Music
Where did it come from? Where is it played? And what is shuffling?
It goes by many names. Deep tech. Underground house. Urban house. But if the name isn’t quite solidified yet, you definitely know the dance – the loose, limber style known as shuffling or “cutting shapes”.
Where did it come from – and where can you hear it? Read on for our guide to the sound that’s spread across the UK like wildfire.
WHAT DOES IT SOUND LIKE?
A distinctly British take on house's 120 to 124BPM framework, deep tech pumps its four-four grooves with bubbling basslines that usually take the melodic lead. It’s rooted in the UK's history of rave, and wears its influences on its sleeve, liberally sampling well-known R&B vocals and updating all manner of rave tropes, from classic acid house synths to MC ragga chat. Deep tech is in touch with its history – check Little Man by RS4(aka Sheffield garage don Darqwan/Oris Jay), an update of Wookie's classic 2-step remix of Sia; or X5 Dubs' eerie 'Go DJ', a nod to DJ Zinc's Bingo Beats breakbeat garage roller of the same name.
Soundwise, it veers towards the dark side. But it’s a sound fully fixated on the dancefloor, and has evolved, some some argue, as a loved-up, united-on-the-dancefloor reaction to the aggro attitude and postcode wars of grime.
WHERE DOES IT COME FROM?
Mark Radford, who has had a weekly Saturday night show from 9-11pm on Rinse FM since April 2011, is widely considered the driving force behind the sound. Radford started raving in 1989, and lived through acid house, jungle, drum and bass, and garage. Around 2008 he could be found playing soulful house at various parties including Church, then Can't Stop Won't Stop.
This began to change, however, when he went to afterparty Jaded and heard the DJ play Booka Shade tracks. Speaking to the Blackdown blog he remembers, “the bass lines were so big and powerful... that I thought, if I could make a whole set of music like that, I’d smash it, because every time I played at these little parties, I would drop one or two of those tunes that I had and everyone would go insane”.
His 2012 entry into Rinse’s mix series showcased an early amalgamation of hard-sought tracks – a mixture of UK and European house and techno from the likes of No Artificial Colours, Steve Bug and Martin Landsky, put together with a distinctly British attitude and energy, plus a secret ingredient: low-end bass. But it was the launch of his own label Audio Rehab in 2012 that really put Radford at the centre of things, providing a launch pad for homegrown talent such as Adam Cottier, Carnao Beats, Hugo Massien and Nightshift.
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WOT DO U CALL IT?
The name deep tech is itself controversial. Seemingly a compound of the description 'Deep & Tech House' seen on colourful posters for house raves attached to traffic lights alongside roads, or plastered on fly posters around East London, it's used to separate the sound from deep, minimal or tech house. Mark Radford has used the term to describe his music, but also referred to it, simply, as ‘house’. Previously, the nascent style was also referred to as shuffle house due to the distinctive style of dance that has become associated with it.
WHAT’S THE FUSS ABOUT SHUFFLING?
Shuffling is the dancing that has evolved, or perhaps re-emerged, around house, and deep tech in particular. Also known as cutting shapes, its jerky steps and hand movements off and on the beat have been traced back to the jazz dancing of the Charleston, but are echoed more recently in 1986 footage of dancers in Manchester's early acid house scene.
Shuffling, as you’d expect, is huge online. Mr Shapes, founder of Facebook group Shape Cutters Incorporated, recently appeared on Channel 4, while YouTube channels like the pioneering S-StarTV's #iGOTSHAPES series began covering dancers two years ago, and has also inspired various dancefloor bangers.
But shuffling also has its detractors. A Facebook group called the Anti Foot Shuffling Campaign accusing it of bringing “a badman mentality” to clubs, while East London night Creche and Manchester venue Sankeys even went as far as banning it from the dance floor. But accusations of racism were levelled at those attacking the predominantly young, black dancers, and opposition has since died down.
WHO ELSE IS MAKING IT?
Other notable labels and artists include:
- House Entertainment UK, home to Lance Morgan, another Rinse FM regular.
- Eastside Records, who've gained the support of scene talent Lee B3 Edwards, another House ENT member.
- Strange Static, the collective of Aaron Vybe, MC Perch, KG3, Just JDan and Joseph Curti5.
- Switched On Records, founded by another rising star, S.E.F.
- Definition Audio, which also classes its output as “G house” – a close relative of deep tech most associated with French duo Amine Edge & Dance.
- Mokujin Records, run by South Londoner Paul Robinson – which prefers to call its own rave inflected, 808 heavy sound “hybrid house”.
But the sound runs far and wide, and can be found in the fabric of labels not directly classed as deep tech, from New York's resurrected Nervousand Kerri Chandler's MadTech label to Hot Creations.
WHERE CAN YOU HEAR IT?
Though deep tech is being made up and down the country, the parties are mostly taking place in London. Radford's Audio Rehab has a quarterly residency at Ministry Of Sound, with the next event taking place on July 18. Frequency host regular parties at Warehouse LDN in North London, with their next event on June 27th featuring Hot Creations' Jey Kurmis, alongside Lance Morgan and Arun Verone. Siesta resident DJ Majesty is joined at Siesta's Summer Safari by Sonny Fodera and Mark Jenkyns. The spiritual home of deep tech and shuffling though, at least according to Release, a documentary on house shuffling produced by The New British last year, is Vauxhall, with new venue No.65 singled out.
Joe Roberts has an intimidatingly vast knowledge of all things that blip and bleep. He's on Twitter @joerobots
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