taking sides: dfa vs bemusic

bemusic

DFA

haha well done

grrreat thread!

The interesting thing about this comparison is not who is better, but simply the fact that either way DFA probably are the closest thing we have to a Bemusic currently - actually put The Rapture's "Olio" and Section 25's "Looking From A Hilltop" back to back and they don't sound all that different, either sonically or in underlying philosophy.

I think Bemusic inevitably have to win, both for New Order's actual pop hits (the closest thing to one for DFA might be "I Need Your Love" and even then only relative to the rest of their work) and because their production approach was more exciting in that it wasn't so retro-styled. But this doesn't really reflect badly on DFA, who I think have done really well within the parameters they've set for themselves. The difficulty for them is that the best dance music ("dance" in the narrow sense) at the moment is to varying degrees retro-slanted so it's much harder in this context to sound cutting edge (unless it's cutting edge retro, which I think with stuff like "Yeah" DFA have shown they can be - and certainly getting DFA stuff remixed by the likes of Pearson, Tiefschwarz, Morgan Geist and Playgroup demonstrates they're aware of the playing field).

Where they *can* learn from Bemusic's example is to continue to completely blur the line between dance and rock in a manner that's continually morphing and keeping "up-to-date" with dance music (if not in a revolutionary sense). As much as it's a good model to work with, I think the !!!-style post-Talking Heads percussive dub punk model is probably not one they should stick with in the future as it allows them to get tied down to a particular brand of retro-fetishism too easily. It sounds more mercenary, but I reckon they'd be better served attempting to keep abreast of the developments in dance and then incorporating that into their more rock-flavoured style. "Yeah" is a good example of how if you jump on a bandwagon early enough it doesn't sound like bandwagon-jumping at all.

yay tim!

(i don't think i really meant to pit them against one another, but i did think the comparison apt)

i think "developments" these days in dance ought to be being completely ignored.

jonathan, I love you, and your record label, but there's no contest. Tim, I love The Rapture's Olio but I don't think it could be any more different then Looking From a Hilltop.

Dan obv they're in different genres but I think both songs go for a similar sort of effect in terms of the way they approach enclosing a rock band in a dance shell.

I'm v. glad that "Olio" and "I Need Your Love" sound more influenced by early Frankie Knuckles and 808 State rather than Bemusic's electro - if "Olio" *was* a straight descendent to "Looking From A Hilltop" it wouldn't be nearly so interesting.

"olio" = "let's get brutal"

Ha ha yes. I'm waiting for the DFA "Track With No Name" though...