Recession hitting clubs

[Harrison]

i haven't noticed it in the uk hitting clubs, but it may have just hit the larger, commercial clubs (with high drinks prices and entry) but i couldn't say for sure.

[maxeinsoul]

I guess producers DJ's should look more in the past... I'm not talking about copying it again, but being inspired by the authenticity of this whole scene back then.

When I go out today, I always hear the same crap from 2 till 7. A tight kick, latin percussions, dry claps and snaps, very low bass, a few samples here and there. No music, easy grooves, kept between 120 and 127 bpm, all night long. And those DJ's are all quite famous. They're not even DJ's. I could do that sh.t with a year of experience : learn beatmatching, check RA every week.

Today I mostly go out for electronic oldies. At least I hear music, i don't feel like the software's pitch is locked all night long at 126 bpm, which makes me want to puke. What makes a good DJ is the way he surprises people imo. Pure technic only counts for a few guys such as Mills, but i don't care if the guy barely tries to make a proper transition, as long as my smile gets bigger every time he spins a new track.

The very repetitive stuff fits certain contexts. Berghain techno fits berghain, but definately not an outdoor beach club. And there's not a lot of place like berghain in the world... Listening to latino-house in a dark basement is the same problem.

Crap should fit nowhere.

[mlexicon]

i think the idea is to be happy, money or no money, ive been at this sh!t for years in one form or the other, whether as a dj, then a promoter, now producer. I see no fame or fortune in this, i do it cause i have no choice. I have to do it, its in me to do it whether anyones paying me or not. i love finding my way in the music.

i think the point is to do what you do and compromise as little as possible, if your a dj and what you want to do is play "bomb" after "bomb", i hope you do that.

For me the dj was meant for something else, to weave a story and expose yourself and your experiences through music.

I think i saw it really change for me when alot of deep house, house producers started playing and making shitty 90's club remixes. (Color Me Badd, sh!t like that)

[PsyTox]

i haven't noticed it in the uk hitting clubs, but it may have just hit the larger, commercial clubs (with high drinks prices and entry) but i couldn't say for sure.

to be honest, we went to Fabric a month ago and it was really nice to party in a club where you didn't have to gasp for air because of all the smoke. And you didn't sit in your car driving home, smelling like an ashtray.
Still, some people could use a good dose of deoderant, which becomes painfully obvious when the smoke isn't covering that smell

[infernal.techno]

haha this last page got better

[infernal.techno]

theres a huge difference in music PLAYED during the recession in the 90's and what you hear now. the raves during the 90's recession had a happier vibe and wasnt as repetitious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jd7zbScttQ

vs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8x-l6EgwgdA

but its not like they didnt have dark repetitive music back then, they did, its just that most djs didn't play a whole set of it to a room full of happy people looking for escapism.

this might be my favorite post from you. it makes no sense in any way

[Roof]

During times of recession, people don't like repetative music?

Please expand on this, i'm confused.

theres a huge difference in music PLAYED during the recession in the 90's and what you hear now. the raves during the 90's recession had a happier vibe and wasnt as repetitious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jd7zbScttQ

vs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8x-l6EgwgdA

but its not like they didnt have dark repetitive music back then, they did, its just that most djs didn't play a whole set of it to a room full of happy people looking for escapism.

thom brought up something i forgot about. i always have said money ruins art. in the 90's when people had little money, djs were doing it for free, in a warehouse with no cover, no promoters trying to make a profit - thats when it was pure. (no offense to any promoters in this thread). as the years went by, the music got more attention and the prices kept going up.

by the time we got to the peak of prosperity, which is what? like 2005-2007? you saw cool shoes, big glamour sunglasses, designer shirts+jeans, shitty abstract music to go along with it ("oooh this is soooo underground, this track has a vocal of a guy burping and an alarm clock going beep beep beep. what? you dont get it? that's because your not elite. go back to your happy house that the simpletons listen to. you dont belong here with the smart people that get it"). now compare this scene i described to what you saw in the early 90's - it was the complete opposite, people dressed like sh!t and they didnt give a fuk!

some of the minimal truthfully was excellent though, but over the years it just kept getting more extreme, focused on the core/elements, it got more prententious. the first definition of the word pretentious in the dictionary describes it perfectly - people think they understand and have appreciation for something when really they don't. this is because with dance music its a copy of a copy of a copy. the original source material was way back long time ago that young people today were never even around for to begin with to experience it!

that's why ive been saying dance music needs a big huge reset button. its gotten way off track and the wheels fell off this thing a long time ago. its time to start over with NO RULES, LESS BUILDING ON THE PAST. stop looking at the past and romanticizing the dug up dusty rare forgotten robert hood or plastikman tracks. that sh!t wasnt even on the radar back when it came out, it wasnt appreciated for its genius really until much later when minimal had all the attention. im not saying completely no influence of the past, that's impossible, but less of it would be great. and im not saying great music was not made along the way, because new takes on the past does create good music, its just theres less and less of it as time goes on.

when the economy gets so poor that people cant afford to go to clubs there will be more non-profit word of mouth parties, that's when you'll see like what you saw in the early 90's all over again. its like a cycle. it will go back to the clandestine: a field in the middle of nowhere, a warehouse, etc. some place free from "looky loos" - the ever present watching, judging eyes and ears and free from pressure of promoters/club owners because their profit is on the line.

theres so many other factors, its not a simple one answer, its complicated. recession is just one factor.

Maybe it's because you live in a different part of the world, but I think you have a very romantic idea about the early dance music / rave scene. Sure there were free parties back then, there still are now but, in the UK at least, the rave scene back in the day was very big business.

Also, as others have mentioned, there was a lot of very dark, repetitive music back then. The gabba scene of the early nineties was huge in Western Europe.

The glamour/fashion thing isn't new either, it just generally depends on the particular genre. For instance most run of the mill 90's house clubs/nights, a la Miss Moneypennies, marketed themselves on a theme of 'sophistication'.

Most music is generally a copy of a copy, and dance music is no exception here. Yes some tracks are more original than others, but everything is directly influenced by something that came before it.

And common man, Hood and Plastikman not even on the radar back in the day? Proper ridiculous statement.

[PsyTox]

Maybe it's because you live in a different part of the world, but I think you have a very romantic idea about the early dance music / rave scene. Sure there were free parties back then, there still are now but, in the UK at least, the rave scene back in the day was very big business.

Indeed, I remember a rave back in 1991 in Gent called World Party II (which was promoted by Frank De Wulf) and back then they also charged 1000 Belgian francs, which is about 25 euro, which is still today a pretty hefty price in belgium. Frank De Wulf sold enormous amounts of records and R&S was in the pop charts with their music, and that was big business already back then. Boccaccio was a pretty expensive club even then, and style was everything. Even already in the new wave era there was a certain look you "had" to follow. Body music: same. New Beat: same. Rave: same. And so on.
I always say: the more people try to be different they end up in the uniform of the hype of the moment As soon as a scene developes there's someone to market it.

Also, as others have mentioned, there was a lot of very dark, repetitive music back then. The gabba scene of the early nineties was huge in Western Europe.

Not to mention the so-called second summer of love in 1988, you can't really say that the Acid House of those days wasn't repetitive and dark. Au contraire I'd say. Just have a listen to f.e. Six Brown Brothers or the mother of it all, Acid Tracks by Phuture. Not exactly glowstick happiness.

And common man, Hood and Plastikman not even on the radar back in the day? Proper ridiculous statement.

*chuckle*
Back in those days Plastikman was already huge, half of belgium ran around in Plastikman or Plus 8 shirts and most clubs had plus 8 slipmats on the decks. Maybe they didn't get recognition in their own country, but in Europe people were following the likes of Hood, Mills, Hawtin etc from very very close.

I guess it's easy to "romanticize" those days. Most of the people now into dance weren't really there, some weren't even born, so it's easy to only feed them the good stories. Which were true, but there were also lots of awful nights, dodgy promotors, shitty producers making it on the big labels... the only difference is that people were not worried and we all thought those days would never end. By 1995 lots of those people had already left dessillusioned, broke, addicted or simply bored with the music changing too much. For me, it all turned a bit to sh!t after 2000 because for me personally that was when the business took over from the enthousiasts completely. It had been happening for long, but that was the first time for me that it really bothered me. At Love Parade you had Chuppa Chupps trucks, and every dinghole put a house remix on their singles. Dj's were on enormous stages being worshipped and sipping champagne with their VIP guests that thought they were better than the people on the floor. It made me puke really. It wasn't until a few years later that I could really feel good again about techno and all that, took time to see that there still were -and always will be- people who mean well and who understand that it's not just about the music, but also of being part of Something.

Anyway, as I said, people tend to forget the not-so-cool and joyful things from back then. But there wasn't so much subdivision, so you belonged to something big.

(which unfortunately turned out to be largely just a money scam just like the pop culture we thought we were rebelling against).