3 posts tagged “amen break”

Luke Vibert

Yet another alias for the ever-prolific Luke Vibert, taken this time from the late British TV personality Eamonn Andrews (the host of "What's my line?").  Amen worship is in total full effect, with beats-per-minute ranging from a relatively tame 140 to a brain-shattering 194.  Echoing years of hardcore and jungle sounds, with samples and ideas pulled from all over the place, you could spend weeks dissecting these tracks.  With the exception of the CD all of these releases were Reflex promos and remain relatively hard to come by.  Definite highlight for me is release #03, which reconstructs Babylon and Hitman into new post-millennial gorgousity.  "Eat mushrooooooommmmmmmmmmmm..."  At any rate, this seemed like the natural followup post to my "Amen, Brother" post yesterday.. FYI, these are V0 rips with the exception of the CD which is 192k. I'll try to remember to post Vibert's Plug - Drum 'n Bass for Papa somewhere down the like too, it's still a wonderful album from that place and time.

• Amen Andrews - Volume 01

CAT 138 EP

Label: Rephlex
Catalog#: CAT 138 EP
Format: Vinyl, 12"
Country: UK
Released: 07 Jul 2003
Genre: Electronic
Style: Drum n Bass, Jungle
Notes: Limited edition DJ test press. B2 samples the dialogue with Frank Zappa from Captain Beefheart's track "Pena," from the album Trout Mask Replica (1969).

• Amen Andrews - Volume 02

CAT 139 EP

Label: Rephlex
Catalog#: CAT 139 EP
Format: Vinyl, 12"
Country: UK
Released: 28 Jul 2003
Genre: Electronic
Style: Drum n Bass, Jungle
Notes: Limited edition DJ test press. "Blomen" features Kelly Barnet, a.k.a. K-Rock, on vocals.

• Amen Andrews - Volume 03

CAT 140 EP

Label: Rephlex
Catalog#: CAT 140 EP
Format: Vinyl, 12"
Country: UK
Released: 25 Aug 2003
Genre: Electronic
Style: Drum n Bass, Jungle
Notes: Ltd edition DJ test press.

• Amen Andrews - Volume 04

CAT 141 EP

Label: Rephlex
Catalog#: CAT 141 EP
Format: Vinyl, 12"
Country: UK
Released: 15 Sep 2003
Genre: Electronic
Style: Hardcore, Jungle
Notes: Limited edition DJ test press.

• Amen Andrews - Volume 05

CAT 142 EP

Label: Rephlex
Catalog#: CAT 142 EP
Format: Vinyl, 12"
Country: UK
Released: 06 Oct 2003
Genre: Electronic
Style: Drum n Bass, Jungle
Notes: Limited edition DJ test press.

• Amen Andrews vs. Spac Hand Luke - Amen Andrews vs. Spac Hand Luke

CAT 178 CD

Label: Rephlex
Catalog#: CAT 178 CD
Format: CD
Country: UK
Released: 23 Jun 2006
Genre: Electronic
Style: Breakbeat, Drum n Bass

I'm not usually one to pick up others' themes, but this one gives me a chance to post what I believe to be the biggest B-side of all time: The Winstons - "Amen, Brother". 

MMS-117 B

But don't just take my word for it, here's what the ever-accurate (hah) wikipedia has to say:

`The Winstons is a funk and soul music outfit, based in Washington, D.C., from the 1960s who are most notable for recording a track called "Amen, Brother" (a B-side to the single "Color Him Father" recorded in 1969). "Amen, Brother" is probably the most sampled record of all time. Midway through the track there is a drum solo which contains the "Amen break" which has been sampled and used in thousands of hip-hop, pop, drum and bass and jungle tracks.'

I was fortunate enough to get a copy of "Amen, Brother" on vinyl when it was re-pressed in 2001 by Alpha-Omega as the b-side to Jimmy Castor's "It's Just Begun" (another highly sampled funk/soul classic).  I do have mp3s of the original Winstons' 7" too, but my rips of the AO release sound a helluvalot better..

• The Jimmy Castor Bunch / The Winstons - It's Just Begun / Amen, Brother

AO-9519 B

Label: Alpha Omega Recordings
Catalog#: AO-9519
Format: Vinyl, 12", Unofficial Release
Country: UK
Released: Sep 2001
Genre: Funk / Soul
Style: Funk

Nate Harrison - Amen Thumbs

GO HERE: Can I Get An Amen?, 2004
recording on acetate, turntable, PA system, paper documents
dimensions variable
total run time 17 minutes, 46 seconds
apple quicktime format

Can I Get An Amen? is an audio installation that unfolds a critical perspective of perhaps the most sampled drum beat in the history of recorded music, the Amen Break. It begins with the pop track Amen Brother by 60's soul band The Winstons, and traces the transformation of their drum solo from its original context as part of a 'B' side vinyl single into its use as a key aural ingredient in contemporary cultural expression. The work attempts to bring into scrutiny the techno-utopian notion that 'information wants to be free'- it questions its effectiveness as a democratizing agent. This as well as other issues are foregrounded through a history of the Amen Break and its peculiar relationship to current copyright law.

This is essential viewing.  I've not re-hosted it here out of respect for Nate's page: nkhstudio.  I also highly reccomend watching Bassline Baseline, which examines the origins and history of the Roland TB-303 bass machine.