Wonky
Wonky is a new music genre, the sound of which is achieved with producing mid-range basses using pitch bending, LFOs on lowpassing and highpassing, phasing, and delaying. The resonance parameters of the synth's LFOs are often high. These effects give the synth and bass unique «wonky» sounds, hence the name of the genre.
Birth: 2008 Bloom: 2010
The term was first used by Martin Clark in 2008; he is the author of Pitchfork Media and his blog Blackdown.
Wonky first developed when hip hop producers, influenced by J Dilla and Madlib (such as Flying Lotus, Starkey and Dabrye), began experimenting with dubstep & IDM elements. Around the same time, dubstep producers (notably those on Hyperdub and those associated with the purple sound) began adding said hip hop influences to their own productions. These two loose strands of early wonky would fuse together, resulting in the development of a fully-fledged genre during 2009. Glasgow in Scotland could be considered one of the birthplaces of the sound - with the Glasgow wonky sound also being dubbed «aquacrunk», a term originating from Glaswegian wonky musician Rustie. Wonky is updated Kode9, the founder of the Hyperdub label, and revived old school jungle – Zomby.
In America wonky has been formed and influenced by breakbeat and jazz music, when Bristol`s aquacrunk and wonky styles were influenced by crunk, instrumental grime, and dubstep. Acquacrunk is typified by slow swimming rhythms, morphing bass, and synth sounds.
In Russia the style is represented by DZA, who is the founder of how2make and famous for collaboration with Mujuice and Cut2Kill. His music, alongside Pixelord, is released on the Error Broadcast label, Comfort Fit, and 1000names.
The Asian wonky scene is associated with Japanese Toru Koda (aka Quarta 330). His music is characterized by GameBoyDub, 8-bit melodies, grime and chiptune sound. His albums are released on Hyperdub and his own label Lo-bit Playground.
Umbrellate style: UK Garage
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