Villalobos Fabric 36- Thoughts?

[Gabba Flamenco Crossover]

ha! The "acknowledging structure" is totally modernist architecture law, whereas minimal being accused of being "decorative" is totally like adoph loos or something. .

Well, I've always thought about techno in terms of structure, since a drug induced vision at Lost in 1996 where I saw the music appearing as 3-D objects on the dancefloor (but I still had to look Adolph Loos up on Wikipedia ).

Seriously, techno to me has always been about partying with the awareness of structure, politics, society, the reality behind the perception, etc etc. What I hear in minimal is 'the lounge impulse', the drive to lose oneself in beauty and forget about the world, and I guess I kick against that.

But only 'cos I'm a pretentious wanker too

 

[turtles]

"partying with awareness of structure" is my new life motto, for reals.

 

[sodiumnightlife]

i think losing oneself in the beauty is what techno has always been about for me...that's why i love super long tracks - just that feeling of this amazing thing stretching on and on. Course, that becomes bad when you forget the world entirely, forever.

Don't forget to go home!

 

[Grievous Angel]

Stay Up Forever!

 

[Gabba Flamenco Crossover]

Stay Up Forever!

Ha, yeah, SUF should launch a minimal sublabel called Don't Forget To Go Home.

Closely followed by thier downtempo imprint, Is Anyone Really Up For This Or Shall We Just Stay In And Get A Curry?

 

[Lichen]

Seriously, techno to me has always been about partying with the awareness of structure, politics, society, the reality behind the perception, etc etc. What I hear in minimal is 'the lounge impulse', the drive to lose oneself in beauty and forget about the world, and I guess I kick against that.

This has come up before,,,is minimal the wallpaper (magazine) of techno? Does it fall short as "rebel" music? And is that why it's completely pointless...like psytrance?

Is it all patina and no stuffing?

 

[DigitalDjigit]

Minimal is the soundtrack to hedonism. That's a great purpose.

It lets us play out fantasies of people having 1000 times more fun than us, doing depraved things.

 

[Gabba Flamenco Crossover]

Minimal is the soundtrack to hedonism. That's a great purpose.

Hedonism is a funny one, because it can be revolutionary or conformist depending on who's doing it, where, and how.

I would say that generally the more preoccupied a cultural movement is with 'beauty', the less revolutionary it is in spirit.

 

[Lichen]

"who's doing it, where, and how."


which was the great thing about raving; it juxtaposed fu**ed up drug-fun with the every day...serivce stations, farms, motorways, villages, warehouses.....colliding with reality was an important part of it.


And i dunno of it's representative in any way, but when i see footage of say, DC10 in Ibiza

a nobody is really dancing

b everybody looks the same


And when I went to Plastic People the other day for a Kompakt night the crowd was fucking dismal....everyone was wearing cardigans FFS!

 

[DigitalDjigit]

Don't ruin my fantasy!

See, I've never been to Ibiza, Berlin or even Europe really. So this music functions as an integral part of a fantasy of glamorous, sophisticated people doing things I can barely imagine in surreal environments like abandoned power stations etc. Philip Sherburne's articles feed this fantasy. The fact that there's no minimal played in clubs around where I live (as far as I know) only makes it appear more foreign and strange.

I wonder for how many Americans this music fulfills that function.

This music feels like an internal music to me. It's not about revolution but about spiritual things. "Special frequencies" (if you've seen Feiern, you'll remember the scene) and all that. I mean isn't being in a club for three days straight sort of like a religious mortification of the flesh?

 

[Lichen]

I hear you. I live in the in the countryside (and i'm a 35 year old father of two) so this music performs a similar function for me.

It's also a constant temptation; an incitment to go up to London, get high and go nuts

Problem is, an MDMA hangover lasts me, ooohh, 3 months. Life's too short.

So it shall remain dog-walking music for me. Very good dog walking music.

 

[Gabba Flamenco Crossover]

I've never been to a minimal rave but I'd be very suprised if the hedonism was anywhere near as extreme as at the hardcore clubs I went to as a yout', or the free parties I go to now.

Hedonism generates cultural energy, and I guess it's political value lies in what then happens to that energy. Revolutionary hedonism is when the energy is pushed outwards to upset the 'straight' world, as Lichen says about raving 'colliding with reality' (a great phrase btw, and this is one of my favorite things about raving too). But too often the energy is turned inwards - Reynolds has done some great stuff on this in Energy Flash, particularly the closing paragraphs of the gabba/hardcore chapter.

See, I've never been to Ibiza, Berlin or even Europe really. So this music functions as an integral part of a fantasy of glamorous, sophisticated people doing things I can barely imagine in surreal environments like abandoned power stations etc. Philip Sherburne's articles feed this fantasy.

Mate, I just find that so depressing. Believe me, I've partied with those glamourous, sophisticated people and they are boring, navel-gazing cunts. Grab your mates, neck some drugs, find a surreal environment and have your own party!

This music feels like an internal music to me. It's not about revolution but about spiritual things. "Special frequencies" (if you've seen Feiern, you'll remember the scene) and all that. I mean isn't being in a club for three days straight sort of like a religious mortification of the flesh?

That's exactly what I'm talking about - hedonism turning inwards.

I hear you. I live in the in the countryside (and i'm a 35 year old father of two) so this music performs a similar function for me.

It's also a constant temptation; an incitment to go up to London, get high and go nuts

Problem is, an MDMA hangover lasts me, ooohh, 3 months. Life's too short.

So it shall remain dog-walking music for me. Very good dog walking music.

Ah, well that's the other thing - when hedonism stops being fun, and your fun stops being hedonistic. I'm moving out of London this weekend, partly because I want less MDMA and more dog walking in my life

 

[Lichen]

"when hedonism stops being fun, and your fun stops being hedonistic"

...and raving becomes more of a sport than anything else...like long distance running

I used to think this in the morning at parties - you know, sweaty blokes in tracksuits and trainers jogging on the spot, huffing and puffing a bit, grimacing, working out the fag end of their drugs. Horrible really!

 

[Slothrop]

Don't ruin my fantasy!

See, I've never been to Ibiza, Berlin or even Europe really. So this music functions as an integral part of a fantasy of glamorous, sophisticated people doing things I can barely imagine in surreal environments like abandoned power stations etc. Philip Sherburne's articles feed this fantasy. The fact that there's no minimal played in clubs around where I live (as far as I know) only makes it appear more foreign and strange.

I wonder for how many Americans this music fulfills that function.

It's interesting how much that sounds like the Bellville 3 and their clique listening to Kraftwerk, electropop, Moroder and so on.

 

[Gavin]

I wonder for how many Americans this music fulfills that function.

We prefer our pop stars to be celebrities, our celebrities to be pop stars, and all our fantasies to be Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous.

But seriously, millions of suburban kids are still buying gangsta rap (what remains of it) so I think these exotic fantasies are still very much a part of the appeal, of most music really. Music videos help this I think.

 

[Gabba Flamenco Crossover]

It's interesting how much that sounds like the Bellville 3 and their clique listening to Kraftwerk, electropop, Moroder and so on.

True dat.

 

[baboon2004]

See, I've never been to Ibiza, Berlin or even Europe really. So this music functions as an integral part of a fantasy of glamorous, sophisticated people doing things I can barely imagine in surreal environments like abandoned power stations etc. Philip Sherburne's articles feed this fantasy. The fact that there's no minimal played in clubs around where I live (as far as I know) only makes it appear more foreign and strange.

There seem to be echoes of Derrick May's well-documented fantasy of European glamour/sophistication (when creating his original tunes) in this. But, as GFC points out, a lot of those "glamourous" and "sophisticated" people are lobotomised cunts. Come to Shoreditch and find out if you like!

 

[baboon2004]

Shit, Slothrop beat me to that observation! Note to self - read all of a thread before replying.

 

[baboon2004]

"when hedonism stops being fun, and your fun stops being hedonistic"

...and raving becomes more of a sport than anything else...like long distance running

I used to think this in the morning at parties - you know, sweaty blokes in tracksuits and trainers jogging on the spot, huffing and puffing a bit, grimacing, working out the fag end of their drugs. Horrible really!

I'm sure Simon Reynolds would have lots to say on how this can found new creative sparks, in relation to darkside rave...

 

[Lichen]

There seem to be echoes of Derrick May's well-documented fantasy of European glamour/sophistication

"Parks, hotels and palaces"