Hey everyone, welcome back to Sunday Skool. I hope you enjoyed last week’s tutorial showing you exactly how a sound or tone is made to FIDGET. So, what is the ‘genre’ FIDGET and what’s included? Well, after much research it seems that the original name FIDGET was coined by Jesse Rose and Switch.
Here’s what Jesse Rose said about FIDGET during an interview with DJ Mag in late ’06/’07:
What is Fidget House?
We came up with ‘fidget house’ as a joke, which has now gone a little too far. Switch, Trevor Loveys, Herve and myself all make and play ‘fidget house’, and although we all have different influences we are influenced by music that isn’t straight-up house, like hyphy and bali funk.
I’ve also run across a not-so-flattering explanation of FIDGET from the UK’s “Guardian” newspaper music blog.
It’s a scene that doesn’t really exist beyond the internet, and the term seems to be used so that bloggers know what to put in the genre field in iTunes before uploading songs.
Switch is recognized as the first producer to begin making fidget and his Dubsided Label has been central in releasing the scene’s music. His productions are subtle, but subsequent producers, such as Trevor Loveys, Herve, Fake Blood, and Jack Beats, have exaggerated the initial elements of fidget.
The sound is defined by snatched vocal snippets, pitch-bent basslines and rave-style synth stabs over glitchy 4/4 beats. Fidget producers like to think of themselves as global music connoisseurs, hand-picking bits from genres such as Chicago house, rave, UK Garage, US Hip Hop, Baltimore club, Kudoro and other authentic world music genres. In reality, at its worst, the genre is basically and updated, ever-so-slightly less cheesy take
on Big Beat – with its annoying rap vocal loops and ridiculous Fatboy Slim-style builds. The more annoying songs sound like the theme to Fun House if there were a new series……Its not all bad though, The Crookers remix of Day and Night is a genuinely great club song, and its popularity is rightly deserved. What I find slightly ironic, though, is that it’s essentially an appropriated bassline song made to appeal to people outside this scene. But it seems to be the bassline and UK garage fans that have latched on to it the most. Crookers have done such a good job at “pinching” the best bits from bassline that they’ve managed to win over many of the scene’s fans.
Well, everyone’s got their own opinion don’t they? Either way, I have to agree that the popularity and success of the Crookers remix of Kid Cudi’s Day ‘N’ Nite is definitely a culmination of all the genres that have evolved over the years… including FIDGET. No matter how tired you are of hearing the track, it is without question a really great track. In the article you heard a few of the many terms used regarding the creation and history of FIDGET such as; UK Garage, Speed Garage, Dubstep, 2-Step, Bassline, and Grime — that we will have to get into next week as we trace back the heritage of this genre/non-genre.
It’s easy to think that the Herve, Sinden, Switch, Jesse Rose ‘genre’ is a more all-encompassing title “Bass Heavy Club Music.” However, as much as everyone hates them, there are reasons for sub-genres. Here are four examples of “Bass Heavy Club Music” that could confuse the heck out of someone trying to pick a show to attend:
Piratenpartei Propaganda video
Switched Sources – Satisfied video
Fake Blood – Mars (Herve Refix) video
Chromeo – Fancy Footwork (Crookers Remix) video
So, even though the genres of sub-genres of sub-genres can get pretty annoying… you can see how sometimes they can be helpful. A pure dubstep, bassline, or grime DJ is going to be quite a bit different than a more fidgety bass-heavy club DJ. Check back next week when we go deeper into who did what – when – and how.
Classic Track of The Week
This week is a double feature, because I just received the second good remix of this 1992 Aly-Us track.
Aly-Us – Follow Me
(Original Mix) [Strictly Rhythm] (1992)
Aly-Us – Follow Me
(Fred Everything_Oliver Desmet SF Mix) [Strictly Rhythm] (2009)
Aly-Us – Follow Me video
Aly-Us – Follow Me 2009 Remix video
AND NOW, YOU CAN CONSIDER YOURSELF SCHOOLED!
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