Wednesday 20 August 2008

That's Good That, Tony!


I've mentioned before that a childhood in Glasgow inevitably exposes one to the joys of Tartan Techno, so it's not entirely surprising that I quite enjoy the Blackout Crew's 'Put a Donk on It'. Simon Reynolds neglects to mention that the genre itself is known as 'Donk', and this is effectively the mainstream breakout. It must be said that compared to your average 'Scouse House', the production is of a rather high level, considering the typical example of this stuff involves a pitch-shifted female vocal, Darren bloody Styles and not much more.

The other thing that is rather strange about the video is the humour. The BC are sending themselves up here, the music is being presented for a London audience, it would seem, what with the suburban setting, the foregrounded Northern-ness, the 'donkilator' complete with oscilloscope and plastic horns on top and the totally untypical crowd (who seem to have been borrowed from Trash Fashion's 'It's a Rave Dave'). It's a clever move to be presented with such a dose of irony that the old hipster set can enjoy you guilt free. Good business sense, as long as you don't become the next Goldie Lookin' Chain.

In a more explicitly comic vein, here's an affectionate Glasgow version of the same idea;


ALSO - One thing that needs to be knocked on the head is that stupid argument that the anti-funk nature of all this music is somehow inherently white, a silly thing to say when you consider who were first making hard dance music, albeit teutonically influenced...

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