SIMON REYNOLDS DISCUSSES CURRENT DANCE MUSIC IN TODAY'S NY TIMES

Baz Luhrman?

another thing to note, is that european musics track record in america, as far as popularity goes, has been iffy at best, with a few short periods of large success, with vast deserts of indifference between.

im not sure that simon has really got to grips with hip hop at all, i feel sometimes he is looking at hip hop through dance (or house, if you object to the usage of the word dance in this context) glasses, and im not sure where that really gets us

right, and the electronica 'invasion' of '97 has really proven to be no more seismic on reflection than the period in the early 90s when EMF, Carter and Jesus Jones all scored massive hits Stateside.

even before 1996?

No, just the "Firestarter" stuff (the only things to do well here in the US).

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T-shirt?

Simon Reynolds complains too much.

Gareth otm about schemas and stuff.

Other thing that occurs to me is that jaded ex-raver ecstasy burnout types get v v nostalgic for their clubbing heydays when they were in huge barns full of thousands and thousands of people all feeling the vibe and it was IMPORTANT, damn it.

Newsflash, fucker, you were ON DRUGS. Perception did not equal reality.

Having said that, it is pretty much impossible to overstate the importance of clubbing to euro youth culture. But that is inseparable from two things. 1) drugs. and 2) Europeans need drugs in order to get that whole conviviality thing going that comes so naturally to americans. so OF COURSE taking lots of ecstasy and losing the plot for 6 hours is/was bigger in Europe.

Also, point 3: economics. In Europe it's CHEAPER to take drugs than it is to drink, because most Es are made in Holland, and competition keeps the price at around the cost of a pill at the equivalent of 2 pints of lager. So, again, popularity of drug music? Unsurprising. Contrast the US where it's fucking hard for 16 year olds to get a hold of alcohol or get into clubs, but very easy and cheap for them to buy pot. Popularity of hip hop? Unsurprising...

I donno about that one, but otherwise probably otm.

2002 Nickelback, "How You Remind Me"
2001 Crazy Town, "Butterfly"
2000 Creed, "With Arms Wide Open"
2000 Matchbox Twenty, "Bent"
2000 Vertical Horizon, "Everything You Want"
2000 Santana, "Maria Maria"
2000 Savage Garden, "I Knew I Loved You"
1999 Santana f/Rob Thomas, "Smooth"
1998 Barenaked Ladies, "One Week"
1998 Aerosmith, "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing"

Bill -- there's a Wikipedia page that lists all the number ones.

btw I bet all the detroit techno dudes are fans of "toys in the attic" or something.

And I think the extent to which some dance music is dedicated to being made for dancing goes way beyond the extent of the same in hiphop. And if that´s going to be read as a value judgement then rest assured it´s no more than a personal one.

That's a pretty dire list of #1s. Of those, the only ones I really like are Crazytown, Vertical Horizon, and "Smooth".

hahaha!

oh whoa there I am fairly sure I am of the generation of dancekids that have a reverence for disco, whether that´s based on actual knowledge or not. ie even if my disco knowledge is not impressive beyond a goodish sense of italo.

I think the reasoning is that hip-hop displaced any chance of the euro-definition of dance music from making it in the states.

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