Book contents
- The Cambridge Companion to Electronic Dance Music
- Cambridge Companions to Music
- The Cambridge Companion to Electronic Dance Music
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part I Setting the Scene
- Part II Local and Global Contexts
- Part III Genre Aesthetics
- 9 Drum and Bass as Cultural Accelerator
- 10 Chill Out
- 11 Genre Classification in Electronic Dance Music Culture
- Part IV Sonic Subjectivities
- Part V Dance Floor Identities
- Index
- References
9 - Drum and Bass as Cultural Accelerator
Underground Resistance or Ecstatic Concession to Speed?
from Part III - Genre Aesthetics
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 February 2026
Book contents
- The Cambridge Companion to Electronic Dance Music
- Cambridge Companions to Music
- The Cambridge Companion to Electronic Dance Music
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part I Setting the Scene
- Part II Local and Global Contexts
- Part III Genre Aesthetics
- 9 Drum and Bass as Cultural Accelerator
- 10 Chill Out
- 11 Genre Classification in Electronic Dance Music Culture
- Part IV Sonic Subjectivities
- Part V Dance Floor Identities
- Index
- References
Summary
Drum and bass is one of the fastest electronic dance music (EDM) genres to achieve significant cultural attention, often running in excess of 170 BPM (beats-per-minute); around twice the speed of the soul and funk records from which its ‘breaks’ are sourced. Its emergence via dance clubs and raves in the deindustrialised spaces of inner-city London during the early 1990s points to an interrelationship between the stratified experience of speed in an accelerated culture and the effects of post-industrialisation on the genre’s mainly urban and working-class participants, many of whom have been socially and geographically immobilised by the fast and fluid transactions of deterritorialised techno-capital. This chapter considers the role of drum and bass as both a form of cultural resistance within underground EDM against the socially deleterious effects of an accelerated culture, while palpably embracing the jouissance produced by speed in its sonic and wider cultural contexts.
Information
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge Companion to Electronic Dance Music , pp. 167 - 181Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
References
Further Reading
Belle-Fortune, B. All Crews Muss Big Up: Journeys Through Jungle/Drum and Bass Culture, London: Vision, 2005.Google Scholar
Cybernetic Culture Research Unit (CCRU), ‘Swarmachines’, Abstract Culture, Swarm, 1 1996, http://ccru.net/swarm1/1_swarm.htm.Google Scholar
Fisher, M. Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?, Winchester: Zero Books, 2009.Google Scholar
Noys, B. Malign Velocities: Accelerationism and Capitalism, Alresford: Zero Books, 2014.Google Scholar
Accessibility standard: WCAG 2.1 AA
Why this information is here
This section outlines the accessibility features of this content - including support for screen readers, full keyboard navigation and high-contrast display options. This may not be relevant for you.Accessibility Information
The HTML of this chapter
complies with version 2.1 of the
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
(WCAG), covering newer accessibility requirements and improved
user experiences and achieves the intermediate
(AA)
level of WCAG compliance, covering a wider range of accessibility requirements.
Content Navigation
Table of contents navigation
Allows you to navigate directly to chapters, sections, or non‐text items through a linked table of contents, reducing the need for extensive scrolling.
Allows you to navigate directly to chapters, sections, or non‐text items through a linked table of contents, reducing the need for extensive scrolling.
Index navigation
Provides an interactive index, letting you go straight to where a term or subject appears in the text without manual searching.
Provides an interactive index, letting you go straight to where a term or subject appears in the text without manual searching.
Reading Order & Textual Equivalents
Single logical reading order
You will encounter all content (including footnotes, captions, etc.) in a clear, sequential flow, making it easier to follow with assistive tools like screen readers.
You will encounter all content (including footnotes, captions, etc.) in a clear, sequential flow, making it easier to follow with assistive tools like screen readers.
Short alternative textual descriptions
You get concise descriptions (for images, charts, or media clips), ensuring you do not miss crucial information when visual or audio elements are not accessible.
You get concise descriptions (for images, charts, or media clips), ensuring you do not miss crucial information when visual or audio elements are not accessible.
Visual Accessibility
Use of colour is not sole means of conveying information
You will still understand key ideas or prompts without relying solely on colour, which is especially helpful if you have colour vision deficiencies.
You will still understand key ideas or prompts without relying solely on colour, which is especially helpful if you have colour vision deficiencies.
Structural and Technical Features
ARIA roles provided
You gain clarity from ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) roles and attributes, as they help assistive technologies interpret how each part of the content functions.
You gain clarity from ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) roles and attributes, as they help assistive technologies interpret how each part of the content functions.