My thing is...at the end of the day...house/techno is party music! As philisophical as i like to get with it...i don't like to get
My thing is...at the end of the day...house/techno is party music! As philisophical as i like to get with it...i don't like to get too analytical about it.
In 2015 you have so many sides of the dance music equation.
You have your traditional scenes in new york, jersey, detroit, chicago whicb pretty much are a continuation of what's been going on since the 80s...hell the 70s with disco. The same djs that pioneered the game are still around...and honestly it's necessary for them to be there.
Then you have the vogue/ballroom scene here...which is very gay lesbian bi transgender. But lets not forget house originally came from the gay black subculture...so you cant really have house without a recognition of those elements. Do not get me wrong...but it's a different world there. Where its all about being fashionable glamorous etc. They have walkoffs (basically a dance style competition) and vogue dancing contests (Ive actually thought about entering one cause people win money and I have my background in house dancing from breakdancing back in the day) I mention this because there is dope music coming from that scene. DJ Mike Q is probably the godfather of this whole scene and he spins parties in Manhattan all the time. The whole vogue/ballroom scene pretty much owes it's life to "The Ha Dance" by Masters at Work...the main elememt that defines it being the vocal samples throughout the record and a certain beat style that lets you know its ballroom (the vocal sample actually comes from a scene from Trading Places with Dan Akroyd and eddie murphy). It originated here in new york...but with the internet you have producers like L-Vis 1990 and Kingdom appropriating elements of it to put it in a more mainstream yet underground edm fashion.
You have your techno scene filled with techno nerds who all are on resident advisor have their favorite labels, producers, djs...it gets very involved with the technological side of things (CLR, M_nus, Drumcode, etc)...it can get cliquey but its still dope music coming from there.
-Then you have this new deep house scene (deep house is my number 1 favorite electronic music genre) which stems from the works of old school producers and djs like Kerri Chandler up to new people like Moomin and Smallpeople.
This is what I'm focusing on now. I dug it cause it's very emotional music and focuses on connecting the mind body and soul. My thing is I like to explore with sounds and connect the newer works from producers in Europe to the old Detroit and Chicago works. And throw 90s stuff in the mix alongside deep tech house records, dub techno, dub, minimal, and even ambient.
-Then you have club scene in jersey but according to
@Grizzly many of those producers and djs seem to be moving to just house. I like that stuff cause its mad bass heavy and has that different triplet/5th bass kick snare pattern and as a west indian alot of that stuff reminds me of carribean music with the drums and kind of military sounding. Started in Baltimore. Shouts to DJ Rod Lee, Griff, Booman, etc. K-Swift (RIP) she was pretty much the most important producer and dj in the scene and probably on another level influential to alot of producers outside of club...like Diplo, Brodinski, Boys Noize etc. Around 2007-2010 I noticee that the club shyt was getting burn from people like Diplo (that actually sold me on him back in 2008) SebastIAN, Mr. OIZO, and Steve Aoki at festivals. When i was blogging and mixing back then i was actually shocked at how many heads from across the pond fukked with it and that's why i was trying to promote it heavy. I always like mixing a club joint or two in a set...it gets people hyped!
-then you have the trance scene which...honestly aside from a couple of DJs (sasha and john digweed primarily...and paul van dyk, paul oakenfold, timo mass, and tiesto back in the day) i could never get into. Armin Van Burren has his moments unfortunately for the most part he doesnt do the deep house tech house trance mixes he does on ASOT live...he's as mainstream as it gets. Above and Beyond? I think their stage shows are awesome but they do edm kiddie trance for kids who like to sing along to Skrillex's "Cinema".
-Then you have your Trap scene...which is what dubstep eventually became. I was all about mixing southern rap with dubstep back in the day...so I was all about Trap as a genre when it first came out...there are parts of me that still want to just break into trap during a set...then mix that with juke.
-Juke/Footwork. Chicago. I love this stuff cause the producers and main djs behind that scene have progressed so much in such a short period of time. I remember just knowing about DJ Slugo's " Godzilla" as my first introduction to juke...but that was actually produced by RP Boo. And he is credited as the godfather of juke and the architect of this current Teklife movement (which includes DJ Earl, DJ Rashad RIP, DJ Manny, DJ Diamond etc). Juke has been getting that overseas love though now. Planet Mu records put out a bunch of juke records from DJ Nate, Dj rashad and others. And hyperdub (exceptional dubstep label from the uk) has been putting out mad chicago juke producers on their label now. Kode9 (head honcho at Hyperdub) has been putting juke heavy in his mixes. His Rinse FM 22 mix cd is t*ts! Nearly the whole second part of the mix is juke!
I don't care what anybody says...dropping juke after some trap...
gets the crowd going. I've noticed too as well producers mixing juke with jungle and it sounds amazing÷
-Then you just have your commercial EDM scene which honestly as a fan of electronic music im into...but as a 31 year old i feel too old for it. The states when it comes to festivals isnt that great. Don't get me wrong...there are still great producers and djs at those playing...but it's so commercial and from coming up in the scene in the 90s a straight up b*stardized version of what made that so special.
i love house
