Comin in with the mix and blend

Gess

Member
ok.

btw, you might want to add something to the conversation instead of just name calling.

Sorry for being bitchy. It's infectious.

As a house fan, with little investment in the hardcore continuum, I'm not sure what all the handwringing about lack of innovation and producers taking over from DJing is about. For me things have rarely been so exciting.
 

Benny Bunter

Well-known member
Sorry for being bitchy. It's infectious.

As a house fan, with little investment in the hardcore continuum, I'm not sure what all the handwringing about lack of innovation and producers taking over from DJing is about. For me things have rarely been so exciting.

right so we're at least partly on the same page.

Looking back at the first post I am a little confused about what this thread is meant to be about. Lots of anxiety.
 

Blackdown

nexKeysound
things to ponder, when thinking about re the issue of pure DJs not emerging...

1. the barrier to entry to DJing has lowered massively in the last 10 years, skill wise. decks/ableton/software are still expensive but it's technically never been easier to mix. i saw a guy mixing on his iphone on the tube this morning.

2. the barrier to entry level production has lowered massively in the last 10 years. it's still hard to be creative but you need less money or engineering expertise to get up and running.

the question is, if the initial premise is true, why the shift towards producer-DJs?

other things to think about:

1. there's no money in most production: it takes ages, people dont buy music. they consume it but dont buy it.

2. there's still money in DJing. people still buy beers in clubs and want loud sonic communal experiences that differ from your ipod headphones in their bedrooms.
 

Elijah

Butterz
Might be 'no money' in production but the profile from making tunes obviously puts you out there more.
 

wise

bare BARE BONES
1. there's no money in most production: it takes ages, people dont buy music. they consume it but dont buy it.

2. there's still money in DJing. people still buy beers in clubs and want loud sonic communal experiences that differ from your ipod headphones in their bedrooms.

it's as simple as this really, pure economics
 

CrowleyHead

Well-known member
Question: Does anyone actively use DJing in a curatorial sense that isn't something familiar?

Like say, the DJ's trying to form a connection that may not even exist, but is trying to form some sort of blend that makes these things all seem like they belong together. Or perhaps they're DJing a specific strain of something that isn't popular nor is there any significant niche interest.

Obviously this could mean the DJ just goes nowhere altogether, but do DJs still actively try to argue there is something they're doing that the rest of their kin don't? I guess kind of like how Funky splintered into Circle, the more 'intelligent' groupings, or charting funky. Or even further back, the eski/sublow/proto-dubstep sort of mutations. I never get the feeling that there's DJs right now saying "THIS IS SOMETHING WE KNOW NOBODY ELSE IS PICKING UP ON." in either a sense of current music. Older music, sure, you can have people who say "THIS IS A SPECIFIC VEIN OF MINIMAL WAVE THAT CAME FROM ONE VILLAGE OUTSIDE OF COLOGNE THAT HAD A SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT BPM STYLE." but I don't think there's a general sense of splinter anymore, nor is there desire?
 

4linehaiku

Repetitive
"everyone's a DJ" / "everyone's a producer" is not really true. The actual trend is "everyone's a curator". Basically everybody these days (into music or not) has a list of people they follow on twitter / youtube favourites / facebook likes / soundcloud plays. Not even starting on iTunes / Spotify playlists. So if you're already building your own hyper-personal bubble of sounds why would you care about some DJ? Easy to think: I could do that, and I could do it better cos I already know exactly what I like. Your favourite producer(s) become even more important though, cos they are churning out all the shiny feathers you need to build your nest.
 

franz

Well-known member
interesting interview from Elgato which came out in the last few months:

http://thequietus.com/articles/11962-elgato-interview

he is one of the dons for me. although as he kind of suggests by way of his influences, his sound isn't necessarily strictly committed to the fortification of any kind of local scene from outside influences (ie: cadenza)...

there's a b2b of him doing bruk with Raynulds that got posted recently too... these sets are gold to me, now that i can't catch bruk regularly and now that they've mostly stopped frequently archiving sets...

but also he's an interesting example of a producer whose style seems very informed by his DJing, as maybe opposed to vice versa... he gets into this in the interview a bit.
 

Benny Bunter

Well-known member
what's this road tech house at then? what do people feel is lacking? a jamaican influence? any big tunes? i'm still buzzing off au seve tbh. I listened to a mark radford set after a recommendation on here and turned it off after 10 mins.

know what you mean about Radford et al. I want to like it a lot more than I actually do, though I'm for it in principle. If you liked Au Seve and feel you need to catch up on the more general house vibe then you could do worse than check out this new Ministry of Sound comp maybe? (or you may baulk, i dunno!) http://direct.asda.com/Ministry-Of-Sound---The-Sound-Of-Deep-House---2-CDs/003796688,default,pd.html

The Jamaican influence does seem to be at its weakest point for some time now, for better or worse. I guess this is because current dancehall seems much less healthy and prominent in the general landscape than it was during the 90s and on to the mid 00s.
 
The Jamaican influence does seem to be at its weakest point for some time now, for better or worse. I guess this is because current dancehall seems much less healthy and prominent in the general landscape than it was during the 90s and on to the mid 00s.

nah you're not mental, i went to edit my post deleted it then my laptop died. what i said was to my one-year-out-of-the-uk-not been-to-a-real-rave-in-yonks ears i can see why the current landscape isn't exciting to someone hoping for exciting progression.. not to say that everyone bleeding into house could be grounds for something truly fresh.

i think you're onto something about dancehall, just as im getting into it a bit more myself. as far as facebook party pictures go, Hot Wuk/Heatwave looks liked the best craic ever, need to get over for one soon!
 

Elijah

Butterz
Heatwave parties have been good forever I went to one in 2005 and have been going to them semi regular since. Even had them on the Butterz night at Cable.

But yea Jamaican influence on UK Underground music is not really as prominent, certainly with new artists. People are more taking cues from things closer to home, i.e early Wiley. But we all know Wiley was strongly influenced from dancehall. So could argue the link is still there. Just a bit dissolved.
 

Local Authority

bitch city
Question: Does anyone actively use DJing in a curatorial sense that isn't something familiar?

Like say, the DJ's trying to form a connection that may not even exist, but is trying to form some sort of blend that makes these things all seem like they belong together. Or perhaps they're DJing a specific strain of something that isn't popular nor is there any significant niche interest.

I'm too hungover to actually post a proper reply atm, but its something i've been trying to attempt recently to various degrees as seen in this mix and something i'm trying to encourage some of my friends to do. The idea of DJ as curator has definitely been lost but I think that's just because there is no definite sound anymore. I've tried to sum it up in the review below.

pears and sound review
 

Local Authority

bitch city
actually that review doesn't really get my point across, but there is something building in the background, focussed around producers like pev, kowton, pearson. i just think everythings so disparate atm that people can't really see it past all that "bassline" house and rigid techo
 

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
The Jamaican thing is interesting just cos I think UK MCs 'do' Jamaican much more convincingly than American - the best british hip-hop (for me) was always the stuff that drew on yard influences as much as the yanks. It's unacceptable for a british MC to do an american accent but they can do a Jamaican one and get away with it (well I suppose cos their parents/grandparents are Jamaican). Conversely US rappers who do jamaican accents sound fake.
 
in my head that carries into jamaican soundsystem culture.. MCs, dubs, pull ups which wouldn't sit well with tech house.

listened to a few more tunes on that shuffling thread though, i do get the interest, id like that in a club its just not making changes for me.
 
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