Minimal house anthems

dogger

Sweet Virginia
I've got to say, this club you're all on about sounds like my personal techno nightmare. If you took all the elements of techno I dislike - the side that is vaucous, globalised, deracinated, apoliticised, insular Houellebequan consumer fodder - and put it in a single physical location, this would be it.

I especially loved this...



Dude, the whole point of going out is to have fun with your friends. If the club won't let them in, that is a black mark that no positive can allay! I don't care if it's like the court of emperor Nero on stilts.

All joking aside, clubs are about punters, not about shitty hierachys or who-knows-who. Closing scenes off like this makes for moody, uptight clubs and dull music that doesn't go anywhere.

I'm making a minor habit of derailing minimal threads with carping, so I'm sorry, but this just seems really fucked up and I couldn't let it stand. I was gearing up for a big rant, but went for a minor sulk instead. Ignore the old git in the corner etc etc.

haha. thing is, it's NOT by any means commercial-feeling, or slick, or expensive: it's in a disused factory/warehouse on the edge of a several-square-mile area of wasteground. it has old rotting sofas that look like they were found on a rubbish tip to sit on. it's got darkened cubicles you can crawl in to and...do whatever you want there. the crowd and atmosphere couldn't be any less uptight. BUT it has a very dodgy door policy. that's a massive black mark as far as I'm concerned too, and that's why on balance i probably prefer watergate...
 

blunt

shot by both sides
Dude, the whole point of going out is to have fun with your friends. If the club won't let them in, that is a black mark that no positive can allay! I don't care if it's like the court of emperor Nero on stilts.

Ah, but that's the point - Berghain is better even than that ;)

yeah the bouncer who looks like the devil, with tattoos all over his face, is a right pr**k.

LOL. That's the one my mate tried to buy drugs from. He was floating around in the Panorama Bar and my mate, as a Berlin virgin, obviously thought that tattooed face = dodgy dealer.

As it happens, he just gave him a knowing wink and told him: "Why don't you try asking on the door?" Who says Germans don't have a sense of humour?
 
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IdleRich

IdleRich
Ha, I made it up : means, roughly, 'a social milieu or values such as might be be found in the works of Michel Houellebecq'. It's not intended as a compliment.
Well, I guessed it was something along those lines of course but I wasn't sure if you meant the kind of thing he writes about (and obviously hates) or just that you hate his books...if you see what I mean.
 

elgato

I just dont know
i find it hard to rate any club with a vibe like that, ive got to agree with GFC, it pretty much ruins everything
 

tox

Factory Girl
Sorry, so pressure is a Glasgow thing? Got confused and thought it was a London night you were on about...

Had a great time down at Pressure when I went.

First of all, the Arches is a pretty big venue for a UK city. Added to this, I don't think I've seen such a mixed crowd down at techno before or since. In Leeds techno parties seem to be populated mostly by the fashionista crowd, which doesn't really bother me, but it was nice to see dressed up kids, not dressed up kids, students and even indie kids down at Pressure just dancing away and enjoying themselves.

It's good to see people who don't give a crap about who's dj-ing but just wanna have fun, as well as the music geeks, regular ravers etc.
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Yeah, the door policy is reputedly a bit shit. However, I've gone twice and had zero problems, despite not looking remotely 'trendy' on either occasion. On the other hand, got turned away from Weekend, and from a new club where the Modernist was playing (which ruined my Friday night a little).
 

psherburne

Well-known member
i don't like any door policy that turns people away (and i've previously written quite negatively about berghain's door policy). but i sort of came around when i realized how arbitrary it was -- they're not keeping out people that aren't cool enough, gay enough, or sober enough (or vice versa for any particular opposition). so yeah, the crap-shoot aspect sucks, but it's not like you have to be wearing expensive clothing and be a regular on lastnightsparty or something.
 

childrentalking

Well-known member
see, i just finished my last university exam ever and i'd love to fly out to berlin next week for that playhouse weekender but i'm just too much of a pussy to risk it, especially since i can't find any other line up that weekend that particularly takes my fancy.
 

robin

Well-known member
yeah the door policy is bullshit,but it does seem to be totally abitrary,so at least it doesnt ruin the atmosphere if you do get it.
i came away from the place with a positive impression of it,however if my friend hadn't waited to see if i got in and came out to say to the bouncers that i was with her when they stopped me i wouldn't be saying good things about the place at all,especially after queueing for well over an hour.
 

sodiumnightlife

Sweet Virginia
Test industries just posted that Audion remix of black strobe that's being hyped up for anthem of the summer here:

There you go.

It is rather good.

EDIT: very very very good.
 
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gek-opel

entered apprentice
Pantha Du Prince is "minimal" as minimal the genre stands now. Of course its not ACTUALLY minimal in any sense of the term tho.
 

Chris

fractured oscillations
Wow, I came back to this thread to gush about Pantha du Prince and someone just beat me to it... great stuff. His tracks really build up a lot of kinetic energy as they go along, much more energizing than your typical "minimal"/"micro". I mean, it's still rainy day music like the majority of this genre, but you can feel a bit of sun warming your back through the rain.


Pantha Du Prince is "minimal" as minimal the genre stands now. Of course its not ACTUALLY minimal in any sense of the term tho.

Seriously, I almost think someone should come up with a new name for all of the current German stuff. Although, doesn't the "micro" in microhouse refer more to the smallness of the drum sounds, because I suppose that would still be pretty acurate... even if the structures of the tracks are far from minimal anymore...

The micro drum sounds kind of remind me of a point Simon R was making in his article he linked to a while back in blissblog on "neostalgia"... his point on how technology has become miniaturized, and how the modern and futuristic aspects of contemporary life have been pushed into the background. The miniaturization of the "techno" aspect of current techno really seams to reflect this cultural symptom, like the mechanical clicks, glitches, and snaps have become demoted to being mere enhancements and micro-precise nuances in the phantasmagorical aural-wallpaper...
 
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gek-opel

entered apprentice
The micro drum sounds kind of remind me of a point Simon R was making in his article he linked to a while back in blissblog on "neostalgia"... his point on how technology has become miniaturized, and how the modern and futuristic aspects of contemporary life have been pushed into the background. The miniaturization of the "techno" aspect of current techno really seams to reflect this cultural symptom, like the mechanical clicks, glitches, and snaps have become demoted to being mere enhancements and micro-precise nuances in the phantasmagorical aural-wallpaper...

I think "minimal" basically equates to an aesthetic of luxury in the same way as "minimalist" penthouse flat design-- a simplicity of form but a deep appreciation for finely burnished texture, a shagpile deep sonic sense of space... its about sound design and its design in the sense of graphic design or interior design, a plush, luxurious functionalism, modernist machines-for-living, or in this case, dancing (tho of course, not necessarily!)
 
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