Is dance music really in the doldrums as many people claim it to be?

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Many have proclaim that dance music is in a rut, given that dance music is a broad category I disagree with that statement. What do you guys think about this?

― MICHELINE, Monday, 20 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

NO.

― Andy K, Monday, 20 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Radio 5 says it's out of fashion so that's enough for me.

― N., Monday, 20 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

The B-52s first album is unerasable

― Tracer Hand, Monday, 20 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Certainly not.

― Rick, Monday, 20 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

No, crossover dance might be slightly, but dance isn't.

― Ronan, Monday, 20 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

ME SEEN NUFF OF U FASSYGEEK WITH TA MUCH TIME PLAYIN ON KEYBOARD WIT DEM PIECE OF SHIT LIKE DEM DILDO TING U GET FOR DEM INTANET POONTANG FLEX. U KNOW WHAT IM TALKIN BOUT I SEEN DEM VIDEO WIT 2 CHICHI WIT REMOTE CONTROL DILDA FLEXIN EACH OTHER OVER NET. LISTEN ME BREDRIN IM BEEN LONG TIME ON STRATFORD REX, MY BREDRIN RUDEBOY WESLEY TELL ME BOUT DEM CHICHI BOY LIKE YOU. TRY STEP TO ME ILL DICE U UP FASS.

DONT TEST EAST LONDON NIGGAZ TRUS YOU FASSYMAN DONT NAH NUTTIN U THINK BRIXTON HOME OF YARDA. ONLY YARDA BWOY DOWN THAT SLUM BE DEM HEROIN FASS DAT SO SKINNY FROM ALL DAT CHICHI SEX DAY HAVE.

i should say not.

― jess, Monday, 20 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Ok, but which genres are exciting, evolving, spinnig off fresh classics whenever you go clubbing? And which are currently dormant, sounding just like last couple of years every time you hear them?

― phil, Monday, 20 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

" known ya all my life don't know ya name, ma name's european bob - pleased ta meetcha yeah sorted, likewise a pleasure...have a dance now see ya later...they could settle wars with this if only they will, imagine the world's leaders on pills then imagine the mornin after... but this aint tomorrow for now i still love ya..."

the streets! the streets!! the fuckin streets !!!

― piscesboy, Monday, 20 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

microhouse microhouse microhouse microhouse microhouse microhouse microhouse microhouse microhouse microhouse

― M Matos, Monday, 20 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"Deck the House" decked the house on Saturday. Everyone looks around with lost eyes but when the bass comes in they just breathe out WHOOOSH and suddenly these discombobulated randomnesses are cohered instantly, like a fabulous explainer who makes sense of your zigzaggy day.

― Tracer Hand, Monday, 20 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

What is microhouse, by the way?

― MICHELINE, Monday, 20 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

watch it jess me and hunta-d got it kriss in the msn chat rooms we see everyfing that goes down na mang dare test u get diced up fass

d&b is definately firing right now, UK garage has hit rock bottom with musical mobb's pulse X, "funky house" as it's called is stuck in a rut and the 80s electrowave revival are it's tyres spinning furiously trying in vain to escape.. the whole neptunes/timbaland thing is getting old as far as hiphop goes, hmmm.. "progressive" anything.. everyone realised it's a bunch of boring soulless middle aged white men doing boring soulless white music.. & that sasha is the phil collins of trance

im pickin it like stocks.. uk garage has hit the bottom of the cycle.. i reckon itll come back round in a year or two's time like d&b.. the commercial interest & $$ will evaporate leaving the pioneers and true musicians in the scene and really amazing music will start to emerge. todd edwards, mj cole, zed bias... nuff said really.

― big dapper, Tuesday, 21 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Since when is Drum & Bass back again then? Haven't heard a really outstanding track in years, and certainly not in large numbers (which would be required for any "revival", not?). I mean, the Shy FX single is nice 'n all, but hardly a return to the greatness of "Original Nuttah". Or am I missing something?

― Siegbran Hetteson, Tuesday, 21 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Drum & bass is not so much experiencing a creative revival as a return to populism - on the one hand its general audience has increased in size, and on the other hand it's throwing up one or two singles a month with crossover potential that the dance press fall all over themselves praising (Andy C and Shimon's "Bodyrock", "Shake Ur Body", currently Peshay's "U Got Me Burning" and the rather slamming new version of Origin Unknown's "Truly One"). I think it's a good thing: drum & bass needs to be less hermetic, and quite rightly the singles that are crossing over are the ones throwing (relatively) unusual influences into the mix - "Shake Ur Body" was latin-flavoured, "You Got Me Burning" sounds like fast and intense filtered disco.

Interestingly, with all this genre tourism, the only thing that's staying exactly the same is the use of easy-peasy 2-step breaks. It's like jungle has totally abandoned its original claim to fame and is now more interested in textures and more musical, pop-friendly melodies. One great exception is Aphrodite's return- to-form "All Over Me" which is (yet another) tune built around Barrington Levy's "Under Mi Sensi/Here I Come". It starts off all identikit 2-step breaks but slowly builds into what is perhaps the most rhythmically thick, bristling jungle groove since Roni Size & Die's "11.55". It's a great pop track too. I never thought I'd be excited about a new Aphrodite album, but I sort of am now.

Still, the idea that jungle is creatively more vital than UK Garage at the moment is way off-base.

― Tim, Tuesday, 21 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I'd like to know what he means by "funky house". I mean he could be talking about Kylie Minogues new single or a million other tracks. Does he even know?

― Ronan, Tuesday, 21 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"Addicted to Bass" = pop jungle?

― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 21 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I just want to say that HUNTA-D/Big Dapper (they must be the same human) is my fav poster of the moment. Fasses. *chuckle*

― Alex in SF, Tuesday, 21 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"Addicted to Bass" = pop jungle?

Actually, "Addicted To Bass" = three year old hit by Aussie "electronica" artist = Bomfunk MC's "Freestyler"? (which = not that bad the first fifty times). But yeah, it also = pop jungle.

― Tim, Tuesday, 21 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I was listening to that new Aphrodite album, and it seemed very predictable. I only got halfway through before throwing it on the resale pile. Maybe I'll have to go back and give it another chance.

Hmmm yeah that All Over Me track is alright... but every element on it is so familiar. The vocal sample from "Broader than Broadway"... the "Mentasm" stabs... the hoover bass...

Doesn't anyone else find microhouse so, like, prissy then?

― Ben Williams, Tuesday, 21 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Relatively well known 'house' labels like NRK, 2020Vision, F-Comm, Nuphonic, Pagan, Paper continue to knock out quality tracks that are pushing the 'house' genre on and DJs like Craig Richards, Ian Pooley, Yousef blah blah blah continue to search out new shiat.

People who comment on dance music may well be stuck in a rut but I'm not sure the same applies to the genre itself. I'm of the opinion that people who are 'into' dance music and knock it for being stuck in a rut generally need to get out and dance more...

― Rick, Tuesday, 21 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Doesn't anyone else find microhouse so, like, prissy then?

From what little I've heard - yeah, that's my doubt too.

― Tom, Tuesday, 21 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Rick's otm. Crossover dance is a little on the wane with albums by the Chems and Orbital not quite being as good as past stuff, but if you get your ass out regularly enough there's many many many good singles, more than I have time to name or write about.

― Ronan, Tuesday, 21 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

the new mri innit prissy at all (well, it is but it's also all pop-house rush-tastic at the same time); as discussed elsewhere, at length, on ilm it's almost...blunt. compared to, say, the ak crane cd which is oblique almost to the point of being opaque.

of course the harder/acidic end of the spectrum can be skin- scrapingly nasty.

― jess, Tuesday, 21 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

(cue tim: "no, no...that's all wrong jess.")

― jess, Tuesday, 21 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

(oh, and there was supposed to be one of those winky faces after that. except, you know, i don't roll that way.)

― jess, Tuesday, 21 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

What is meant by 'Progressive'? I'm aware of early 90s 'Progressive House' (things like Spooky if I recall - mainly British, 16ths quantise rather than the shuffle quantise of NY House of the time), but what does 'Progressive' mean now?

― David, Tuesday, 21 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

:…(

― Jules Verne, Tuesday, 21 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I live in the doldrums. I can assure you there is no dancable music to be found.

― 1 1 2 3 5, Tuesday, 21 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Jungle good nowadays is proven by the Dillinja album.

I think something really interesting is going to come out of the sort of place where hard house and trance meet detroit also.

― jacob, Wednesday, 22 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

no, no...that's all wrong jess

I can't help it if I'm right more often than other people.

Tom, Ben, get thee both to a Kompakt Total compilation.

I think something really interesting is going to come out of the sort of place where hard house and trance meet detroit also.

Er.... why?

― Tim, Friday, 24 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

two months pass...

Dance music is too broad a catagory to say 'it is in a rut' House, Trance, UK Garage and all of the other commerciallised shite is on a well deserved downer! BOUT TIME! But then you look at the Drum n Bass scene which IS in its best shape in years in both a creative sense and that its following is getting bigger (And the A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E is getting smaller!)therefore the answer is YES as a whole but thank god for jungle!

― Richard Griffiths, Thursday, 15 August 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

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