Obscure Sub-genre #2 - Pi-Step

Acid House is often cited as the birth of UK Dance culture and its influence is beyond doubt but it seems to come at the expense of Jungle. Jungle spawned so many scenes, distinctly British scenes from Drum’n’Bass to UK Garage. Obviously other movements from outside these shores have influenced British music but the importance of Jungle should not be underestimated.

“Pi-Step” is the latest spawn whose lineage can be traced back to Jungle. Incorporating the smooth fluid reverberations of Bassline and the fidgety glitchy twitches of IDM and err Glitch, Pi-Step draws a diverse intense crowd from both scenes, old “Warp” acid ravers looking for the new hedphuq, to dubstep and tech-step heads exploring the limits of rhyme and rhythm.

As you can guess from the name, Pi-step doesn’t follow four-to-the-floor or two step garage drum patterns but complex mathematical algo-rhythms. This makes it a bitch to mix and even harder to dance to but does allow the listener to look cerebral, while Frisbees fly around the dance floor as a substitute for jigging. Notes are forbidden as are fifty and twenty pence pieces and the rotund are celebrated. The symbolism of the circle holds shamanic sway in the Pi-Step soundscape and those entering the temple in check or stripes had better expect a hostile reception.

You have been warned.