Benga and Coki's crossover anthem 'Night' has been a sonic private joke in underground musical circles since it first appeared last spring. Now it's been picked up by Radio 1, and is getting a full release at the start of 2008. The hook, a deceptively simple descending beep-riff, has been a kind of dubstep birdsong: start replicating the 'boo boo boo booooo booooo booooo booooo' sound at the heart of the song and any fan within 100 metres will finish it off for you.
The hook, a deceptively simple descending beep-riff, has been a kind of dubstep birdsong: start replicating the 'boo boo boo booooo booooo booooo booooo' sound at the heart of the song and any fan within 100 metres will finish it off for you.
I've seen this played out in clubs, on buses and the other day, on the escalators at Brixton tube. By the summer, it had spread across the metaphorical Venn diagram that links dubstep and grime - there was a vocal version by Dizzee Rascal floating about the internet and Heartless Crew were texting 21-year-old Benga videos of their crowds going nutty to the tune.
As with other pop hits predicated on a wildly hooky electronic noise, like Azzido Da Bass's 'Dooms Night' (briefly number one in October 2000 with a bassline best spelled 'wuub wuub wub wub wub wub wub wub'), 'Night' has taken on a life of it's own. It's now standard fare for the Bassline House scene that spawned recent number one 'Heartless' by T2, has gained end-of-nighter status at clubs like London's Bugged Out! and is now being played on Radio 1, all of which suggests commercially big things when it's finally released on Tempa records in late January.
As well as tapping into a rich seam of hits based on a catchy noise - from Joey Beltram's 'Energy Flash' to Mr Oizo's Levi-propelled 'Flatbeat' - 'Night' is literally the only tune that can currently be owned (metaphorically, not literally - yet) by serious grime heads, trendy clubbers and Radio1 fans. Just don't remind yourself of how 'Flatbeat' goes by checking YouTube or you'll never rid of it. Sorry, too late if you clicked that last link.
The Germans don't call catchy records 'earworms' for nothing...
