Here's why your techno scene sucks.

[gunjack]

While I do appreciate some of music that comes from the Jaxx camp (good records on Emergence, some Exium stuff etc) I think that maybe they ran with it too quick. It kind of became a cliched sound before it had a chance to properly develop, and a lot of the stuff that poured out of Spain after the initial onslaught sounded like weak derivative cack.
For the more traditional DJ (myself included) it'd be good to remember that ONE of these "dark" Jaxxish tracks would have much more impact when surrounded by a greater variety of tracks, rather than 20 more Jaxx tracks. (Jaxx being just an example).

man, all these ppl talking about the "jaxx sound" do you all realize how many diferent labels are distributed through jaxx? how many diferent kinds of music we sell? you all are talking about a 20 per cent minority that just happens to get most of the attention. besides oscar, wunsch, reeko and exium, there are tons of artists doing diferent things through jaxx. look at labels like RAS, Lowtom, Mission, Alenda, Strike, and a bizzilion other house, tech house, minimal, groovy and soulful labels distributed through jaxx and tell me we distribute only "dark techno". My Collectors series had a full on vocal hip hop track on the first reference. a jazz tune on the second. deafmosaic will begin a pure hip hop sub label this year with support from jaxx.... its all about diversity as dustin said. while the majority of you may be under the impression that jaxx only releases "dark" tracks with strings and off beat kicks, this is simply not the case!!!!

[anx]

i hear that man

i always mix my sets up with as much variety as possible.

one thing i hate is when promoters tell you what style to play (suggesting and advising is fine, just dont FORCE me to play anything). If you booked me as a dj, you booked me because you trust me to make the crowd move. so f*ck off and let me decide what i think the crowd wants. one of my favorite things to do is to read a crowd. if they react nicely to funkier stuff, then thats what they are gonna get, if the dancefloor lacks some energy with the funky stuff, i'll progress it harder, weave in and out of the different styles to see what they are feeling at the moment. its the most important skill to have except the basics like beatmatching.

this is a great thread :)

[Dustin Zahn]

man, all these ppl talking about the "jaxx sound" do you all realize how many diferent labels are distributed through jaxx? how many diferent kinds of music we sell? you all are talking about a 20 per cent minority that just happens to get most of the attention. besides oscar, wunsch, reeko and exium, there are tons of artists doing diferent things through jaxx. look at labels like RAS, Lowtom, Mission, Alenda, Strike, and a bizzilion other house, tech house, minimal, groovy and soulful labels distributed through jaxx and tell me we distribute only "dark techno". My Collectors series had a full on vocal hip hop track on the first reference. a jazz tune on the second. deafmosaic will begin a pure hip hop sub label this year with support from jaxx.... its all about diversity as dustin said. while the majority of you may be under the impression that jaxx only releases "dark" tracks with strings and off beat kicks, this is simply not the case!!!!

I think the reason people associate the dark techno with jaxx is because they're the only ones who really maintain a constant hold on that style of techno. Sure there is some great club techno labels on there, but other distributors have that too, you know what I am saying? I am actually liking a couple releases off that Lowtom label quite a bit.

[Zektor]

I didn't knew deafmosaic is going to start up a hiphop label.
Can't wait to hear hiphop music from a techno perspective.

And I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who thinks banging dark techno is the not the only way to rock a party.

Gimme some deep techno ish and I'll lose my mind!

(For example 'Robert Hood' :
http://www.nuloop.com/real/Metroplex/m025_b1.rm)

When listening to hardcore banging beats for hours non-stop...and I'm leaving the party and go straight to home...watch a DVD or something.

[ncw]

man, all these ppl talking about the "jaxx sound" do you all realize how many diferent labels are distributed through jaxx? how many diferent kinds of music we sell? you all are talking about a 20 per cent minority that just happens to get most of the attention. besides oscar, wunsch, reeko and exium, there are tons of artists doing diferent things through jaxx. look at labels like RAS, Lowtom, Mission, Alenda, Strike, and a bizzilion other house, tech house, minimal, groovy and soulful labels distributed through jaxx and tell me we distribute only "dark techno". My Collectors series had a full on vocal hip hop track on the first reference. a jazz tune on the second. deafmosaic will begin a pure hip hop sub label this year with support from jaxx.... its all about diversity as dustin said. while the majority of you may be under the impression that jaxx only releases "dark" tracks with strings and off beat kicks, this is simply not the case!!!!

Yeah, of course its not the case. Maybe the "Spanish" or "Madrid" sound would have been a better description. In any case, theres' no point twisting your knickers about it, as it was only mentioned for arguments' sake. Back to the topic.

[Tony]

man, all these ppl talking about the "jaxx sound" do you all realize how many diferent labels are distributed through jaxx? how many diferent kinds of music we sell? you all are talking about a 20 per cent minority that just happens to get most of the attention. besides oscar, wunsch, reeko and exium, there are tons of artists doing diferent things through jaxx. look at labels like RAS, Lowtom, Mission, Alenda, Strike, and a bizzilion other house, tech house, minimal, groovy and soulful labels distributed through jaxx and tell me we distribute only "dark techno". My Collectors series had a full on vocal hip hop track on the first reference. a jazz tune on the second. deafmosaic will begin a pure hip hop sub label this year with support from jaxx.... its all about diversity as dustin said. while the majority of you may be under the impression that jaxx only releases "dark" tracks with strings and off beat kicks, this is simply not the case!!!!

isnt it just the 'birmingham sound abroad' as it were. it was an area of music that always needed a lot more coverage, and was only pushed by one company previously. its a shame that jaxx get a bad rep for pushing a sound they believe in, and that does have a lot of artistic scope left in it.

Yeah, of course its not the case. Maybe the "Spanish" or "Madrid" sound would have been a better description. In any case, theres' no point twisting your knickers about it, as it was only mentioned for arguments' sake. Back to the topic.

[Tony]

hmmm, dont know what happened above. bizarre!

this is a good thread, but the suggestions are preaching to the converted for me. i get quite shocked to think that people would just bracket themselves so limitedly. viva music!

[tioneb]

Dustin, i agree with what you say. Through your posts on the various forums / email list you refer to, and the chats we have ive felt your personnal evolution you describe.

I just wish it happend before, some years ago. Ive just tried to spread this opinion since i started to posts in public internet places. I have been accused of arrogance, of rudeness, got people like slagging me without any reason for that.

Probably i expressed myself bad. Im happy anyways to see people converging to the opinion i have about techno. Not saying i was the first to have, im still young and just learnt it from many of my older freinds. Maybe the people younger than me are getting into it.

I just take it too personnal, i know, but errr im still wondering why we had to wait to be in that shit happening with techno to make the masses realize the music we make had to be more diverse. Drugs ?

[slavestudios]

dustin, no disrespect mate, but my techno does not suck...

[gunjack]

its a shame that jaxx get a bad rep

who said we got a bad rep?! ;)

[gunjack]

I didn't knew deafmosaic is going to start up a hiphop label.
Can't wait to hear hiphop music from a techno perspective.

Gunjack was originally a hip hop project.

[djshiva]

I dunno, things are at an all time bitchy high right now. And add to that the fact that sales are down and people feel the need to moan even more and you've got a whole wealth of grumpy old men that can find nothing good to say about anything.

the way i figger it:

make more music.

bitch less.

:)

[djshiva]

i also would like to bring up the point that so many times, djs are not given the time to widen their styles and really let their sets breathe. one hour sets after one hour sets and so many times transitions can seem clumsy if not given the space to move.

across the board, i would like to see FEWER djs per night and LONGER sets from djs with the skills to take it somewhere interesting. i think longer sets are really where you find out who's a dj and who's just a glorified jukebox (oh shit, was that negative? pardon...need nicotine ;) )

[Dustin Zahn]

the way i figger it:

make more music.

bitch less.

:)

That's what I'm talkin' about.

[ncw]

its a shame that jaxx get a bad rep

who said we got a bad rep?! ;)

I dunno why you're assigning that quote to me, I think it was Tony's internet doofusness!

[tioneb]

i also would like to bring up the point that so many times, djs are not given the time to widen their styles and really let their sets breathe. one hour sets after one hour sets and so many times transitions can seem clumsy if not given the space to move.

across the board, i would like to see FEWER djs per night and LONGER sets from djs with the skills to take it somewhere interesting. i think longer sets are really where you find out who's a dj and who's just a glorified jukebox (oh shit, was that negative? pardon...need nicotine ;) )

errr actually if i dont really have the same tastes as Laurent Garnier, hes the only DJ ive seen so far keeping people dancing and giving interest in 7+ hours sets so far.

The people who say he should "be more banging" dont understand hes not doing a 1h performance.

So maybe longer sets time will allow DJs to put more variety in their sets. Come on theres a lot of bedroom DJs here who can do that at home, so dont blame promoters.

[primevil]

in techno there should never be rules....except one rule. ROCK IT!

techno is very healthy at the minute as it is has little boundries. a good techno night should tease every emotion and more emotions we never knew we had. misstress barbara plays loadsa tracks that dave clarke plays. but they are completely different and thats wot makes techno so exciting. i agree with this topic....yes we should embrace all elements of techno and celebrate it in the only way we all know how.....

to dance our asses off to it!!!

peace and long life to techno

[Joseph Isaac]

no point twisting your knickers about it

sorry, this is off topic but international slang is rather entertaining from a west-coast, american perspective...

[tocsin]

DeafMosaic, do you have any of this hip-hop stuff online? I'd love to hear it myself. All the stuff I've been working on recently has been coming out hip-hop in the end. I've always been a bit surprised why hip-hop and electronic/techno never really seemed to make a true harmonious mesh as far as artists were concerned. Every hip-hop techno like track I heard with an MC almost always felt unusually stilted but I think it was because those were more corporate projects.

[The Overfiend]

no point twisting your knickers about it

sorry, this is off topic but international slang is rather entertaining from a west-coast, american perspective...

Lol, That's funny joe, I'm having a blast learning all the west coast slang and ways of life myself! By the way Primevil made a valid point, which is come with it and rock that shit!