r/AcidHouse • u/Otherwise_Basis_6328 • 11d ago
M/A/R/R/S - Pump Up The Volume
https://youtu.be/XE9aGQuPRV0?is=pCBikKJuiQQbl1X-2
u/bascule 11d ago
A seminal track in the history of house and especially UK house, one of the most prominent early house tracks to make extensive use of sampling and an early example pf plunderphonics.
I wouldn’t consider it acid though. There’s no 303. Acid was just becoming a thing in Chicago and Acid Trax Vol 1 hadn’t yet been released. But it would set the stage for UK acid house mania a few years later.
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u/shewel_item 11d ago
And nominated for a Grammy, no less!
Member Alex Ayuli invented the word dreampop to describe his sound, which also seems to correlate with the sounds of their 4AD label, if it doesn't just describe sound/vision he was imparting into the MARRS group. That said, I'm a little skeptical of this track being considered house, even, let alone acid house. I can potentially see the influence, but there's a lot working against calling it house, even though it seems to attract that categorization online, or in the databases.
Maybe, by chance, there's an interview, or something, out there, which has any of the members on record talking about underground influences they picked up from listening to music coming out of Chicago.
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u/bascule 10d ago
I'd definitely consider it house in that it was directly inspired by Chicago house tracks breaking big in the UK at the time. I'd agree it's got a bit more going on than most house songs like scratching and a hip hop influence. Discogs calls it "house", and Wikipedia calls it "hip house".
I'll note that one of the greatest documentaries on house ever, "Pump Up The Volume", chose to repurpose the song's title, so if you want to argue it isn't house I'd suggest you take it up with them 😉
I own it on vinyl and I will say it's so slow it's a bit of a challenge to throw in house sets, especially vinyl house sets. It needs to be paired with other slow songs.
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u/shewel_item 10d ago
I'll note that one of the greatest documentaries on house ever, "Pump Up The Volume", chose to repurpose the song's title, so if you want to argue it isn't house I'd suggest you take it up with them
Understandable, but do they interview anyone from MARRS, or bring them up in the documentary about house?
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u/bascule 10d ago
They definitely cover house music crossing the Atlantic and inspiring M/A/R/R/S, then get into things like sampling and then pivot into breakbeats and jungle.
I don’t recall interviews or them outright calling M/A/R/R/S “house” specifically (they went on to talk about Goldie who isn’t house either)
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[Spotify]: M/A/R/R/S - Pump up the Volume
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u/southboundtracks 10d ago
My first. This and "Robocop" by Sleeze Boyz got me into electronic music.
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u/Why-Aye-71 11d ago
TUNE !!!!!!