Ed Chemical: Dance Music Doesn’t Need Saving http://www.trackitdown.net/news/672.html “Dance culture’s like it’s always been: the most interesting parts are when DJs or musicians can take different things from different places and splice them together; people like Erol Alkan and Queens of Noise. I’ve never been particularly interested in a night of linear house music, although I do occasionally dip in and out of that.” ---------- However............. New York Times Declares Dance Is Dead (long live 'Breakcore') One-time Melody Maker journalist Simon Reynolds published an ultra-negative diatribe against dance music in the New York Times this week, suggesting that as well as being mainstream and too retro, genres like house, electro and trance are no longer even good for dancing to. "If neither sonic futurism nor underground edginess apply any longer, electronic dance music's remaining raison d'être is, well, dancing, but in recent years it may have been beaten on the shake-your-booty front by dancehall and Southern rap," the ex-pat British music hack claimed. "In response, some dance producers have started to draw upon raucously vibrant "street" beats: crunk, Miami bass, dancehall, grime and so forth. The result is a growing hybrid genre, highlighted on the recent, excellent compilation "Shockout," known as 'breakcore'," he suggested. Reynolds' hypercritical assessment drew a scathing response from electro-house star Ewan Pearson, a one-time Cambridge graduate and university college lecturer with a PHD in cultural studies (specializing in music journalism). "Although lots of what Simon Reynolds points out is demonstrably true, the conclusions I would draw are quite different," Ewan told Skrufff this week. "The much touted 'death of dance music' isn't borne out by my experience, either as a DJ, producer or an enthusiastic punter. Even Alexis Petridis in The Guardian, who's been flogging the 'dance music is dead' story in various forms for months recently had to admit that the new Chemical Brothers album is great, but in order not to contradict himself he decided to portray them as the band on the Titanic 'going down with the ship' which is frankly nonsense," he pointed out. "What's particularly galling is that British journalists will heap hyperbole and praise on the most derivative whey-faced rock bands whether they're aping The Stooges or the Gang of Four and yet criticise dance acts for not coming up with a new revolution every few months," Ewan continued. "I don't see a revolution any time soon, and I don't see why dance needs one to remain vital when no other area of pop does?" he added.
isnt breakcore what all the uber cool newcastle crowd are into at the mo. Wait till new london hardcore breaks out of london and gets up here in about 2007 (only joking). Strikes me a bit like energy music crossed with old skool hardcore. genres are rubbish, they just generate endless drivel about whats good and whats not. its simple. do you want to dance to something or not . end of!
search your feelings you know it to be true. OBI spence never told you what happened to your father you can destroy this message board, mark has forseen it if you only knew the power of the old skool
