15th Feb, 2023

West London Broken Beat + reading and listening tips

Selected Works is a regular newsletter by the Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Aotearoa (Wellington, New Zealand) based freelance music journalist, broadcaster, copywriter and sometimes DJ Martyn Pepperell. Yes, that’s me. Most weeks, Selected Works consists of a recap of what I’ve been doing lately and some of what I’ve been listening to and reading, paired with film photographs I’ve taken + some bonuses. All of that said, sometimes it takes completely different forms.

Lately, I’ve been listening to a lot of early 2000s West London Broken Beat - or Bruk, as some people call it - again. I usually end up going on a binge like this at least once every couple of years. This time though, I think my goal might be to record a DJ mix of it.

For those unfamiliar, the style was created in West London (d’oh) in the late 90s by a tight community of producers and DJs with deep roots in the full spectrum of London’s sprawling club music scenes. Taking influences from jazz-funk, fusion, boogie, spiritual jazz, Afrobeat, and Latin through to their own musical roots in jungle, techno, house, and hip-hop, this generation created a new sound defined by syncopated rhythms, heavy bass, and shifting time signatures.

If you like the sound of that and would like to learn more, I recommend checking out a couple of key articles on Wax Poetics and Bandcamp Daily, both written by Andy Thomas. Check them out here and here.

Over the last week, I’ve been writing up a profile of a super talented Haitian Canadian DJ and producer who goes by the handle Gayance. West London broken beat and bruk was a big influence on her sound. I’ve also been working with some Australian producers to help them prepare a couple of forthcoming releases, and the sound came up with them as well. Although the heads will tell you they already know (and rightly so), I think West London Broken Beat and Bruk really deserve some kind of major critical reappraisal. When you start digging into things, it’s a vital vital influence and, beyond that, a genuine musical turning point. Something to think about.

WHAT I’VE BEEN READING:

Caroline Polachek’s best album of her career is a transformative pop experience, a passionate, richly melodic odyssey into the darkest corners of love. Cat Zhang on Desire, I Want to Turn Into You for Pitchfork.

10 Years Of Mavin Records: How The Nigerian Label Helped Take Afrobeats Global: Upon Mavin Records' 10 year anniversary, Madzadza Miya speaks to founder Don Jazzy and the label's roster of talented stars and staff about its decade of dominance and role in making Afrobeats a global phenomenon. Madzadza Miya for Mixmag.

The Sound of Grief: After the sudden death of my young son, I listened to Bill Evans, Frank Ocean, and my therapist. Matthew Schnipper writes about music and loss for The New Yorker.

De La Soul’s Dave “Trugoy” Jolicoeur was an Example of the Boundless Potential of Hip-Hop: David “Trugoy” Jolicoeur died on Sunday. As one-third of the iconic hip-hop group De La Soul, Dave taught hip-hop fans what being free sounded like. John Morrison for Okayplayer.

Urban Tribe's 'The Collapse Of Modern Culture' is an under-the-radar masterpiece of Detroit futurism: Urban Tribe, aka Sherard Ingram (DJ Stingray 313), released 'The Collapse Of Modern Culture' in 1998. Enlisting a host of Motor City legends and stepping outside the restraints of tempo and genre, Ingram created a slice of future-proof ambience. For DJ Mag, Jack Anderson explores the largely under-the-radar LP.

The Right Stuff: Long Island legends De La Soul broke onto the scene with a free-spirited aesthetic and an eclectically layered sound that would redefine the possibilities of hip-hop. A gift and a curse, the “hippie” tag would be killed off on their second album, and the group would reinvent themselves over the course of the next twenty-five years with each new release, only seven in this period but always of the highest quality. Throughout it all, they remained true to themselves and devoted to the group concept. Wax Poetics 2013 cover story on De La Soul is up for reading on their site now.

WHAT I’VE BEEN LISTENING TO:

The late Australian experimental musician and radio broadcaster Patrick Gibson’s enduring legacy continues to unfold with Elbow Room in Paradise, an anthology of his vast solo oeuvre. Released through the excellent Melbourne label Efficient Space, Elbow Room in Paradise spans eleven years of adventures through sound. As Efficient Space put it, “Part kitchen sink ambient, part vertigo-inducing synth wave, part infinitely repeating mania.” If you’re quick, you still might be able to snag the cassette tape edition.

FIN.