is pretty cool: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hC6aVtk1Z8

Like other dance music, part of the appreciation has to come from the way in which the music interacts with dancing. Dance music that might seem meandering if you’re listening to it without context makes a lot more sense if you consider the way it which it influences how you move and the options it opens up in terms of improvising and connecting body movements. I know dabbling in a little bit of blues/swing music changed the way I listen to rhythm (and not just with respect to swing music, but everything else too).

That being said, I don’t think it moves me at an emotional level, which is fine - I’m not the person it was written for. I kindof respect it at a distance, but it’s hard for me to sit through more than a few footwork tracks at a time.

The dancing I think it quite original, inventive and hard to do. The music I think pretty much the exact opposite! Boring, repetitive, goes nowhere and much of it sounds like an 8 year old who has got access to a basic sequencer and his older brother’s record collection. Hearing the likes of Mike Paradinas come out with stuff like this when he has produced such creative music in the past really surprised me!

Obviously this is only my personal opinion and I know plenty of people who disagree with me. But I will add I consider Moombahton in pretty much the same light too…

Well the first one is pretty repetitive and childish, the songs that follow simply seem jungle / drum’n’bass to me.
The style of the first song will have an audience but i doubt it will grow big.

I haven’t checked the Chrissy Murderbot that Burital linked so can’t comment, but I do know he came from a jungle background so it wouldn’t surprise me if there’s some (older?) bits of that style as well.

Here’s one of Mike Paradinas (µ-Ziq, owner of Planet Mu records.) He’s also done similar for the FACT mix series (which is where I first heard him playing this style) and sure others.

i heard also some of muziq mixes, but i must say i think chrissy murderbot is top notch in the footwork bizness and he has 100+ mixess to offer, seems like muziq left his braindance vibe somewhere in 2007, last time he released music i like was 10 years ago :(/> , well i guess being a label manager do take some 99% of your time

some ad here
foot/juke rmx on bjork

http://soundcloud.com/atarix/bjork-mutual-core-rhythm-hall

^^ Cool track!

As for the genre there are some gems out there, this guy for example: https://soundcloud.com/djclap/dj-clap-find-me-a-lover

I would highly recommend the bangs and works compilations from planet µ. http://www.planet.mu/discography/ziq290 http://www.planet.mu/discography/ziq310

imho most stuff made outside chicago is rubbish.

these kids started making tunes for their dance battles, and that turned into something original.

after it gained some exposure, people who has no idea what its all about started copying the tempo and drum patterns and using them in their boring club music.

then other people, or the producers themselves start calling that juke.

its like we have people who are into dubstep and havent even heard of mala or loefah for example. same shit happening in every genre.

/morning rant. sorry if i sounded like a douchebag but there it is. no offence to anyone :)

also the roots of juke go way back to 90s. pretty similar to ghetto tech back then…

Footwork in its original form isn’t going to blow up. It’s the kind of music that has the potential to influence musicians who influence other musicians who influence other musicians who work elements of the style into mainstream music.

I love it. Despite the apparent simplicity, there’s just something about the bloody-mindedness and energy of it that appeals.

Can also highly recommend the following mixes for more of the “post-footwork” stuff (i.e. the stuff that pussi hates ;):

http://www.mixcloud.com/rbma/next-generation-footwork-selected-by-mike-paradinas/

love it

Ghetto shit from Russia http://beryozamusic.bandcamp.com/ :ph34r:/>

I read your post and it captivated me, I said OK, I GOTTA hear this track, so I threw on my headphones… and … I don’t really know what to say man… “Haunting” is NOT what I would call it. More like “where the hell is the song?”… Seriously, not to be rude or anything, but honestly, how much effort do you think it took someone to write that? Honestly???

I’m not trying to troll or anything, I just… Don’t get it, that’s all.

But I’m interested to listen to the rest of the tracks with an open mind when I get some more time later on.

Peace

1 Like

What can you say? Music is a subjective thing. ;)

Doing a little research on this RP Boo person, I found an interview

If anyone’s dreaming that these songs take a lot of planning and effort: shattered, wtf?

What I want to know is: Why does he expect that someone will want to listen to something he cobbled together in a couple of minutes? To be honest, he’s pretty egotistical a lot of the responses in the interview …

I guess there are just certain things I will never understand :unsure:

I’d say it’s part of the appeal of this particular genre that it is so rough and ready, or lacking in effort as organic io says.

And yes, agree with crytek, why should planning and effort somehow be criteria for good music?

Nice bit of background info on the style from DJ Nate’s Last.fm bio:

“The Juke sound has its roots in Chicago House, Ghettotech, Booty House and is recognisably a manic sped up version of this. It is sometimes hard to draw a definite line between Juke and Footwork tracks but to generalise, Footwork tracks utilise samples from pop and hip hop, pitching, layering and triggering them in a rhythmic manner, mirroring the rhythm of the feet in the dance. The dance battles mean that some of the tracks repeat the dancers’ names in a kind of repetitive and hypnotising mantra, sometimes the track will go through the names of an entire squad (Y.P.S, Heat Squad etc.) as they take the circle. This hypnotising quality combined with the sparser drum patterns, often with busy fills, relentless triplets and off-kilter accents, mirroring the speed of the dance, is what gives these Footwurk Traks their unique quality.”

Worth bearing in mind as well is that these tracks are not songs, they’re just tracks meant to be quickly thrown in and out of a DJ set. So questions like “where is the song?” don’t really make that much sense in this context.

Getting more and more into it the more tracks I’m listening to. Love how it’s so hyperactive and repetitive and yet slow and chilled out at the same time. And how it’s modern dance music almost completely devoid of kick drums (unless you count the deep 808 kicks they use for bass).

:o thanks for making me aware of this.
I listened to one track and could not believe what i heard. This guy must have made this track in 10min. I am really shocked this stuff sells. Puts some things in perspective… my idea of what music is or should be. I could say i’m getting old, but i’m sure i would hate it even if i was 16.

Haha, I’m 37 for the record.