Techstep: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Heavy subgenre of drum and bass}}

{{Infobox music genre

| name = Techstep

| stylistic_origins = {{hlist|[[Drum and bass]]|[[Industrial music|industrial]]|[[hardstep]]|[[darkcore]]|[[2-step garage|2-step]]|[[techno]]|[[Belgian hardcore techno]]}}

| cultural_origins = Mid-1990s, [[Great Britain]]

[[techno]]|[[Belgian hardcore techno]]}}

| cultural_origins = 1990s, [[Great Britain]]

| subgenrelist =

| derivatives = {{hlist|[[breakcoreBreakcore]]|[[darkstep]]|[[neurofunk]]}}

| fusiongenres =

| regional_scenes =

| other_topics = {{hlist|[[List of jungledrum and bass artists]]|[[:Category:Drum and bass record labels|drum nand bass artistsrecord labels]]}}

[[:Category:Drum and bass record labels|Drum and bass record labels]]

}}

'''Techstep''' is a dark subgenre of [[drum and bass]] that was created in the mid-1990s.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.villagevoice.com/music/9745,212159,332,22.html | date=1997-11-11 | title=But Then Again, Who Says It Should? | last=Frere-Jones | first=Sasha | publisher=[[Village Voice]] | access-date=2008-06-05 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==Style==

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Techstep developed from [[jungle music]] and [[hardstep]] around 1995.<ref>{{cite book | last = Venderosa | first = Tony | title = The Techno Primer: The Essential Reference for Loop-based Music | publisher = [[Hal Leonard Corporation]] | year = 2002 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=VT7_x7m-RWcC | isbn = 0-634-01788-8}}</ref> The name of the genre was coined by Ed Rush and Trace, who were both instrumental in shaping the sound of techstep.<ref>{{Cite book | first = Simon | last = Reynolds | author-link = Simon Reynolds | editor-last = Bennett | editor-first = Andy | editor2-last = Shank | editor2-first = Barry | contribution = War in the Jungle | title = The Popular Music Studies Reader | year = 2005 | publisher = [[Routledge]] | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=QQZNciX0OgEC | isbn = 978-0-415-30710-9 }}</ref> In this case, "tech" did not refer to the smoother style of [[Detroit techno]], but to the raver, more caustic hardcore sounds that were popular in [[Belgium]] in the earlier part of the decade, often known as [[Belgian techno]].<ref>{{Cite book|last = Reynolds|first = Simon|title = Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture|year = 2012|publisher = Picador|quote = The term (Techstep) was coined by DJ–producers Ed Rush and Trace, who shaped the sound in tandem with engineer Nico of the No U Turn label. The ‘tech’ stood not for Detroit techno, dreamy and elegant, but for the brutalist Belgian hardcore of the early nineties. Paying homage to R & S classics like ‘Dominator’ and ‘Mentasm’, to artists like T99 and Frank de Wulf (...).|ISBN = 978-1-59376-407-4}}, p.&nbsp;357.</ref> Techstep was a reaction to the appearance of more pop and virtuosic musical elements on jungle and drum 'n' bass tracks, which were seen as an adulteration of "true" or "original" jungle.<ref>{{Cite book | last = Monroe | first = Alexei | contribution = Thinking about mutation: genres in 1990s electronica | year = 1999 | title = Living Through Pop | editor-last = Blake | editor-first = Andrew | publisher = [[Routledge]] | isbn = 0-415-16199-1 }}</ref> Instead the genre was infused with a simpler, colder sound that stripped away most [[Contemporary R&B|R&B]] elements, and replaced them with a more hardcore sound,<ref>{{cite book | last = Mitchell | first = Tony | title = Global Noise: Rap and Hip-hop Outside the USA | publisher = [[Wesleyan University Press]] | year = 2001 | ___location = Middletown | url = https://archive.org/details/globalnoiseraphi00mitc | url-access = registration | isbn = 0-8195-6502-4}}</ref> and ideological influences like [[dystopia]]n films like ''[[Blade Runner]]'' and ''[[RoboCop]]''.<ref name="genecs">{{cite book | last = Reynolds | first = Simon | author-link = Simon Reynolds | title = Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture | publisher = [[Routledge]] | year = 1999 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=tGaRJiXe74UC | isbn = 0-415-92373-5}}</ref><br> One of the first incarnations of the techstep sound is DJ Trace's remix of T-Power's "Mutant Jazz" which appeared on S.O.U.R. Recordings in 1995. This remix, co-produced by Ed Rush and Nico, features the trademark stepping beats and distorted [[Kevin Saunderson#The Reese Bassline|Reese bassline]] which would become symbolic of the techstep genre. The ''Torque'' compilation (No U Turn), the ''Techsteppin''' compilation (Emotif), ''Breakage'' LP (Penny Black 1997), and ''Platinum Breakz 1, 2'', and ''MDZ 01'' (Metalheadz) feature some selections of techstep tracks.

Some of the original techstep producers eventually developed the [[neurofunk]] style. These included early pioneers [[Ed Rush]] &and [[Optical (artist)|Optical]]. Artists such as [[Teebee]] and [[Noisia]] further developed the Neurofunk sound. [[Moving Shadow]] and [[Metalheadz]] were important labels in the development of the style.

==See also==

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{{Drum and bass-footer}}

{{Techno}}

[[Category:Drum20th-century andmusic bass subgenresgenres]]

[[Category:Drum and bass genres]]

[[Category:English styles of music]]