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

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SAY IT LOUD, I LOVE RAP & I'M PROUD
ROCK MUSIC IS A THING OF THE PAST
SO ALL YOU LONG HAIRED FAGGOTS CAN KISS MY ASS

-- Schoolly D, "I Hate Rock And Roll" (1986)

donut christ (donut), Monday, 24 January 2005 04:43 (nineteen years ago) link

hahaha schooly d rules. he is the rockingest hiphop dude.

hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 24 January 2005 04:46 (nineteen years ago) link

I can't help but think that I'm an example of the typical American dance music (or electronica, or whatever the hell it's being called) listener. I think this thread articulates pretty much every insecurity about a portion of my music interests for a few years when I was doing more consuming than conspicuous listening and feeling that I was really into dance music, or electronica, or whatever the hell I called it. Shame.

mike h. (mike h.), Monday, 24 January 2005 04:47 (nineteen years ago) link

xpost to hstencil: Given that "The Signifying Rapper" (some Smoke Some Kill) is basically a cover of "Kashmir" with Schoolly D just talking over it, I'm sure "I Hate Rock And Roll" was pure hyperbole.. although reading this 1986 era interview on the back of the Say It Loud, I Love Rap, and I'm Proud 2-LP reissue, he does have some issues about hip hop vs. rock music at the time. Interesting read..

donut christ (donut), Monday, 24 January 2005 04:48 (nineteen years ago) link

"Because RUM DMC play rock & roll, everyone expects us to do the same. But I'm concerned with my own personal rights & feelings and I'm just taking rock and roll back to the rawness from which it came which is virtually rap. I'm also dealing with the hypocrisy in rock & roll. Everyone comments on the violence in hip hop and the fact that I make no secret of carrying a gun but everyone in America carries one including old ladies. They say that wherever you play hip hop it gets violent but we've been playing in front of rock audiences with Big Audio Dynamite and their reaction of throwing things and spitting on us to show their appreciation just confirms what I'm singing. And look at groups like Led Zeppelin and those other freaky long haired guys who were breaking up their equipment on stage and in hotels. I am proud of the honest of my rap."

-- Schoolly D (1986)

donut christ (donut), Monday, 24 January 2005 04:53 (nineteen years ago) link

Haha, I like the idea of rude Big Audio Dynamite fans..

"FUCK YOU ASSHOLE! E = MC SQUARED!! THE OTHER NINETY NINE!! FUCK THESE BLACK GUYS!!"

donut christ (donut), Monday, 24 January 2005 04:54 (nineteen years ago) link

xpost - man he is the best.

hahaha i like the idea of big audio dynamite fans. that shit sure didn't age well.

hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 24 January 2005 04:55 (nineteen years ago) link

I'll fully admit that there's a good mini-LP of great songs in the B.A.D. catalogue... *tries hard not to smirk* and they actually had a great acid house b-side circa their most hated album Megatop Phoenix.. then again, I haven't heard it in ages, and it may not have dated well either.

donut christ (donut), Monday, 24 January 2005 04:59 (nineteen years ago) link

i think my brother loved megatop phoenix.

hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:00 (nineteen years ago) link

I reread gen ecstasy the other day and its amazing how much it affected the way i look at music as an outsider to this european dance culture.

To sum up my feelings about this article, though...I'd rather just listen to "Weak Become Heroes."

djdee2005 (djdee2005), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:01 (nineteen years ago) link

F-PUNK! (xpost)

donut christ (donut), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:01 (nineteen years ago) link

god some of the stuff on this thread, as I read through.

the phrase "dance music" would not exist to Americans if it wasn´t for house/techno etc. it´s not even an American term, so less of the co-opting it for ludicrous argument please.

Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:04 (nineteen years ago) link

i was seriously thinkng of "c'mon every beatbox" earlier today.

hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:04 (nineteen years ago) link

house and techno are american, ronan!

hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:05 (nineteen years ago) link

the phrase "dance music" would not exist to Americans if it wasn´t for house/techno etc. it´s not even an American term, so less of the co-opting it for ludicrous argument please.

huh?!

djdee2005 (djdee2005), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:06 (nineteen years ago) link

I get such weird feelings from things Reynolds' book and the Harvard class. Reading and discussing music that's classified as "dance" seems to really blow away some of the context. Has anyone written anything on exactly how people dance to particular music? Even better, archival video.

mike h. (mike h.), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:07 (nineteen years ago) link

Europeans invented dancing!

Mike O. (Mike Ouderkirk), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:08 (nineteen years ago) link

x-post

Mike O. (Mike Ouderkirk), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:09 (nineteen years ago) link

Half the foundation of dance music, period, is James Brown.. as American as you can get. If anybody in the dance music arena even attempts to deny this...

donut christ (donut), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:09 (nineteen years ago) link

Hold on, let's not misinterpret Ronan here...I still think he's wrong, but I don't think he's claiming European origins for house and techno.

djdee2005 (djdee2005), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:11 (nineteen years ago) link

there was no genre called ´dance music´ until electronic dance music came along. and Europe defined this, regardless of where the tunes that were being played were from.

that´s why this silly tacking on of hiphop onto the name is so stupid, the entire thing came from electronic music, house or techno or whatever. people did not simply say ´dance music´ beforehand. dance music is a specific genre name. it does not have exclusive privilege in terms of being a style of record people dance to.

in other news, rock music is not all that rocks. many people who make country are from the city. NOT ALL VACUUM CLEANERS ARE HOOVERS.

Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:11 (nineteen years ago) link

xpost -

no he's not, but he's claiming european origins for the phrase "dance music" in reference to house and techno, which is kinda silly. before house and techno got to europe, did the people in the states who played it and listened to it not think of it as dance music or even call it that? i doubt it.

hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:12 (nineteen years ago) link

stencil, it doesn´t matter if it was Europeans or American dance producers, the point is that you guys are wondering why an article about ´dance music´ doesn´t mention hiphop, when as you admit the very phrase came about as a result of house/techno.

there was no such genre as dance music until dance music.

Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:14 (nineteen years ago) link

Ronan, you're sounding very desperate now. "Dance music" was definitely used in the 60s when James Brown was at his prime.

This whole argument of specific terminology is extremely silly, actually.

donut christ (donut), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:15 (nineteen years ago) link

Well this argument is getting pretty stupid and i thought we discussed this all upthread - regardless of the origins of the term "dance music" ronan and SR are obviously using it to refer to a specific culture/group of aesthetics.

We've already gone over the scores of reasons that hip-hop is America's own version of European dance music in this thread - it was pushed to rock audiences, it was not a grassroots movement, and because, yes, Americans were getting their dance groove fix from hip-hop and pop music.

djdee2005 (djdee2005), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:15 (nineteen years ago) link

er - the "it" refers to dance.

djdee2005 (djdee2005), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:16 (nineteen years ago) link

there was no such genre as dance music until dance music.

bullshit:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_music

hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:16 (nineteen years ago) link

http://blissout.blogspot.com/

includes "Some paragraphs that got lost but give some context and nuance"

djdee2005 (djdee2005), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:18 (nineteen years ago) link

Wow, it was a good thing those paragraphs didn't made it to the final article.

donut christ (donut), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:21 (nineteen years ago) link

To be honest, I don't think the article was that bad; it's restating the obvious (although there's nothing wrong w/ a state of the nation piece for NY Times readers, obviously) and I wish it would have delved more meaningfully into why America rejected European dance (bottom up vs. top down, labels pushing it to rock fans, lack of a realistic country-wide rave network and easily commandeered farms, the existence of successfully and artistically vibrant forms such as hip-hop and dance pop) but on the whole I think he made a good argument for where "dance" as it's known by european culture stands today.

djdee2005 (djdee2005), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:23 (nineteen years ago) link

Also, the term "halcyon days" to define America's, erm, "love affiar" with european dance seems a bit overstated.

djdee2005 (djdee2005), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:24 (nineteen years ago) link

hstencil, I´m talking about in the public consciousness. wikipedia link is a seriously rubbish contradiction in that respect.

I agree with donut bitch, on one matter, the whole argument is silly. I can´t understand why Americans act so ridiculously about a genre name which so obviously means electronic music.
once again.

And America`s own version of ´dance music´ may well be hiphop, but then clearly hiphop is not ´dance music´, in the last 20 years this phrase simply is house and techno etc. Once again I have to stress the fact that you can dance to two types of music is not a strong enough characteristic to lump them in together.


you simply can´t argue that since hiphop is America´s equivalent of dance music then no article about dance music should exclude hiphop. it´s like determined ignorance, ´dance music does not exist here, because hiphop is actually dance music´.

The culture is not the same, the people making it are not the same, the ideas are not the same, the consumption is not the same. They´re completely fucking different and there´s no sense in criticising people for writing about why that scene did not work in America.

Simon is a dance writer, heaven forbid Americans read about another culture.

Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:25 (nineteen years ago) link

ihttp://cheston.com/pbf/PBF034ADShotgunSettle.html

djdee2005 (djdee2005), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:25 (nineteen years ago) link

A couple of forms of dance music that's still yet to be reacknowledged by the dance music crit section is Industrial/EBM and New Beat. (Wax Trax! fodder essentially) They were easy genres to make fun of, and mostly for good reason. But there was an amazing amount of innovation in that music, dare I say moreso than early rave music circia 1988-1992? It kinda pisses me off when people write about dance music pretend those genres never existed and it "all started" with the specific attached rave culture, which I honestly didn't give a shit about as much as the music involved.

This is just an irrational pet peeve of mine, so never mind me.

donut christ (donut), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:26 (nineteen years ago) link

i think it would've been more successful if it just described those newer dudes like Tiefschwarz and LCD more, and less about the context he perceives them to be in. But hey, that's me.

hiphop comes from disco which is dance music! dance music isn't a genre, it's a few of 'em all put together. it doesn't mean anything or even describe anything on its own.

hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:26 (nineteen years ago) link

Ronan, no one's arguing that they're not completely different, just that hip-hop's existence made a different european dance cultural invasion somewhat redundant. It required massive grassroots change to be meaningful, and for many reasons it never had that groundswell.

djdee2005 (djdee2005), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:27 (nineteen years ago) link

donut you're on the mark as regards to those genres, which were sort of (in a very very specious sense) the white counterparts to early house and techno. And I don't doubt that there was a lot of cross-inspiration.

hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:28 (nineteen years ago) link

Let's not forget Patrick Cowley and Megatone Records! They kinda helped provide that bridge between the final days of disco and the earliest days of house and techno... (Moroder did too, as did a lot of New Wave music from Europe, by all means.)

donut christ (donut), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:32 (nineteen years ago) link

and the Italians!

Mike O. (Mike Ouderkirk), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:33 (nineteen years ago) link

How could there not have been such inspiration? Wax Trax was IN CHICAGO. (I'm not saying this against you, Stence, but against anyone who misses this salient fact -- I'm very much with Donut about being annoyed by this exclusion.)

Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:35 (nineteen years ago) link

well, again, history is written by the "winners." as far as i know about what's left of industrial culture, it seems to have mutated into goth and/or the more folky stuff. but wait, didn't skinny puppy put out a new record or something?

hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:36 (nineteen years ago) link

i mean i would certainly like to hear somebody throw on front line assembly's "isolate" in a "dance music" set.

hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:37 (nineteen years ago) link

Well, there are a lot of laptop guys who very much admit to being influenced by Skinny Puppy, Severed Heads, and the like... but laptop music isn't really "electronic dance music" exactly.

And yeah, Skinny Puppy did put out a new album. In fact, there's that video... with the breakdancing goths. (I'm not joking.)

donut christ (donut), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:39 (nineteen years ago) link

HOWEVER, you have to admit a lot of European influence onto Wax Trax as well.. Cabaret Voltaire, Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft, Fad Gadget, Human League, Art Of Noise, Yello, etc.

donut christ (donut), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:40 (nineteen years ago) link

lest we speak of Nitzer Ebb, the best DAF tribute band ever...

donut christ (donut), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:42 (nineteen years ago) link

and don't get me started on Meat Beat Manifesto and Renegade Soundwave... as far helping me to bridge from Wax Trax to hip hop.. that's a feat... not to mention MBM and RSW's accomplishments in the 80s being acknowledged but rarely explored by most of the dance culture mindset. (Both English, originally, although both bands had weird early rock roots: Jack Dangers was in a Captain Beefheart type band called Perennial Divide, and Gary Asquith was the singer/doom-chanter in a Swans type band called Rema Rema)

donut christ (donut), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:48 (nineteen years ago) link

i never really thot of nitzer ebb as dance music until the cold winter night 2 years ago when my friend found "belief" and a buncha perlon 12"s outside luxx with a mysterious white powder all over them.

xpost - mbm had quite an influence on idm as well, as i recall.

hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:49 (nineteen years ago) link

A couple of forms of dance music that's still yet to be reacknowledged by the dance music crit section is Industrial/EBM and New Beat.

Yeah, that is a shame. Even with stuff like Thomas P. Heckmann (striking similarities to Nitzer Ebb) and Ritchie Hawtin's Nitzer Ebb sampling on "Decks, EFX, and 909" sitting RIGHT THERE.

MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:51 (nineteen years ago) link

The reason for all my jibber jabber is basically to underscore that dance music exists in as many forms as, um, races of human beings. It's especially silly to take ONE GUY's article so seriously, when he's clearly not "travelled" recently enough to garner the attention the recent articles are getting, in my humble opinion, as much as I respect this man's take on dance music in much larger timeframes in past articles.

donut christ (donut), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:53 (nineteen years ago) link

But I'll stop being boring. Can I go, like, totally Franki Brones on SR right now?? We have to get some excitement going...

donut christ (donut), Monday, 24 January 2005 05:54 (nineteen years ago) link


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