The UK Acid Techno Scene...

[Si the Sigh]

Just read this in the Cluster thread and thought it should be made into a post of its own. I'd love to hear your thoughts...

Having just returned to the UK from Germany after 2 years, some things are glaringly obvious and this includes what my mates in the UK say(producers, DJs, scene bods etc etc):

The uk techno RECORDS market is dying primarily because people don't buy as much anymore.

The London techno scene just degraded itself into a crack party for students.

As with every 'going concern', no one (London techno people) tought that the bottom would fall out and just sat back and actually did not play acid techno (with the exception of Chris and a few others).

Record shops just do not want to stock up on the London techno stuff and acid in particular - because there really isn't that vibe that was created through the squat parties...and I don't just mean Lee Techtonic and Insanity either

The German / European / Hard scene just happened to be quite teutonic and lucky...that they have got a lot of younger punters around, quite mobile and able to go to parties outside of the borders - we need to use some poxy Eurostar / Easyjet to get out of our little island

The fact that a lot of labels might be considering a new style is because this style indeed has some energy in it that (in my opinion) the commercial and non-commercial hard house scene just sucked away - Kinetec before the new incarnation was a culprit - I don't think Mark cared much about supporting one scene

UK Distributors are more keen to import and sell here than source talent here and distribute outside

Eventually, it comes down to one thing I suppose...just like every other style that has evolved, say in London, with the Schoom -> Rave -> Hardcore -> Club UK -> blah blah...we will always be influenced by others outside and evolve...otherwise Stay Up Forever will be releasing with Choci's Choons. Also, even classic acid labels like routemaster have gone through their own journeys...

Coming after a while to the UK / London scene, it seems like people are more interested in shoving loads of powder in small 'intimate' posey vocal house parties - middle class schtik!

Look at all our Label owner DJs...they all play outside, different 'firms' colonise certain parts of the world and sell their own records...gone are the days when we sold our style, city and country in general

See what 9 years of comfortable New Labour life has done for us all...I say bring back the tories - watch the squat parties spark up the rebellious London / UK scene that made us world famous...it ain't them mate...it's us...we are the procrastinators

Note to self: must go and book flights to all the wicked Teknival parties that will be happening Euro wide while our councils sell off Hackney Marshes etc to property developers so we can all buy houses and have house parties and play that once-famous style of music called Acid Techno to our friends and reminisce

Your thoughts?

Valid points or not?

[fresh_an_funky_design]

interesting, definetly agree with a lot of whats bein said

[Electrictribe]

yeah defo a good post and agree with pretty much everything said.

[Stodgy]

I agree with most of what you say, although I believe its important for any music to evolve and I'm not sure how "cutting edge" acid techno really is these days. My experience of the London scene (limited as it is) is not the best one. Every squat party I have ever been to was marred by drug induced violence, whether it was dealers kicking off or people to wasted to know what they were doing was pissing off genuine party heads. It seems to me the whole scene is heading towards a crucial moment, adapt or fade away. I don't think it will die suddenly, just that in 10 years time raves will be something that are held in your local community centre and attended by people who enjoy reminiscing about better days. UNLESS people start to realise partying is about a communal buzz, enjoying the music with your fellow partyhead, knowing that the guy dancing on the stack of speakers is buzzing off the same thing as you! Going out to buy records and going round your mates house to show them what you've bought! These days I don't know ANYONE who regularly goes to a record shop to choose tunes, EVERYONE buys online! Another breakdown in the dance community! Face to face interaction between friends is dwindling, and I include myself as a culprit of this. I'll go on MSN to chat with friends who live a 1/2 hr's drive away because its easier. 5 years ago I wouldn't even have considered this, I'd just get in the car and go. Internet = conveniance, conveniance = laziness!!
This all leads me to this question! Just how positive an influence is the internet?

[rhythmtech]

go back to your margerine martin ;)

if it wasnt for the net i would never have met you lot... the net is great - its how people use it that isnt.

anyway.. back to the point. i think the acid scene is being ruined by too many sub-standard records. i mean i love what chris, guy et all have done in the past but there is such a thing as overkill. stayupforever was destined to be one of the truly all time great labels but that was ruined by a lot of releases that were just pish poor with no thought put into them. they werent "oldskool" or "nuskool" or anything. they were just pale imitations of previous greats.
stayup seems to be back on track with the last few releases and i hope it stays there because it has a special place in me.
other labels from that scene i think are on the right track. skank are bringing out fresh sounds while keeping the underlying acid ethos and chris's new superconductor label is a welcome change... possibly where cluster should/could have went a long time ago... as for cluster, great label from day one but a little lacking in direction these days. i'm not knocking that and i'll stand by what i said b4 about it being a good idea to bring artists like kay d and tadox onboard to see what happens, but i think at the moment scon sounds a lot more focused and stable..

anyway thats just my ramble. at the end of the day wtf do i know. its very hard for labels to get it right all the time but the "acid/london/whatever" labels seem to hit the spot more often than not so fair play.

[Si the Sigh]

The net is great - It's how people use it that isnt.

So damn true...

[Stodgy]

The net is great - It's how people use it that isnt.

So damn true...

Internet = conveniance, conveniance = laziness!!

I hate to qoute myself but there you go!

What was originally about going out and meeting people now seems to be about mid week chats on a forum! And barry, I know your going to say "but you never go out anymore", but don't you think there has to be a reason for that? I didn't just decide that this was my opinion for the sake of it, my opinion (and thats all it is) has been formed over 12 years of partying and observing the changes as I percieve them within dance music. I no longer get the same communal buzz I used to experience at raves. I do see an insurgence of idiots who aren't really there for the music. They seem to be there for different reasons to the reasons that originally made me want to party. Just my feelings of course ;)

[speed-it-up]

The net is great - It's how people use it that isnt.

So damn true...

Internet = conveniance, conveniance = laziness!!

I hate to qoute myself but there you go!

What was originally about going out and meeting people now seems to be about mid week chats on a forum! And barry, I know your going to say "but you never go out anymore", but don't you think there has to be a reason for that? I didn't just decide that this was my opinion for the sake of it, my opinion (and thats all it is) has been formed over 12 years of partying and observing the changes as I percieve them within dance music. I no longer get the same communal buzz I used to experience at raves. I do see an insurgence of idiots who aren't really there for the music. They seem to be there for different reasons to the reasons that originally made me want to party. Just my feelings of course ;)

Agree with this. The London scene, in my opinion has caused its own problems. Rig owners at squats ignored the problems for too long because they never affected them directly - the muggers do the punters over not the organisers. Now hardly anyone goes out.

Musically, certain labels caused rods for their own backs with a "jobs for the boys" attitude. Much talent has been ignored and overlooked and consequently moved on.

You can't reallly do a sucessful club night in terms of a big crowd in the UK now without booking the likes of Chris Lib of Dave the Drummer. With all due respect to them everyone has heard them all before plenty of times.

The scene is stale.

[nihilist]

the scene is not stale mate its growing healtherly and bubbling away nicely underneath

dance music in general has taken a dip due to the growth of guitar/band based music over the past few years.

moaning about how it used to be isnt doing anyone any good at all, except time moves on
and things change, enjoy and make the most of what's around now!!

[Aratron]

The net is great - It's how people use it that isnt.

So damn true...

Internet = conveniance, conveniance = laziness!!

I hate to qoute myself but there you go!

What was originally about going out and meeting people now seems to be about mid week chats on a forum! And barry, I know your going to say "but you never go out anymore", but don't you think there has to be a reason for that? I didn't just decide that this was my opinion for the sake of it, my opinion (and thats all it is) has been formed over 12 years of partying and observing the changes as I percieve them within dance music. I no longer get the same communal buzz I used to experience at raves. I do see an insurgence of idiots who aren't really there for the music. They seem to be there for different reasons to the reasons that originally made me want to party. Just my feelings of course ;)

Agree with this. The London scene, in my opinion has caused its own problems. Rig owners at squats ignored the problems for too long because they never affected them directly - the muggers do the punters over not the organisers. Now hardly anyone goes out.

Musically, certain labels caused rods for their own backs with a "jobs for the boys" attitude. Much talent has been ignored and overlooked and consequently moved on.

You can't reallly do a sucessful club night in terms of a big crowd in the UK now without booking the likes of Chris Lib of Dave the Drummer. With all due respect to them everyone has heard them all before plenty of times.

The scene is stale.

maybe in London. people are passionate about it , round where i live, all 30 of them anyway

[mr burns]

i think the club scene its getting loads more healthy, the numbers are on the up again and the vibes are excellent at the minute!

[nihilist]

to true mr burns

[Stodgy]

i think the club scene its getting loads more healthy, the numbers are on the up again and the vibes are excellent at the minute!

I sincerely hope this is true. Despite everything I've said (and stand by) I would hate to see something I've invested so much time and effort not to mention money in die a death. One day soon I hope to get the buzz back!

[dan the acid man]

the scene is not stale mate its growing healtherly and bubbling away nicely underneath

dance music in general has taken a dip due to the growth of guitar/band based music over the past few years.

moaning about how it used to be isnt doing anyone any good at all, except time moves on
and things change, enjoy and make the most of what's around now!!

nicely said, now whens the next party

[nihilist]

7th of APRIL @ THE DRAGON BAR IN THE SANCTUARY, BE GOOD IF YOU COULD MAKE IT DAN

[judas_beast]

Well, Im new, but being part of Bio-Hazard has certainly made me into the sort of person who chucks in the tuppence worth:

The London scene is ****ed, fact. The big techno rigs, i.e Munt, Manik etc have either ****ed off to Europe or cant be arsed with all the shit that goes down. Fair play to Lee though I recon hes having a whale of a time.
We've been doing big parties in the UK and Europe for years, and I have noticed a decrease in punters. Once apon a time Hazard were in Mixmag, now people half a mile down the road have never even heard of a rave or freeparty. It has stagnated, but Techno is a DIY scene and will continue.

Also, Ketamin: people go to raves to snort this vile shite and dont care about what music is being played. Which leads me onto:

Perhaps Techno in the UK is maturing? As the ''muso's'' move away from illegal parties, by starting club night (Asbestos in Exeter. Sneaky plug!) a new (hopefully) breed of people may be attracted to the music we know and love. It might take a year or so, but I firmly believe that Techno music in the UK will become stronger, better and more popular than ever.

Sorry this post is shitly written, lot on my mind.

Anyway, nice forum, thanks for finally letting me join mark!

[Si the Sigh]

The scene isn't dead, I think its evolved alot. Ketamine, the law and file sharing non-record buying people are seriously damaging the scene.

[rhythmtech]

The scene isn't dead, I think its evolved alot. Ketamine, the law and file sharing non-record buying people are seriously damaging the scene.

just that be non-"music" buying people??

got be pc si ;)

[rhythmtech]

ahhh i mis read... "filesharing non-record buying"

thats ok then, carry on.

[christian wagner]

The dance music scene from around 1999 - now, had been really pretty bad, the whole underground has been taken over by posh trend clubs playin funky house, also rock music has really blown up over the last few years, what you gotta remember is: not everyone likes RnB, funkly house & pop music - theres always gonna be someone who loves techno!

I think that a lot of producers were trying to emulate the classic acid techno sound in this same time band - which is such a bad move because it soon becomes stale, i agree that lables like Cluster & superconductor, along with hydraulix and some of the SUF of late have been pushing forward a lot more, and as someone erlier said - lables like Skank are doin some wicked stuff, also glitch who bang out some ace tracks.

Iv not been into acid tech all my life - but i can tell where the lows were and i can tell its bettin a lot healthier!