Familiarity Breeds Contempt ? Is Techno Losing Its Edge ?

[teknorich]

The prophecy of 1994 | Ally Fogg | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

More than you might think, in the UK at least.

[djshiva]

YouTube - Deadbeat - Grounation (Berghain Drum Jack)

Oh my. Thanks for the heads up on that one!!! :D

[Jay Pace]

temporarily, yes. but how much is of lasting significance? how did raves affect politics or social life beyond the confines of the raves themselves?

Like I said, its legacy has mainly been the laws and powers that were drawn up specifically to combat the terror of "music partly or wholly characterised by repetitive beats". Those laws continue to be used today, to subjugate otherwise lawful assemblies of people whose only crime is to be playing music.

Article technorich posted is great. This:

Fifteen years on, there is little pleasure to be gained from saying "we told you so". But the manner in which a law designed to prevent the wholesale mayhem of Castlemorton can now be used to foreclose a birthday party should serve as a stark warning to those currently considering a raft of other illiberal legislation, from the coroners and justice bill to the various ID card proposals. Those who deride the contributors to liberty central when they warn about the incessant creep of police powers, or who scoff at "slippery slope" arguments around civil liberties, should bear in mind that we stood at the top of one of those slopes only 15 short years ago, and we have slid a long way down it since.

It hasn't been a particular positive legacy, but its been an important one - raves redefined the relationship between the police and the public.

[SlavikSvensk]

Like I said, its legacy has mainly been the laws and powers that were drawn up specifically to combat the terror of "music partly or wholly characterised by repetitive beats". Those laws continue to be used today, to subjugate otherwise lawful assemblies of people whose only crime is to be playing music.

Article technorich posted is great. This:

It hasn't been a particular positive legacy, but its been an important one - raves redefined the relationship between the police and the public.

Fair enough, but I still don't see how this makes raves a social revolution, which I think many people at the time genuinely thought it was. My original point was that it didn't deliver on its promise of entirely new social relations, a new politics and so on. Probably the promise itself was delusional, for those who bought into it. Well-intentioned, but naive...

That said, great music and parties.

[The Overfiend]

if i say i dont like new productions it will be a lie...but,, the truth is - OLDER TUNES JUST HAVE MORE ENERGY, THEY ARE MORE WILD AND DIRTY THEN THE NEW ONES. maybe i am to emotional , dont know....


btw,
when i was 16/17/18 all i was talking about, all i was doing was TECHNO it almoust all his forms... i was listening to a radio, recording shows, tracks... i was posesed.... i was drinking with my friends and have fun listening tones of tapes ,cds, or records....thats just what we are doing.
here,in serbia these days we even dont have a proper computer at our home....

todays kids have internet. end of story.


edit: sorry, everyone, for my crapy english....

best answer right here

[djshiva]

Fair enough, but I still don't see how this makes raves a social revolution, which I think many people at the time genuinely thought it was. My original point was that it didn't deliver on its promise of entirely new social relations, a new politics and so on. Probably the promise itself was delusional, for those who bought into it. Well-intentioned, but naive...

That said, great music and parties.

I think it's essential to separate the lofty (mostly drug induced) lovey dovey rhetoric and look at the reality. Catchphrases and big ideas are just ideology.

Look, I came up in the DIY political punk scene in the late 80s/early 90s. Was there any measurable social change that came from that? Again, books have been written on this. No need for me to retread old ground. Well, it had a MAJOR influence on me personally, and I have continued doing my best to stay true to DIY principles where I can, and I work for a progressive nonprofit. All of that stems from punk rock, and to a certain degree, from the rave scene as well.

Am I the only one? I damn well doubt it. Is this anecdotal? Totally. But still no less true.

And the political/legal ramifications of the culture are undeniable. It changed laws. It made people have to stand up and fight.

CJB is one example. In the States, they took us apart state by state, city by city. The fight was still there, but it was a very different one, and in a lot of ways, MUCH more difficult. But it still happened. And there are people I talk to today who are still involved with groups fighting the criminalization of our culture.

[DannyBlack]

I think it's essential to separate the lofty (mostly drug induced) lovey dovey rhetoric and look at the reality. Catchphrases and big ideas are just ideology.

Look, I came up in the DIY political punk scene in the late 80s/early 90s. Was there any measurable social change that came from that? Again, books have been written on this. No need for me to retread old ground. Well, it had a MAJOR influence on me personally, and I have continued doing my best to stay true to DIY principles where I can, and I work for a progressive nonprofit. All of that stems from punk rock, and to a certain degree, from the rave scene as well.

Am I the only one? I damn well doubt it. Is this anecdotal? Totally. But still no less true.

And the political/legal ramifications of the culture are undeniable. It changed laws. It made people have to stand up and fight.

CJB is one example. In the States, they took us apart state by state, city by city. The fight was still there, but it was a very different one, and in a lot of ways, MUCH more difficult. But it still happened. And there are people I talk to today who are still involved with groups fighting the criminalization of our culture.

[basslinejunkie]

nfn - Ben Klock @ Voices, Propaganda, Moscow 30.07.10 - SoundCloud

MEGAUPLOAD - The leading online storage and file delivery service

have a go of this people. see what u think.

[SicknoteSteve]

Techno for me house always been anti establishment in the face of the Criminal Justice Act, police, politicians and the main stream media.

That was only because all of them decided to pick a fight with a load of people having fun and causing a bit of mischeif in a field, squat or anywhere else we might get away with it.

I used to be bang into the psy trance scene until the politics and tbh the music started to do me right in.

Techno has always had an anarchistic edge to it, the idea that you come along and dance, get mashed if you fancy it and you wont get judged.

Theres no one big ideology fueling the whole thing other than to have fun and do what you want away from the mainstream.

Has techno lost its edge?

Well most of the 'techno' scene has moved to tendy minimal crap with a load of twats in skinny jeans dancing to rubbish.

Does this piss me off?

For sure, but I started a techno night a year back for this reason with an old mate and we have been booking acts who still put a shit eating grin on our faces.

Chir Lib and a load of the SUF lot, Carl Falk, Ignition Technician and Billy Nasty.

Get yourselves down to Brighton to a Sicknote and then tell me techno has lost its edge.

Yea, it has started to slide but do something ****ing about it!!!

[crime]

I was going to write:

This thread is Banal- how many times has the question been asked? Make something new if you don't like what's around, why waste your life discussing the toss on forums when you could be making something different instead?

but then I thought it better that you just listened to my new live act , ave that you ****ers:

Mark Hawkins - Live Test part 2: the harder stuff - SoundCloud

[FuK-NuT]

can not be arsed with the rantings and debate on where its at, been at or going...

to me techno has, is and will probably always be my prefered choice of music to listen
to....if i feel im getting a bit fed up with a certain sound then ill go have a rake at other
sounds within the genre or just have a simple break from it and come back with fresh lugs...
(has worked for over 10 years)

without a doubt there is tons and tons off good beats coming thro or yet to
be discovered...half the fun about being a dj is digging the crates and finding
the gems...maybe people should get of there arses stop moaning and do something
about it....make the beats, put on the party, get people talking about it cause as
soon as u stop talking about it, its fuked!!!

get active!

[MARK ANXIOUS]

I don't think it was posing as a social revolution. It absolutely was one. But like most musical social revolutions, it was co-opted by capitalism and greed.

Look back through the history of music/social revolutions from jazz to rock and roll to reggae to punk rock to hip hop and it's always the same story. Youths tap into new ideas in music, build a social scene around it that challenges the mainstream, party their ****ing brains out, and then some business person realizes that there's money to be made by mass marketing not only the music but the "scene" as well. They water it down for mass consumption, and by the time it's been around a few years, there is only the slightest thread linking it back to what it was.

That doesn't devalue the reality of what it was; it just obscures it so only those interested in the roots ever bother to dig into it.

It didn't "end up" being a "scene". It ended up being a market. And that, ultimately, is what has both frustrated me, and also reminded me of why there is a necessity for a thriving underground.

That dynamic is the ultimate push/pull and the source of many frustrations, at least amongst people that I have been having this conversation with for a while. After so many years involvement, who doesn't want to perhaps make some money, travel a bit? But then you realize what that entails, what kind of commercial pusherman it can tend to make you, always promoting yourself instead of the music. Some people continue with it, others withdraw and try to find different ways to present the music and different sounds to pursue.

That, to me, is the heart of the issue. Are you in it for personal monetary gain? Or for the music and the fantastic community that can arise from music? I think it's essential to constantly scrutinize my own intentions, and I see some of that on a microcosmic scale with people I know. I think that gets lost as things get bigger, as careers get bigger, as paychecks get bigger. As does the "edge" in the music.

that's a really good post shiva. i've seen this with every single dance music genre i've ever been involved in - from chicago house, acid to certain corners of techno itself. the thing is, techno has always been the genre that has managed to somehow pull itself away from disappearing into the mainstream entirely. it reinvents itself and moves too fast. also the anarchic and ant-establishment ideals that most techno music creates are perhaps it's strongest positives and what has kept it here for so long...

[Numeric]

nfn - Ben Klock @ Voices, Propaganda, Moscow 30.07.10 - SoundCloud

MEGAUPLOAD - The leading online storage and file delivery service

have a go of this people. see what u think.

could you re-up this please man?

[basslinejunkie]

i will mate when i get my laptop fixed

[Elvio Neto]

nfn - Ben Klock @ Voices, Propaganda, Moscow 30.07.10 - SoundCloud

MEGAUPLOAD - The leading online storage and file delivery service

have a go of this people. see what u think.

nice set ;)

[JE:5]

so where do YOU stand ? was it really 'better back in 97' or is it that the same tired cry of ppl who jus moved on min their musical tastes ?



D I S C U S S

Nah, it was better in 1995 ;)

[Darkmode]

Techno for me house always been anti establishment in the face of the Criminal Justice Act, police, politicians and the main stream media.

That was only because all of them decided to pick a fight with a load of people having fun and causing a bit of mischeif in a field, squat or anywhere else we might get away with it.

I used to be bang into the psy trance scene until the politics and tbh the music started to do me right in.

Techno has always had an anarchistic edge to it, the idea that you come along and dance, get mashed if you fancy it and you wont get judged.

Theres no one big ideology fueling the whole thing other than to have fun and do what you want away from the mainstream.

Has techno lost its edge?

Well most of the 'techno' scene has moved to tendy minimal crap with a load of twats in skinny jeans dancing to rubbish.

Does this piss me off?

For sure, but I started a techno night a year back for this reason with an old mate and we have been booking acts who still put a shit eating grin on our faces.

Chir Lib and a load of the SUF lot, Carl Falk, Ignition Technician and Billy Nasty.

Get yourselves down to Brighton to a Sicknote and then tell me techno has lost its edge.

Yea, it has started to slide but do something ****ing about it!!!

Nice to see someone stick their guns & run a Techno night that plays real Techno & does not follow trends ;-)