Techno:
Featuring 
Techno is the name given to a wide varitety
of popular electronic music styles. Just like the word Jazz refers to many
styles of music: from Swing to Funk to Acid Jazz, techno now repreasents
a very wide area rather than a single genre. Drum and Bass (also known
as Acid House) is my favorite style of techno and the one I find the most
interesting. It encorporates samples of real guitar and other instruments
from rock funk and indy pop and mixes them with hip-hop beats (instead
of the usual "bass drum on all four" sterio-typed techno beats) and electronic
sounds. It also incorporates more interesting drum fills and funkier bass
lines.
Club varieties of techno such as house and
harcore are aimed purely at the night club as faster, more dancable music
and are not designed to be music for listening to at home. But Drum 'n'
bass is happy medium. It's dancable but it is still nice to listen passively
to, whether at home in an arm chair or driving in the car.
Norman
Cook is an English musician and has been so for
some time. He entered the professional music seen in the 80's as bass guitarist
for a brit-pop band called 'The Housemartins'. He performed in many different
acts before discovering the techno scene as a composer and a DJ. He released
many techno music under many different names and had 6 singles in the UK
charts under different aliases. He released his first drum 'n' bass album
under the name 'Fat Boy Slim'.
Real came in 1998 when his friends 'The Chemical Brothers' (very popular
drum 'n' bass outfit) encouraged him to release his next album later titled
'You've come a long way, Baby'. From which songs have been featured on
many movie sound tracks including the recent release 'Cruel Intentions'
and even the video game FIFA Soccer '99. Most people wouldn't know a lot
about Norman Cook but many find themselves singing along with the radio
to the repetitive but catchy lyrics of 'Rockafeller Shank'. "..Right about
now, the Funk-Soul-Brother..Check him out now the Funk-Soul-Brother."
SINGLESfrom
the album "You've Come A
Long Way, Baby"
