state of London underground

[the_psychologist]

Hi

Just wondering if anyone involved 1st hand can tell me a bit about what's happening over there.

Are the oldschool Acid Techno guys still making music? Is the squat/underground scene sill going strong? What sort of music is being played at the parties? Is anyone stepping up to take over the ambassador duties so Chris Liberator can kick back in the barco and get some rest?

It seems like there's more political fuel than ever for the scene, but you really don't hear anything in the USA about what's happening on your side.

[rhythmtech]

Are the oldschool Acid Techno guys still making music?

yes, although their output is a little subdued at the moment after distro problems

Is the squat/underground scene sill going strong? What sort of music is being played at the parties?

by all accounts yes it is. still a complete mixture of styles, from d'n'b to straight up acid

Is anyone stepping up to take over the ambassador duties so Chris Liberator can kick back in the barco and get some rest?

NEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[the_psychologist]

what about vinyl? are people using CD decks now, or is vinyl rooted too strongly in the spirit of the scene?

i'm wondering when the boys will go digital only to allow them greater output. it must be a bitter pill to swallow.

[rhythmtech]

henry has just gone digital only with 2mutate to survive" and spoke about going digi only with apex on his blog.!

but yeah, vinyl is still a big part of the scene.. even if sales are a little slower these days.

[force]

Well, i'm off to Brixton on saturday to see DDR, Pounding Grooves and Bas Mooy....

I'll let ya know how it went....

[Si the Sigh]

IMO, the music has gone downhill BIG TIME, and everything the acid scene stood for seems lost. The scene needs to get back to it's roots. New artists like A.P and Paul Cortex have the right idea. Lawrie Immersion's seriously missed, and DDR needs shaking to set him back on track! :) Still a top bunch of blokes @ SUF, but I feel that the scene is at it's lowest at the moment. To be honest, I think the London acid techno scene had it's peak a long time ago when the message was political and the music was fu*ked up, far out and avin'it, compaired to the watered down, mid life crisis hard dance tag on releases nowadays. Still think software ruined the music. Viva la hardware! Anyway, just my opinion...

[fatcollective]

To be honest I think acid is still out there, maybe not as pure as the old days but its still going! I suppose after many years of acid techno music, times have turned and the djs have kinda rolled with them times....for instance look at the London acid djs of today....Chris, Henry, Aaron, Ant, DDR, Geezer etc...these guys tend to play other styles of music other than just 100% acid and I think this is because the new generation of ravers want to hear newer music...funky, hard, European, schranz even.... if djing is your life and earns you a living like most of the original London acid crew...then you must roll with the times and play this new music to the newer audiences!

I don’t think Chris, Henry, DDR etc are replaceable, these guys made a new underground music culture...the time was right, the music was fresh, new and exciting....it was av’in it.!!! No doubt the squat parties are at large in London and all over the place really…that will never end for sure, for some its a way of life!

another point is …I think a huge part of the acid techno generation have grown older too, me for instance…I was at any acid techno party I could get myself too…these days I just cant do it (well I can but it fvcks me up for days) and although I love the music and support it as much as possible…I just haven’t get the same energy as I used to and im sure this applies to many others…the acid techno era is fading, but its not over yet!! VIVA LA ACID!!

[Athar]

sometimes i gettin depressed when i see whats happen with all these things i used to love in past years:

mp3 won with vinyl
ableton won with real live act
software tools won with hardware

the people called it "progress" and the producers have no choice than just 'mutate to survive' and its all happening with undeground london sound i quess

the real question is: if we made a progress with the sound and subculture where is the old atmosphere from the past ?
have we sacrificed it ?

i dont know to be honest but acid techno will be alive till the passion will be with us, with the sound we all love together.
amen

[Si the Sigh]

I've said it a million times, I want the old sound back, not this limp hard dance tie in sound. So yea, I think the sounds been sacrificed.

Check this record out, all three tracks, and then tell me that acid techno in 2008 is still good:

http://www.discogs.com/release/227697

[d3v]

Fell out of the scene for a while and was a bit disappointed to come back and find acid techno still in decline. Why is this - just down to a reluctance with digital? Would it make a difference it SUF ouput to digi and would you buy it?

I can’t believe a new gen of kids hasn’t got hold of this by now, it’s overdue, must write more acid........

[APC]

Less kids are growing up giving a **** about music, in all genres. Music used to be better when I was younger: that is actually true! Think about the passion people used to put into music in the past. Compare that with now, there are very few artists and performers who do it for the music, everyone just wants to get on the bus any way they can.

Changing attitudes even on Radio 1 has led to piss poor music as they dictate what is good. There is no underground music knocked out anymore. John Peel dying was one important factor. The drum and bass show becoming purely Flabio and Grooveshitter meant that everyone thought that they were the be-all and end-all of drum+bass, in the past, One In The Jungle had different DJ's and MC's every week; sometimes live from a club somewhere. And it was earlier in the evening so people would get amped on it before going out. Running live too, none of this record it on Wednesday and broadcast on Saturday morning at 2am. Audience involvement;;;;; call in for a shoutout, let me know where you're partying tonight etc. Now the best you can hope for is a night of club anthems follewed by Westwood or some shite like that. I know Radio1 is for mass appeal, but broadcasting 24/7 should mean that harder stuff should get a look in every so often.

Also, as mentioned, noone really gives a toss about politics either. They are all content with their lives and grumble through it, never standing up for themselves and making some sort of protest. Music used to be a form of protest but it's all I love her and she loves me she's so lovely will you ever remember me and shit like that.

Bottom line is noone has a passion in anything they do anymore and can't be bothered to make a stand for anything as they believe in nothing but convienience, moaning and telly.

Hope that makes sense.

[the_psychologist]

Bottom line is noone has a passion in anything they do anymore and can't be bothered to make a stand for anything as they believe in nothing but convienience, moaning and telly.

Hope that makes sense.

I was about to write something re: apathy and how it has really taken hold during Bush's regime. It's almost like the more he and his cabinet have pissed on the world, the more people have become numb to it. I just don't get a sense of rebellion any longer, at least in the sense of taking actual action.

I think people are too distracted now by games, tele, etc. and their idea of protest is to moan on the Web. I felt that Acid Techno used to be about striking a blow to the status quo, which was reflected in the whole of it, not just some low-res samples that say "**** Bush" or whatever.

Now, that's not to diss the Lodon dons. They spent years trying to open some minds (that time in my life will always be special), and I can't fault them for moving on. People are bovine, and one can only pour so much time and energy into motivating the masses.

MP3 was an unfortunate product of this lazy era, and, as much as I like the format for DJing, it has really devalued music as a whole. Why the hell would the average person buy a $12 vinyl when they can download the track and then delete it if it's not great? I tried to sell some ****ing great 12" acid tracks lately, and the prices I got were shocking. No one cares.

It makes me sad, but it also makes me realize that any original, hard, charged Acid tunes will surely cause ears to prick up. Most modern dance music is either about being "deep", being "cool", or being "psychedelic" (god help me for exploring modern "Psy"trance the last few years), with few tracks actually saying anything or contributing to moving society forward. Maybe I give dance music too much credit, but it used to help me release my anger and feel like some producers shared it with me.

I must be an old man.

[Si the Sigh]

Your not old bruv, you just miss the times when the music worked it's magic.

[morbid]

Theres not enough of a buzz in the scene these days for me, I still enjoy the music but I think everyone involved has branched out in so many different ways that you will never get the same vibe as 96 - 2000 acid / squat techno. Nothing will ever compare to immersion soundsystem in trafalgar square 97.

**** going to a squat party these days to watch battle of the egos between the rigs and a load of spazzers mincing around on ketamine to hardstyle bumcore or whatever is trendy these days.

Maybe Im getting old though but I bet nobody on here has as much fun on a night out as they did back in the day, correct me if Im wrong

[Aratron]

**** going to a squat party these days to watch battle of the egos between the rigs and a load of spazzers mincing around on ketamine to hardstyle bumcore or whatever is trendy these days.

Maybe Im getting old though but I bet nobody on here has as much fun on a night out as they did back in the day, correct me if Im wrong

yeah thats true it is a total ego fest these days.:lol: at battle of the rigs.
i like a small venue where i feel safe, i havent felt like that for ages.

[Aratron]

and DDR needs shaking to set him back on track! :)

you need help mate.

[Si the Sigh]

Nah, it's ok, I can manage.

/starts shaking

[Aratron]

Nah, it's ok, I can manage.

/starts shaking

i had a conversation with DDR about where he was going and his philosophy which has always been the same (see Hazchem - COSHH) HE IS ALWAYS TRYING TO CREATE THE AUTHENTIC OLD SKOOL ACID SOUND. so for you to suggest otherwise is a joke.

[Gus]

Haha. Im still around, Ive been making acid techno since 1993 and still play festivals, squats and free parties , though a lot less these days, partly because Ive found theres more to life than getting off my trolley at parties, and partly because theres less opportunities and places to play at. However now and again the tribes will gather and the beast will be unleashed. I LOVE acid techno - it is in my blood, howeve rI think the scene went seriously wrong in the late nineties when it became about ketamine and coke and lost the psychedelic and uplifting "liberating" side of itself. Parties started to look more like something out the night of the living dead than something were people had fun.
These days the underground scene is probably more centered around niche, bassline UKG and dubstep rather than acid techno and drum and bass. Squat parties still happen but the crackheads have turned them into and rather more sinister affaitr. Last time I looked Tribe of Munt were still playing Acid Techno at squat parties in London. The travellers have mostly fled to Europe where the torch of free party techno continues especially in the Czech republic. The scene is much smaller in London now and many of the old Acid techno heads ar enow middle aged with kids etc
I will never stop making it though and there will always be someone playing acid techno at some party somewhere just as there will always be Irish Jigs and reels in pubs in Ireland.
Here is my latest acid techno tunbes, free to download, that I made a couple of weeks ago at Glastonbury festival, which for me was free, because my Jedi blagging abilities have been honed to perfection ove rthe years :

http://www.soundclick.com/bezzerker


You can here the live version here and the other version higher quality :

http://www.myspace.com/thechurchofillusion

Viva le Acid Techno .

[nekro]

everything has been done with 'london' acid techno imo, hence most people have become bored with the genre.

i don't mind listening to a set or 2 of classic stuff but when you get 8hrs or so of DJs playing the same records over and over again it can somehwat kill the atmosphere. london squat parties got away with it cos most people were too ****ed to notice what they were listening to. a lot of djs in london seem to think that acid music revolves around stay up forever/smitten/cluster/routmaster etc...and don't delve any deeper