TS: THE UPPER CUTS vs. UNCLASSICS

"she was standin on the corner all tits and ass/little heifer wasnt waitin for the bus to pass" is the best couplet ever.

so: Unclassics.

the whole concept is just lame to begin with, like the "ultra rare funk breaks from unknown midwestern labels" scam that gets pushed on undie rap fans, except for dance fans. yeah, great, it's SO AMAZING that FORGOTTEN CRAP can be MODERATLEY LISTENABLE. except this should be no surprise to anybody, because this has already been proven true for many other genres: bubblegum, psychedelic rock, dub reggae, etc

derrick harriot's "black skinned blue eyed boys" - which made such a big impression that tom bullock (of rub'n'tug) + dj harvey named their new single after it

macho's "not tonight" - which featured prominently on the glimmer twins' new mix

lime's "agent 406" - note to spotters: this is a REAL classic italo rediscovery

arts & crafts - "i've been searching"

two others i have nothing particularly bright to say about: larry wood - "pumping iron" and vinzerelli - "skate dancer"

and so on and so forth ... yes, unclassics is obscurer-than-thou, even compared to something like "skate dancer" ... but who cares when most of these tracks are also unavailable on disc, and when the tracks are so much better?!?

"margherita" is not classic, unless you mean CLASSIC POOP!!!!!

on the other hand, upper cuts has three or four epochal anthems ("running", "at night" remix, "rubicon", and of course, the peerless "music sounds better with you"), two or three truly awesome functional house tracks ("intro", "palladium", "vertigo") a couple forgettable tracks and one piece of garbage french-produced g-funk.

HOUSE MUSIC FUNDAMENTALISM

i pick the upper cuts because it's one of my favorites from this year, easily one of my most-played of the year. i also think it really works as an album unlike tommy upthread. i can't argue with french touch stadium house that is so well-executed (fake g-funk duly noted and excepted from this argument)...aside from music sounds better with you and maybe rubicon, it is very conceptual and imaginary which i also love. this album and songs like amerie's "one thing" are what got me through the year when the bulk of the other music i listened to, eulogized and loved was really melancholy underneath the sparkling exteriors.

unclassics is awesome, but a total curio that i never play. great TS.

um. because it SUCKS?

Vahid, my very real enthusiasm for it has nothing to do with hipster irony, you patronising twat.

yeah, i don't really care why you like it or not - or even if you like it or not! - so you shouldn't feel personally patronised.

also, i guess i shouldn't step to people with DJ FRIENDS who have TWENTY YEARS EXPERIENCE as PAID DJs (so much for trusting my ears!) (you patronising twat)

CAUSE THE WORLD GIVES A SHIT WHAT VAHID THINKS

AND HE THINKS UNCLASSICS SUCKS

that is quite funny

what's the point of having t/s - let alone what's the point of having a messageboard - if people are going to feel personally attacked every time i point out that i think a dj mix, or a record label, or a genre or whatever sucks?

Having said that, I think unclassics was terminally dull. I really wanted to like it, because, hey, I LIKE being shown forgotten crap which is often more than just moderately listenable. It's dull, however, because the tracks are dull. NOT because Geist is a hipster darling or because there is anything fundamentally wrong with the concept behind it.

And for the record, Joey Negro has put out some truly awful compilations in the past too.

But then Upper Cuts is even duller. I can never see Braxe as anything other than a lame retread of Daft Punk, Etienne de Crecy and Motorbass records that were fantastic 10 years ago but have paled through being pissed on constantly for the last 10 years by Erick Morillo and his ilk.

As far as I can see Braxe is identical to any other by-numbers continental filterhouse assembly line it's just that for some inexplicable reason the interweb has seized on him.

One concession is that Intro is great.

you didn't hear "subliminal session five"? you didn't realize subliminal was one of the best tribal/progressive labels in america, if not the best? you don't thank god every day he signed/discovered harry choo choo romero?

you don't like to MOVE IT MOVE IT?

Hey, for exactly the same transatlantic disconnect that means that you see german house/techno as whiteboy trend-fodder, I basically see subliminal records releases as the worst kind of provincial cattle-farm soundtrack.

I'm also sick to death of Singapore djs hammering NOTHING BUT subliminal records EVEN NOW and ignoring virtually every other shade of house.

I'll give you "Reach" though, and the 'more' mix was the best one on the 12. Great breakdown.

"what's the point of having t/s - let alone what's the point of having a messageboard - if people are going to feel personally attacked every time i point out that i think a dj mix, or a record label, or a genre or whatever sucks?"

Vahid you may well be right about everything ever, but you're least convincing as an advocate for the music you like when you start frothing at the mouth and accusing all and sundry of being ironic hipster poseurs etc. It's not about whether or not you should be allowed to express your opinion and entirely about which arguments are interesting and persuasive and which arguments are just designed to put people's backs up and shut down the possibility of an interesting and enjoyable discussion (but hey, this is ILM, which is all about shutting down interesting and enjoyable discussions, so what do I know).

I was just about to search down any random thread where you had recommended the Doc Martin Fabric mix and say wow you were right this is really good, and then I read a thread like this and I feel like keeping my mouth shut just to spite you. Which is utterly stupid, and it pisses me off that I end up having such stupid and divisive thoughts after reading threads like these when most of the time I'm really quite enthusiastic about getting to grips with where you're coming from (hence me buying the Doc Martin mix in the first place).

also, he's probably the only dance music "critic" i can think of with any personality these days.

Xpost

Well that's a no-brainer. But then Vahid on Beat Research has been the best music writing of the year probably and is also much less recriminatory...

But...but...the Mad Stuntman isn't On Zig & Zag's 'Them Girls Them Girls'!

Jacob I have downloaded and responded - thanks for that!

should i do a close reading of mark pytlik's review of unclassics as a case study? i really don't think my accusations are utterly baseless, though i'd rather avoid anybody else catching feelings over this silliness.

(esp mark p, who is one of the few pitchfork writers i rate and a fine human being to boot)

i think i like the upper cuts so much because i never really od'ed on braxe to begin with and he seems to not oversaturate the market with releases. so, the upper cuts was the first chance to have everything in one place. for these reasons, it doesn't seem nostalgic to me at all. (except MSBWY)

Suffice to say, I currently have the disco fever bad. Can anyone offer me suggestions of more stuff to check out in this vein?

amazing thread

CAUSE THE WORLD GIVES A SHIT WHAT VAHID THINKS

AND HE THINKS UNCLASSICS SUCKS

― vahid (vahid), Thursday, December 22, 2005 6:28 AM (6 years ago)

<3

i like unclassics tho, and the upper cuts, and the kings of disco

awww lil trip down memory lane

unclassics is total bottom-of-the-barrel scraping, imo. all those flemming dallum mixes on panama racing are way better

how often does blank poop on himself with 'holier than thou' rage? i've lost count.

I was such a silly little bitch in this thread. Never change Vahid.