The tyranny of 130

[Corpsey]

Techno is useful for when you're off your head on pills, to the extent that you'd happily dance to an alarm clock. So in those circumstances, techno is a definite improvement on an alarm clock.

 

[droid]

lol, I dont think there's some secret knowledge here. I can 'get' the appeal, but this fixation on the nuance... ...aesthetically it's like walking through endless beige halls and rejoicing because you see a cream chair when you could just pull open the curtains to reveal a riot of colour.

Its akin to drone in a way, and much as I love drone, I don't think it should be the template of 95% of music.

 

[Corpsey]

So much of it is so bland. I'll be chugging water, sweating profusely, enjoying the atmosphere, all the while aware that this music is fucking bland and if you took drugs out of this equation we'd all be checking our phones.

 

[thirdform]

Well yeah, 2 step/1 bar jungle is a hellscape.

I appreciate the infinite timelessness of 4 to the floor, but dont you think it just gets incredibly dull after a while? its like the amen in jungle, too powerful, easily reproduced, and as such, ultimately impotent

1) yes and no. initially the techstep stuff was good not b/c of the breaks but b/c it was something far more alien anti human anti-funk. even the obsessively tweaked neurofunk basslines have a lot of appeal to me in this context. the problem is everything got too fast. had they stayed around 155-162 there would have been potential. i mean a lot of the so-called 'industrial dancehall' is basically a rip on techstep like manslaughter rider 96 really, i can understand for pr purposes why it's promoted that way but that's essentially the truth of the thing. it's basically halftime, then you have people on samurai doing that now in 2019 though a lot of the time it can sound like a dubstep take on dancehall rather than a half time take on tech/neuro, if I'm making any sense.

I mean you can't deny tunes like this, you can still do cool things with drum machine beats...



2) the impotency of four-to-the-floor. by that logic drone is the most impotent music. it's never accorded that status though as we've been conditioned to think of it as celestial, xen or avant-garde. but if we try to think outside of those associations, what do we get?

 

[thirdform]

Techno is useful for when you're off your head on pills, to the extent that you'd happily dance to an alarm clock. So in those circumstances, techno is a definite improvement on an alarm clock.

now this is just takin the piss. how about just not do drugs when you're out.

 

[droid]

1)
2) the impotency of four-to-the-floor. by that logic drone is the most impotent music. it's never accorded that status though as we've been conditioned to think of it as celestial, xen or avant-garde. but if we try to think outside of those associations, what do we get?

Beat you to the drone comparison, but I think there are important differences. Drone (especially at volume) does something neurologically that no other music does, or it least not in the same way. It takes you out of time without the body.

 

[thirdform]

anyway the pillhead techno is a UK/Europe thing. I don't disapprove of it, but people in chicago and detroit don't have to take pills to dance to this stuff.

 

[thirdform]

Beat you to the drone comparison, but I think there are important differences. Drone (especially at volume) does something neurologically that no other music does, or it least not in the same way. It takes you out of time without the body.

I like the body though. I like pure functional body sex or post-sex music. techno is the perfect body music. as is chicago acid. I like sweat, I like grind.

 

[thirdform]

Techno is useful for when you're off your head on pills, to the extent that you'd happily dance to an alarm clock. So in those circumstances, techno is a definite improvement on an alarm clock.

it's an afro-asian ting, you wouldn't understand. your types have to make everything about pills anyway. i actually only really like pills at bars, anyway. and even then i prefer speed.

 

[jorge]

lol, I dont think there's some secret knowledge here. I can 'get' the appeal, but this fixation on the nuance... ...aesthetically it's like walking through endless beige halls and rejoicing because you see a cream chair when you could just pull open the curtains to reveal a riot of colour.

Its akin to drone in a way, and much as I love drone, I don't think it should be the template of 95% of music.

yeah i basically agree with you, i didnt mean to imply that you just didnt get it.

just that it took me a while to get it and since then ive not been able to get enough of the good stuff

in some tech-house scenes the beige halls are very prevalent and the music is all about maintaining a consistent mid tempo energy throughout their 3 day berlin parties which is very boring musically. villalobos is associated with these kinds of scenes but hes constantly pulling open the curtains and is one of the most exciting djs ive heard

 

[thirdform]

it's fucking darkside though isn't it.


don't mistake your inability to explore the genre with the good stuff not existing. too often this happens on this forum. i can do you a huge list of labels but probably not worth it.

 

[droid]

My taste in techno & house is mostly limited to detroit (for the melody, vibe and directness) and Chicago (for the off kilter madness, divas and ecstasy) and maybe a bit of acid, dub techno and weird house like Isolee. Ive been out in recent times and the sound that seems to predominate - even with good DJs - is a kind of 4 to the floor fusion with bass music. Nothing objectionable, some of it quite good in isolation, but the overall effect is a kind of beige blanket with the occasional splodge of pastel colour bleeding through.

Afterwards I sometimes wonder if Ive heard any music at all.

 

[thirdform]

My taste in techno & house is mostly limited to detroit (for the melody, vibe and directness) and Chicago (for the off kilter madness, divas and ecstasy) and maybe a bit of acid, dub techno and weird house like Isolee. Ive been out in recent times and the sound that seems to predominate - even with good DJs - is a kind of 4 to the floor fusion with bass music. Nothing objectionable, some of it quite good in isolation, but the overall effect is a kind of beige blanket with the occasional splodge of pastel colour bleeding through.

Afterwards I sometimes wonder if Ive heard any music at all.

I actually (mostly) agree with this.

Go see Jerome Hill though.

 

[thirdform]

 

[thirdform]

I wasn't having a go at you droid you're a scholar and a gentleman. i was having a go at corpsey who just wrote so much it off as pillhead music. this is the reason why black and brown people in this country can't do anything in this country outside the approved (ghettoised and boxed off) channels. it's insulting. you don't have to like it but not everything is about your unethically sourced drugs. I'm not anti-drugs in techno like some detroit purists, i just think they are matter of fact like they are in all scenes like jungle, garage etc.

some people can do them, others don't have to, others might not even drink booze.

 

[droid]

Thats OK, I didnt think you were!

 

[pattycakes_]

Yeah US stuff from Detroit, Chi, NYC, NJ and then the occasional anomaly from somewhere like Murkfrom Miami is where its at. They all did so many different things with their beats. You can't reduce that to shades of beige, man. No way. Filtered disco loops, backwards hats that sound like they suck into themselves, mad beats made from several drum machines with different swing settings. Using claps on every kick. Using sidechained reverb on a kick to create an underwater push n pull sensation. The decayed sound of Detroit Beatdown drums. Plastikman - Spastik, 808s and tempo synced delays. There's so many things that can be done. Just saying it's a little bit much to reduce it down like that. Curtis Jones vs Dana Kelley. Shit, cat!

 

[thirdform]

remind me that when someone says wild inaccurate shit on here that London is not England.

 

[thirdform]

Yeah US stuff from Detroit, Chi, NYC, NJ and then the occasional anomaly from somewhere like Murkfrom Miami is where its at. They all did so many different things with their beats. You can't reduce that to shades of beige, man. No way. Filtered disco loops, backwards hats that sound like they suck into themselves, mad beats made from several drum machines with different swing settings. Using claps on every kick. Using sidechained reverb on a kick to create an underwater push n pull sensation. The decayed sound of Detroit Beatdown drums. Plastikman - Spastik, 808s and tempo synced delays. There's so many things that can be done. Just saying it's a little bit much to reduce it down like that. Curtis Jones vs Dana Kelley. Shit, cat!

Some of the miami electro is as skizzo and sound collage-y as uk hardcore

 

[echevarian]

Happy to report that queer people in the midwest are making and DJing music faster than 130 that is really good.