I Was (obviously) far too young to go to jungle nights back in the day but I've always wondered where the majority of experimental junglists gravitated to. I mean, techno/IDM/Noise/Industrial (as a scene) has remained techno since its inception, and some of the people I meet at techno nights have done the whole lost/the orbit/house of God scene — when it was de rigueur for a club to pack in a thousand people or so. The core contingent has remained, as it were. But there was a tipping point with jungle around 97/98 where garage usurped its position, and then grime/dubstep, and then funky, and now. Well I don't know. I guess Simon Reynolds' thesis is starting to lose validity, given the 10 billion poststructural contours of 2013 UK soundsystem music.
I've never really put much thought to it. As long as there's a good DJ, a decent sound system and an atmosphere, I'm in my element. Like a pig in shit. After a few drinks it's less about the tunes more about that night's particular antics. If you're out with a good set of mates keeping each other up, any soundtrack will do. The mood travels with you. We used to go wherever was open, see whatever was on, end up where we ended up.
Y'know, back before extended licenses when the clubs used to close at 2am, we'd always end up in Jilly's rock world. That place was open until 6-7am. Great crowd there. Punks, goths, biker types, grunge kids, before the smoking ban and before emo started dominating. We'd rave to industrial metal or go mental in the mosh room just to squeeze a few more hours out of the night, then jump on the early train back home (or sometimes even to work). Good times. Damn shame that place closed down.
Yeah, preconceptions, I would surmise. Whenever I'm in a photek mood I seem to want to roll a skunk spliff or snort a line of well gnarly amphetamine. I mean, someone had to make drum and bass sound so technical, precise, inhuman and cold. But that's a revolution in its own right, where the absence of personality leads to the disintegration of a big other fantasy of music having to be soulful/slick, or rude (even). Funnily enough I don't think people like Photek, Source Direct et al were consciously seeking to alienate/elevate people with their music, in comparison to say, Autechre, AFX or Square.
Well, Source Direct were just a couple of kids. I think they probably just wanted to make cool sounds. And since they were uniquely gifted little bastards, ended up creating something truly brilliant. Often these things arise naturally, organically, without any conscious plan. Contrivance can be an art killer.
I really like the fact that during the early-to-mid 90s you had potentially subversive/avant garde music an inch away from the mainstream. Today noone seems to have that cultural kick anymore — I mean, someone needs to tell the kids that Rihanna is just horrible prepubescent pop music. Not even good pop.
I fucking love Rihanna. She can do no wrong in my eyes.
Anyway, another few I'm sure we can agree on:
Adam F - Metropolishttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufcRRtRbSfsDoc Scott - The Unofficial Ghost http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCPP3m3_6KEAlex Reece - Feel The Sunshinehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqp8gDPmyBI
Topic: Raving Kafirs !! (trance, house, electro, techno)