Do people really like Electronic Music ?

[Aiyn Zahav]

Originally Posted by mavano

Just for the sake of straight facts:

Alice Deejay was a project by DJ Jurgen. Their first single Better of Alone was released in Holland as: DJ Jurgen - Better of Alone. Because of marketing they decided to add the girls and change the name to Alice Deejay for the international release + the following singles.

The Vengaboys is a dutch project as well. For over 2 years everybody was wondering who was behind it. Because of it's mega success. Then it came out that Wessel van Diepen, a very credible "national radio" DJ in Holland at the time, was the mastermind and producer behind it. And I must say that the first album of the Vengaboys (I believe it was only released in Holland) wasn't that bad. When the international success started so did the level of the songs.......

I do understand that the reputation of Electronic music in the US must be very bad if the genre is judged by the aforementioned acts. Thankfully, in Europe, people know how to make a difference between "House/Trance/Techno" and "Top 40 Dance". I guess in Hip-Hop it's completely the same the other way round.........

gr,
Marc

Yeah i only mentioned them because they've been successful. I always liked dutch trance, just very nice sounds and melodies, good balances. Dutch Force's Deadline was nice i think they were the same guys behind Rank1, Rank1's remix of Underwater was one of my favourates for a while. I liked Flutlicht alot, I loved his remix of Green courts silent heart i dont know where he's from though.

Alot of it is to do with memories though, thats why some tunes i really like but most of it i just cant stand, i was talking to a friend about it the other day, we listen to in a certain period of our life and then later i think that same music reminds us of that time, it does for me anyway.

In terms of success though i think house seems to do pretty well, I remember when the ministry of sound CD's were mostly Trance, or the first CD was house and the other 2 were Trance, now all 3 cds are House.

I bought a Hed Kandi Cd once, cant say i liked all of it, but alot of it was alright quite nice to listen to for a break.
Ive noticed though that those kind of Cds are being pushed further away in the shops i go into, and id say most of the trance stuff are just "classic" this that and the other, just the same old tunes, Theres alot of new stuff, I think Above & beyond are becoming successful, they branch out into some commercial stuff they even did a remix of britney spears "everytime" (wheres the puke smiley?)

[vixapphire]

One of the greater thrills of being into electronic, particularly house/dance music, is the experience of spending time with lots of friendly strangers browsing the used 12" single bins at record stores. Several months ago, I was at Amoeba in Hollywood and struck up a conversation with a guy a couple rows down from me, about music, gear, clubs, etc. I implored him to spend a whopping $4 on a copy of the Loafer remix of "Faith" by Starecase, which I explained was the type of thing that, if played at the right time, will leave listeners spellbound and in tears. He reciprocated by turning me onto a 12" by "DJ Nukem". I was skeptical because with a name like that, it's not the sort of thing I'd gravitate towards without having heard it, but at the big spend of 50 cents (!!!) I couldn't go wrong. Sure enough, that DJ Nukem track is even better than my record-shopping comrade said it was. I don't even think we got each others' names, much less expected to see each other again. But every time I see that record in my pile I remember that afternoon. I've had several such exchanges, which are really nice because it's all about the music and vibe and sharing something that's totally mental but non-verbal. To me, the sense of community is among the best things about this type of music, if that makes any sense.

Of course, the same could probably be said of any genre, but here, when you're trolling bins and bins of 12" vinyl in plain sleeves with at best a sticker listing the "band" name, uncovering interesting unexpected gems is a unique reward.

v

[Reptil]

Originally Posted by SamiRabia

(wheres the puke smiley?)

[miqer]

Boards of Canada we listen when we shower. Perhaps it's cause we are in europe... where electronic music is listened to more than American rock.

The thing is, electronic music can be very experimental. The search for new sounds and harmonies is still on. That is a cool thing, unfamiliar sounds (much like some of the 1968 Beatles sounds). Listen to electronic music by Pole, Apparat, Boards of Canada, Proem, Deru etc. Some of these cats know there harmonies, they make beautiful music. Like Brian Eno etc.

Who cares if it's a guitar or a synth, or a trumpet or a sample or a piano?

As long as it's not club music. :)

[gregohb]

Originally Posted by max cooper

In combing used record bins for most of my life, I used to come across weird records by people like Duke Ellington that had really loud bass drum on 1 and 3. I always wondered what the deal with these records was. Someone finally explained to me that these were "stomp" records, music made for dancing and selling alchohol. Apparently a lot of artists made them and I guess they're not usually considered among an artist's best work. Probably wouldn't get a lot of airplay. Seems there's always been a market for that kind of purpose-made music. I certainly don't know very much about it at all, but it does seem to draw an interesting paralell to "rave" and "house" music.

Maybe someone else here could elaborate on "stomp" records.

My own taste runs more to Fats Waller and J.B. Hutto when you get right down to it, but there's some electronic music that I really like. Morton Subotnick, Crystal Method, etc...

Electronic does not necessarily mean techno. There is subtle moody electronic music too. And there is quite a bit of hybrid electronic and non-electronic music - now and going back to the Beatles and their Moog.

[tomylee]

e, if you would know me better you would understand all of electronic music...

too bad you dont know me better and I am not good at explaining thinkgs in forums, sooo, stay tunes, a new electronic music theory will emerge!

greets
tomylee

[AdamD]

a. it is not a trend, it has been around since the mid seventies thats over 30 years.

b. electronic is just one more form of technology driven music, same as rock n' roll which was spawned out of the invention of amplification (elc guitars and amps)

c. you might think of electronic music as what ecstacy fuled weirdoes jump around aimlesly to in raves, but it is much more, from chart toping albums like maddona's RAY OF LIGHT (BROKEN was one of the most cutting edge and inventive singles to ever feature in the pop charts),
herbie hancocks ROCKIT (jazz visionery),
Eurithmics (all song writing at its heart),
Brian Eno and the list can go on forever, electronic is just a sound or a production method, what you choose to apply it to is up to you.

d. yes pepole listen to electronic music at home (i have first hand expriance of this...)

these type of questions always send me back to stiff parents in the fifties and sixties calling their chlidrens Rock N' Roll sensless noise

[iangomes]

Originally Posted by Jose Mrochek

. that's great, must be lots of fun for sure. My question is, will they listen to electronic music while in their shower or driving to work on monday ? I'm sure some do, but in the little investigation I did about this topic.. the majority don't. Why is that ? Some time ago I was at a club in Miami, while the usual electronic music was played.. the DJ decided to experiment and put in Nirvanas "smells like teen spirit" Original version. You could see everyones faces turn from "exotic I'm on drugs look" to a "big smile the world is a nice place look" . Very interesting. As much as I try, I don't understand the electronic music phenomenon.. I just don't get it.

I don't know what club in miami you were in but if anyone in toronto played slts in the middle of their set, they would be booed off of the decks instantly. That's just not the culture.
I haven't read the last few pages of the thead, but I wanted to add that you don't need to be on drugs to enjoy electronic music. Everyone I know who likes electronic music listens to it all of the time. in the car, on their ipod, all of the time.

I don't know if it helps, but electronic music isn't based on single songs that make you dance. Flow in sets is very important. And the music is generally a little deeper than a catchy vocal.

[i604]

From Ambient to Rotterdam HC there are some differences... Midst are Pop-djs as Paul Oakenfold, rock-bands that have been possessed by electronic gear Depeche and many more...

Got Sphongled ?

Go to an outdoor Psy Gathering next summer

[rhythmtech]

hi all,

first post here so i thought this would be an interesting place to start as im a techno producer and label owner (check out my label here Damaged Trax & MySpace.com - DamagedTrax - dublin, IE - Techno - www.myspace.com/damagedtrax, plug plug ;-))

some strange opinions expressed in this thread - surely good music is good music? be it techno, trip hop, indie, rock, metal?

just my thoughts.

[sleestack]

Aphex Twin is my favorite music. Over the Beatles, Stones, Stevie Wonder.. and it has nothing to do with being perceived as cool. I just love the music

[MrHope]

Originally Posted by Jose Mrochek

I had this question for a very long time. Is it a trend, fashion ? Fashion Statement ? Is it "cool" to eat pizza? Does it create any sort of emotion on anyone? Why is Chinatown not invaded with pizza restaurants ? Why are not all restaurants making that kind of food if it's made in every pizzeria ? Any thoughts on this ???

Does Anybody Actually Like Pizza?

[timbreman]

The magic in electronic music comes from the ability to do things you would not normally be able to do with a regular instrument. It's that one big NEW sound that gets ppl pumped. Sadly however anybody who owns a computer has access to these tools and thus there is plenty of crap out there. Try something by Shpongle or Ott.....there is definitely melody and unique sounds there. Clubs usually play four floor beat with a few blips and beeps. Not enjoyable at all. But yes there is alot of electronic music with substance and soul out there......but there is also alot of crap.

[The Architecture]

Originally Posted by timbreman

The magic in electronic music comes from the ability to do things you would not normally be able to do with a regular instrument. It's that one big NEW sound that gets ppl pumped. Sadly however anybody who owns a computer has access to these tools and thus there is plenty of crap out there. Try something by Shpongle or Ott.....there is definitely melody and unique sounds there. Clubs usually play four floor beat with a few blips and beeps. Not enjoyable at all. But yes there is alot of electronic music with substance and soul out there......but there is also alot of crap.

That goes for just about everything, and every decade. We just notice the crap more now since the internet as leveled the playing field. It was also harder to release your music back in the 90's, because you had to really invest lots of dough to get out there, getting on a record label, getting a single pressed, and hopefully it might work in the club. There's less quality control now because of the ease of making and distributing music. Which is a good and also a BAD thing.

[msl]

this tread is a gas.

I think they said the same thing about the electric guitar and rock music 50 years ago...

[sleestack]

henryrobinett, , Do you like Pharaoh Saunders? I think he may be my favorite jazz ever. Such sublime music "TO ME" Curious about your thoughts

[Dirty Halo]

Originally Posted by Jose Mrochek

I had this question for a very long time. Is it a trend, fashion ? Fashion Statement ? Is it "cool" to listen to electnonic music? Does it create any sort of emotion on anyone? Why is Radio not invaded with Electronic music ? Why is MTV not playing that kind of music if it's played in every single club ? Any thoughts on this ???

1. Does anyone like electronica music? ANSWER: No.

Not "anyone", but many people do!

2. Is it a trend? ANSWER: No.

"Electronica" has been around as long as Rock was in the 80's, nobody thought Rock was just a trend at that point. (meaning it's 30+ years and going)

3. Fashion Statement? ANSWER: No.

Punk was (to an extent.) It was more of a sonic aesthetic statement/movement that turned into a genre.

4. Is it "cool"to listen to listen to electronic music? ANSWER: No.

If you have to ask, that is. Yes, if you like it. Who cares? Or who do you care about?

5. Does it create any kind of emotion on anyone? ANSWER: No.

Not on just anyone. But neither does any music. Various kinds of music emotes various reactions from various people.

6. Why is radio not invaded with electronic music? ANSWER: Because radio is out-dated. Depends on where you live. Omnicon owns 99% of all U.S. radio (by way of example) and decide what is the most commercially viable music to attract specific demographics so they can sell specific advertising time to specific people for profit.

7. Why is MTV not playing that kind of music if it's played in every single club ? ANSWER: MTV does not play music (where did you get that idea? Surely not the "M" part standing for music?)

8. Any thoughts on this? ANSWER: Yes.

A. This is a bit dumb (not precluding all-of-the-above).

B. Why ask? To make music that is most profitable? To understand the market you are in (if you even like "electronic" music)?

C. If you have to ask, then perhaps music isn't your calling.



-andrews

[sleestack]

Ive never understood why someone would listen to music because it makes them look cool ...Never ever. Seems meaningless to me. I guess people want to "belong" to something. Sad

[crufty]

good points all. profitable music = disney

I guess the future of music really is guitar hero 4 ;)

My experience was that electronic music was always off center. Even post rave, the jock club would close its doors @ 2am and reopen @ 3am to let the surviving rave mutants in.

strange ways and strange days.