Quite an informative article (for me in the "Old World" at least). To be honest I had no idea of the sheer scale of the current mainstream "EDM" explosion in the US. Now I understand the sheer quantity of 'I wanna be Deadmau5 / Skrillex' posts and aspirants....
Well I think mainstream edm has been poking around the usa for a while now. I will say I find deadmou5 and skrillex far more interesting then okenfold who was the "mainstream" idm of yesteryear.
When I watch that live video of deadmou5 I see a similar format to okenfold but the sounds are more interesting so I guess that is progress.
We will never see true underground electronic music in this type of mainstream. For people with a passing interests in synthetic sounds they can be satiated by this kind of stuff. And thats OK. Not everyone is as into sound/music/gear as some of us and we should not lose focus of the fact that those people are the ones that go to big festivals and listen to guys like skrillex.
also let me add if I asked for all of us to list our top 5 music acts we would all come up with a infinite combination of different things because the very definition of underground music means that it won't appeal to everyone.
If we asked the every day "raver" to do the same we would see mostly the exact same list. That is what it means to be mainstream.
It's funny, because it seems to me that ever since '95 or so techno has been more or less mainstream in the US. I mean, the "electronica" hype fad faded after a couple of years, but then it kind of submerged and suffused into every type of music. Throughout the early 2000s it gradually took ever-greater hold in all genres until it seems every folk singer and his mom now has a sampler and a drum machine on backing tracks and the eternal '80s re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-revival is eternally ongoing.
The whole Skrillex/Deadmaus thing is really just a relatively visible aspect of that suffusion. At this point, electronic music can safely be said to be mainstream the world over.
I will say I find deadmou5 and skrillex far more interesting then okenfold who was the "mainstream" idm of yesteryear.
From what I've heard of their music I definitely agree. At the same time, from what I've heard of Skrillex and Deadmau 5 (and I admit I haven't listened to much) are not at all original: They've been inspired by styles and sounds from originally underground scenes and fused them into products "accessible" to the masses in arenas. In this sense it's the same principle as Poke'n'fold.
From what I've heard of their music I definitely agree. At the same time, from what I've heard of Skrillex and Deadmau 5 (and I admit I haven't listened to much) are not at all original: They've been inspired by styles and sounds from originally underground scenes and fused them into products "accessible" to the masses in arenas. In this sense it's the same principle as Poke'n'fold.
But really that is everything. Its ok to be inspired by something because we don't live in a vacuum and divergent thought is sometimes more important to the creative process then pure creativity.
If it has $70+ ticket prices, security and/or cops that will take away your drugs/bust you for them, is advertised in the newspaper, and is backed by a major label chances are it isn't a rave
If it has $70+ ticket prices, security and/or cops that will take away your drugs/bust you for them, is advertised in the newspaper, and is backed by a major label chances are it isn't a rave
That's an issue: words are now used with a completely different meaning.
Part of the EDM boom is big business in the US and highly regulated yes. but let's not ignore that the same commercialisation happened in europe (only more gradually and not all across the board?) A different meaning means misappropriated, or can we say put in a different cultural context?
I'd say the former but that might be a generalisation.
Another interesting issue is that some of these festivals seem have some "carnival" elements blended in. that's different from raves and psytrance parties. It's fascinating to see the "americana" approach to carnivals (where outcasts traditionally could be themselves) with new cultural infusions. (Burning man Festival, Electric Daisy Carnival)
It's really very different here, across the pond. I think the sheer scale of everything is an issue.
This isn't really a gear/production thread and we might move it elsewhere. For now I think it's appropriate here since it's about EDM culture.
Culture's changing all the time.
Here's a random comment picked off the www (reference "Burning Man Festival")
Quote:
I like festivals and all but? recently I've started to realize just how hedonistic they're getting. People are using sacred entheogens just to feel good and party. Burns might not be as superficial as some places, but they are getting to be very superficial. It's not longer about people just being themselves it seems they are all out to impress eachother and end up recreating the social structures that used to be rejected in the counter culture like elitist hippies who wont talk to ppl w/o dreds.
What do yo think?
__________________ "You must have Chaos within you, to give Birth to a dancing Star" Friedrich Nietsche
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DanceSafe's Messer, a veteran of the idealistic PLUR (peace, love, unity, respect) oriented rave underground of the 90s, complains that the dance festivals offer a "packaged, containerised experience ... These events are all about raging hard, getting as ****ed up as you can. Not necessarily even about dancing, just being a face in this giant extravaganza."
lol true. I can't imagine going to a festival w/100,000 other people. geez man like isn't the point of that stuff to get away from other people? or just to get laid, who knows.
burning man used to be about a fusion of technology and return to nature...giant stick robots plodding around the desert around while live "techno" thumped away; not sure what its about now.
anyway i say the costume dress up types are on the cutting edge; they make me say "wtf is this" so they must be doing something...er..right.
SO LOOK OUT FUTURE: ZombieFest 2025 is coming your way!
In those murky, atmospheric clubs, the deejay booth was often tucked away in a corner rather than placed up on a stage: dancers weren't meant to all be looking in one direction, they were meant to get lost in music, and in the collective intimacy of the dancefloor .
^^...a quote from the article posted by the op., and this pretty much sums it up, the notion of active participation has been replaced by a consumerist paradigm, whereby you turn up to consume entertainment , intoxicants..whatever.
There was a time when dj's were a peripheral, faceless, yet essential element ,lurking behind cammoflauge netting and the real focus of an event was the dancefloor and everybody on it.
Interactive experience as opposed to passive consumption.
Another interesting issue is that some of these festivals seem have some "carnival" elements blended in. that's different from raves and psytrance parties.
In the 90's all the big(by big I mean thousands of people attending) raves in the UK (Fantasia,Helter Skelter,Raindance,etc) had carnivals.
It's just the current 'fad' people... nothing to see here, move along.
In 1 year from now when the 'fad' fades, it will just be our old selves talking about the same old slutz topics.
The peak came at the end of 2011 early 2012 and is on the decline, by next year the whole squirlex deadmouse garbage disposal will be empty of trash and some cool new hip thing will be the next fad.
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Gear: A bunch of analog gear, some digital gear, a bunch of cords...
I think what Deadmau5, Zed, etc are doing, are taking what EDM started as, and giving it big budget production. Thats where a lot of people feel its pop music. Because it now sounds good. Dont get me wrong, I still have all the old Acid Trax vinyls and whatnot, but this new breed from a production standpoint is miles ahead of anything I have been a part of. And I have been going to parties since 89, so dont give me the whole, well you have never been to a real party before, because I reckon I outrave anyone on here. :P However, The US and Canada are of course late. Toronto had some good things in the early to mid 90s but it was still all coming over from the UK. I havent produced EDM in about 10 years, but I dig this new stuff.
it has always been a product, just the scale has changed a few times. i went to a HUGE party in the UK in 96 that was about the same size as a HUGE party in the US a few weeks later. in the 91-93 era, it was all warehouses because it was a revolt against the club vulture culture. renegades under s bridge at 4AM - that is the exception not the rule these days.
i still make noise with the kit that was used back in the day. it keeps me young.
now get the fark off my lawn.
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