Friday's Chronicle as you'll all still no doubt be chewing the inside of your cheeks come Friday thought I'd pop this on here as I wouldn't mind knowing wether u all agree or not. Besides we haven't had a proper thread to think about on the board for a while If 2003 is going to go down in music history as anything, it could be that it was 12 months of hype that never really delivered. I don’t think I’m being particularly cynical in saying that, it’s just that with so many expectations that the next big thing was going to land from outer space with all it’s beams of light flooding the music industry, said space ship never really came. Or at least not in a form we all instantly recognised. No big shimmering saucers skimming the sky to get the theorists wetting their pants with excitement - though I can’t help but feel that maybe the aliens have landed under cover of darkness and are going to slowly work their magic without us even realising. We’ve all been waiting for an explosion to rival the late 80’s Acid House phenomenon, but using that as a model, you realise that many of the records that defined that sound took their lead from records that had previously been made in the years leading up to it. Besides, 2003 gave good old Acid House the chance to breathe again and didn’t it sound great? Anyway the point I’m rather haphazardly trying to make, is that maybe Tony Wilson’s theory that Youth/Music culture dramatically reinvents itself every 13 or so years is a load of rubbish. Maybe such supposed epoch making periods in music history are in fact far more organic processes than he and the music press would have us believe. House music and Ibiza wasn’t suddenly invented by Rampling and Oakey, club culture has always existed in this country and the music that defines it has always been a mass of mutating sounds. It’s just that maybe things have split up so much that we can never again get to a point where the UK’s youth unites under one single musical banner - here’s hoping anyway. Despite the fact that, as both Acid House and Punk both proved, it can never last, how deathly dull would music in this country be if we all loved the same thing? And it’s this point that I feel will prove to be 2003’s future musical legacy. It was a year of quiet revolution that embraced diversity with the most popular clubs and DJ’s packing a broader selection of sounds in their record boxes. Yes there were all manner of spectacular failures and false starts, but at least people were trying new things again and it’s this that really must be applauded. Defying convention may not be the most original form of action in youth and music culture but 2004 at least seems like the year that it may actually make the biggest difference for quite some time. Happy New Year!
I reckon 2003 has been a good year clubbing wise for newcastle. More new nights are spriging up here there and everywhere with a wide range of dj's and musical genres being played all around town. The underground scene is growing as well thanks to nights like resistance, fragile, deep down dirty etc. After 7 years of clubbing in town the need for something different to go to is greater than ever and in my opinion 2003 has delivered that. This year has seen me going clubbing a lot less than i used to maybe once or twice a month compared to 3 or 4 times a month a couple of years ago but this year i've probably heard some of the best music i've heard for a long long time. Roll on 2004!!!
nah i think hes right, 2003 has been a big anti climax, but a good learning curve for all, like he said a lot of djs have tried new things which is good as a lot of diversity is needed to keep things different....look at Fergie playing techno now (well his style of techno...), even judge jules went through that phase.... and what happened to halliwell??? Seems like hes tried every style there is... and like Simon says, 2004 is a year to look forward to in what is to be offered... a lot more minds have been opened.
