The Radical Temporality of Drum and Bass

One of the key features of many genres within Electronic Dance Music (EDM) is the creation of simultaneous temporal layers. Genres such as drum and bass, dubstep, and future bass frequently use manipulation of rhythmic ostinati and subtle sonic shading to shift the listener’s perception between these multiple layers; for example, from a fast, intricate motion in the groove, suggestive of the ‘tensed’ experience of A-time, to a slow (or even a-temporal) motion in the vocals, pads, or instrumental lines, creating a sudden feeling of musical ‘space’, which might in turn connote a ‘tenseless’ B-time. This technique allows producers to create layered temporal narratives within the music, creating a complex landscape of musical momentum. Drawing on literature and methods from both sociology and philosophy, this chapter explores the complex relationship between these temporal systems, and in turn demonstrates how drum and bass offers a form of temporal resistance to contemporary life through both the sonic and social experience that the music offers. It concludes by arguing that, through the temporal ruptures caused by its uncertain shifting temporality, drum and bass provides clubgoers with a powerful ontological experience that illuminates the contradictions of time in a uniquely embodied way.