From martin burbridge Sent Wed, Sep 30th 1998, 12:42
From martin burbridge Sent Wed, Sep 30th 1998, 12:42
have to reply to this as you don't seem to have this problem in europe. > The problem is that with electronic dance music hitting a wider > audience, touring artists (and their labels, promoters, etc) are torn > between playing "parties" (i.e., DJ gigs with people mostly dancing) and > playing "concerts" along the traditional rock/jazz model (a bunch > of people > face an onstage personality and *maybe* there's some dancing). > And yet lots > of shows of celebrity producer/artists are modeled after rock shows. the artists should not be torn at all. amon tobin is a dj who makes dj music on a dj label founded by djs. the only possible way to go w/ this in a live setting is as a dj playing a club/dance gig. now i'm not sure who was responsible for the *rock show* setting that was there, but it seems to be the accepted wisdom in america that if someone plays 'live' than they do it on stage w/ the audience looking at them. i've been to gigs of all descriptions and typically the audience does more watching than dancing, elsewhere its different. a big word to aless for making the very explicit connection between squarepusher and dancing the other day. it often gets lost over here, but the very reason most of this music was made was for the dancefloor, even some of the more experimental stuff. i blame the collective trauma of disco myself, a kind of cultural and aesthetic vietnam of the '70s. i wouldn't be surprised if coppoloa was in the studio making "cocaine + flares now" to go w/ the other disco-era purge movies out at the moment. did aphex lie on a couch anywhere else in the world or was it a reaction to being put on a rock stage w/ nearly everyone stood motionless watching him? > IDM has had it up to here with the "is DJing an art" question, an > argument which I will argue fervently in the affirmative. However, is > beatmatching/party DJing fun to *watch*? Nah. Does being "live" > make it any > better than if it were just done for a mix tape in a studio? > Sometimes, but > usually not. The whole paradigm of what our "scene" can be on a tour needs > to be defined a little more independently from the rock scene it has been > emulating recently. if its a dj go to dance, if its squarepusher or aphex go to dance like a lunatic, if its dhr go to mosh, if its oval go to scratch yer chin and hear it louder than at home, if its v/vm take tranquilisers (after the "birdy song" they've added "mouldy old dough" to their arsenal sonic cheese warfare), if you must go and see crystal method stay in the bathroom w/ your head in the toilet. whatever, go to watch and you are going to be disappointed. and i don't count reprazent as they are awful. > > I *totally* agree with Amon's attitude about this. The next logical > question then, is, why is he touring at all? ever tried dancing in your living room on your own? \\<||-:rant ??//end...sorry for taking your time::.> -martin