The tyranny of 130

[droid]

Ive been banging on about this to my long suffering associates for about a decade but the thing that pushed me over the edge was my annual excursion to a roots dance last weekend. Here is music that sounds amazingly avant garde, is wonderfully diverse both rhythmically and harmonically, varies wildly in tempo and carries lyrical, social, cultural and political weight... and you can dance to it, you can even dance to it at 130bpm!

Now perhaps its not entirely fair to compare what is essentially the pop music of a nation with a genre (or genres) of dance music, and sure, not everyone likes reggae, that's fine, but the question I'd ask is what is the opportunity cost here? If millions of people reduce their sensual, escapist and hedonistic impulses to the mechanistic thud of a kick drum what does this do to their appreciation of the potentiality of music?

Put a flea in a box and it will only jump as high as the box once it's released. We can do better.

 

[thirdform]

There's gotta be a suitable group for that too, no?

yeah, darkside hardcore 92-94. but i like breaking down boundries especially when most people in techno play something junglistic to them which generally means a post-dubstep producer making a half jungle tune with a breakbeat in it.

 

[thirdform]

Ive been banging on about this to my long suffering associates for about a decade but the thing that pushed me over the edge was my annual excursion to a roots dance last weekend. Here is music that sounds amazingly avant garde, is wonderfully diverse both rhythmically and harmonically, varies wildly in tempo and carries lyrical, social, cultural and political weight... and you can dance to it, you can even dance to it at 130bpm!

Now perhaps its not entirely fair to compare what is essentially the pop music of a nation with a genre (or genres) of dance music, and sure, not everyone likes reggae, that's fine, but the question I'd ask is what is the opportunity cost here? If millions of people reduce their sensual, escapist and hedonistic impulses to the mechanistic thud of a kick drum what does this do to their appreciation of the potentiality of music?

Put a flea in a box and it will only jump as high as the box once it's released. We can do better.

post #236 droid.

 

[pattycakes_]

here you go. this is deep to me, would absolutely not be allowed in that group. mr. c not liking this pioneering tune is a huge problem for me

Nice track. F Mr C. Placid said he's never really been into breaks. Fair enough I spose. Will have to check that hc 92/94 group

 

[thirdform]

a lot of afropop has a 4x4 kick but there are loads of drum fills orbiting it at 130. so i really don't think the four to the floor is the problem, just clubbing becoming even more and more restricted to the banker types and the house/techno/dance music clubs not understanding this and not knowing how to resist.

 

[thirdform]

Nice track. F Mr C. Placid said he's never really been into breaks. Fair enough I spose. Will have to check that hc 92/94 group

yeah, placid has never said why though.

 

[thirdform]

the thing is most people in club music do not have any serious politics beyond the narrowly myopic of clubland. hence all that save fabric crap a few years ago. the shit had long hit the fan by then mate are you lot just noticing? now fabric is an id scanning prison.

that's why current dance music is boring. there aren't really crowds, just congregations of socialites. you're expecting too much when clubs are full of record store types trying to sell products for their boss because the record store bosses are somehow not self-serving capitalists like anyone else...

 

[pattycakes_]

the house/techno/dance music clubs not understanding this and not knowing how to resist.

Or maybe not wanting to either. I can only think of a few that kept it real in London up until my leaving. Corsica being one. Must be fkn hard to resist loads of money.

 

[thirdform]

Or maybe not wanting to either. I can only think of a few that kept it real in London up until my leaving. Corsica being one. Must be fkn hard to resist loads of money.

the problem isn't so much money it's more that clubbings original working class crowd is just not going out. why would they? most people can't afford to.

when clubs empty, it reveals what it always has been, even in the glory days. bankers party. it was like that in the 90s too don't romanticise it man. its only that we could put pressure on them.

 

[jorge]

Ive been banging on about this to my long suffering associates for about a decade but the thing that pushed me over the edge was my annual excursion to a roots dance last weekend. Here is music that sounds amazingly avant garde, is wonderfully diverse both rhythmically and harmonically, varies wildly in tempo and carries lyrical, social, cultural and political weight... and you can dance to it, you can even dance to it at 130bpm!

Now perhaps its not entirely fair to compare what is essentially the pop music of a nation with a genre (or genres) of dance music, and sure, not everyone likes reggae, that's fine, but the question I'd ask is what is the opportunity cost here? If millions of people reduce their sensual, escapist and hedonistic impulses to the mechanistic thud of a kick drum what does this do to their appreciation of the potentiality of music?

Put a flea in a box and it will only jump as high as the box once it's released. We can do better.

your losing me a bit here droid, your argument a few pages back was that house/techno is all well and good but nothing new has happened for 30 years, but now roots reggae is the avant garde?

not that it isnt all the other things you say

i hear more diversity in house/techno broadly defined over the past 30+ years than in roots/dub/dancehall

i suppose its all to do with our ears and what theyre attuned to, theres plenty of people who'd go to a reggae dance and think it was the same track on loop and others who go to a psytrance party and be in awe of all the wonderful diversity on offer :S

 

[pattycakes_]

yeah, placid has never said why though.

Can't like everything I guess. Definitely would be cool to have breaks included in WGD tho for sure.

As for fabric and all that. The save fabric campaign was bollocks. It'd long been shit in there. Looong. Just social media let's all get caught up on hysteria shit. So many djs aren't in it for anything but the money now. Even ones that used to be proper underground. UR joined forces with carhartt wip ffs (European branch, nothing to do with the Detroit factories anymore) but not long before that mad Mike had been in an RA exchange talking about borrowing money to pay rent. Times are fucking hard for everyone and for musicians extra fucking hard. Like look at moodymann, Theo, Kevin Saunderson about to take inner city back on the road, even aphex. All these people who used to shun press, try to forge a bit of mystique which made their shit all the more delicious. They're out there making cash now. They've left that older shit behind. Acting like it never happened. And I don't blame em. If it's a choice between a day job and playing a bunch of forgettable festivals a bunch of weekends in the summer, what would you choose? I'd be suckling that red bull or whatever sponsored teat, too. The bird has flown. It sucks. It tastes bad. But it's flown.

 

[craner]

Gotta love Mr C!

 

[pattycakes_]

Not to mention clubbing has become the defacto weekend activity for so many people that used to just go to the pub or the cinema or whatever else. Since electroclash, daft punk, lcd soundsystem etc brought all the indie kids over its slowly been getting more and more diluted. With exceptions here and there ofc. But yeah. Shits tanking fast now.

 

[thirdform]

stupid tune for english people not like foul play being with you.

 

[pattycakes_]

Gotta love Mr C

He was a geezer back in the day no doubt!

 

[jorge]

theres some good places to go in manchester that have great crowds that arent just socialite posers, the white hotel has become slicker recently but its still got the freaks and locals in, perhaps less than in the past tho. partisan is a co-operative and overtly political venue that has great parties as well as meetings/workshops etc. with a solid crowd many who also volunteer there. not much else that i know of tbf and i imagine what your saying holds true for london

 

[pattycakes_]

Does bohemian grove still do parties in mcr? They were pretty good for the deep end of house n tech a few years back. Saw Keith worthy and patrice Scott to name a couple. Damo B's Sunday eve outta limits radio show used to be the shit too. Think its up on SC also.

 

[thirdform]

patty you seem to be stuck in the mid 90s about this stuff - the underground doesn't exist, it never has!

there is just shit that is on the radar and off the radar.

it used to be that there was more shit off the radar. now those economic opportunities don't exist. so more stuff is on the radar.

something can be off the radar and still get into the charts, like LFO did.

A lot of the stuff on the radar doesn't necessarily have to be commercial, it can be dedicated to a phantom of underground, like Boddika or Brackles or whoever. but this stuff will never chart because there is no dynamic behind it. but it's still adhering to the 'underground value set'

this is the value set we need to fight against to move forward.

 

[thirdform]

theres some good places to go in manchester that have great crowds that arent just socialite posers, the white hotel has become slicker recently but its still got the freaks and locals in, perhaps less than in the past tho. partisan is a co-operative and overtly political venue that has great parties as well as meetings/workshops etc. with a solid crowd many who also volunteer there. not much else that i know of tbf and i imagine what your saying holds true for london

there's a friend of mine from partisan who lurks these bords so yes i know.

 

[jorge]

Does bohemian grove still do parties in mcr? They were pretty good for the deep end of house n tech a few years back. Saw Keith worthy and patrice Scott to name a couple

dont think so, islington mill doesnt really have events anymore i dont think, which is a shame as it was ace, seemed like bohemian grove went with it. was at that keith worthy one as well as traxx and a few others and they were there best thing going at the time!