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Electronica Out on the Streets and Don’t Even Know What Time it is... Only recently has a great deal of attention been drawn to electronic musics, and as one would imagine it is profit that generates much of the interest. Prior to the rise of rave culture, dance music hasn’t been so pervasively discussed in the mass media since disco’s peak of popularity. “Culturally,” the music kingdoms of big business have been evolving over the last decade trying to hold onto market share as independent record label sales continue to account for a greater portion of total revenues. As we saw with the Academy Awards in 1996, independent producers, distributors, and artists are gaining more exposure and therefore commanding more profitability from their ventures. Independent music has a history of being the product of capitalist-anarchists working within a network of publicity & promotion plans, distribution venues, live performances, studio recordings and store sales - supposedly without ties to large(r) corporations. Savvy marketing executives within the larger corporations have recognized this and created subsidiaries run by artists and producers alike. These labels seek the credibility associated with independence from the larger entities. Though a false pretense, subsidiaries of larger corporations lack one thing that makes independent music important, challenging artistry. As rave and hip hop cultures have risen and subsided over the years, they have both been sluggish to break from their respective circles of “knowns.” As soon as winning formulas become established (i.e. gangsta rap, house), boundaries are drawn around those “successes” that allow the music to be marketed easily to consumers. With boundaries, challenging artistry cannot survive, not even for a minute’s worth of cashier sales. So why has all the gossip about electronica surfaced? A number of small, truly independent record labels have joined forces with the forerunners in DJ culture, club culture, street culture and “the underground” to regain the meaning behind “artist-run labels” - as without these pioneers testing their wares on the turntables of the world, the envelope never gets pushed. By the time Mr. Corporate Accountant has the time to check the spreadsheet and cut the check, DJs around the world have moved on to another sub-sub-culture with its own imagination, its own symbols, its own regimens and routines. Such forerunners at labels like Metalheadz, No U-Turn, Reinforced, V, Warp, and Emotif have taken music to new plateaus if for one reason only, because they can. The population at the center of attention toward the electronic music revolution deserve the praise for working without boundaries, testing new ideas and innovation where it counts, on the dance floor in front of real people. It’s analogous to having a touring band write different songs for a different live set each night and performing them in front of an audience. From that lab-testing they could rewrite parts, rethink their approach and re-examine their live persona. As if each gig was a focus group. Though the formulas and conventions of rock music take longer periods of time to progress, listeners and fans continue to hear the same thing time and again. Whether it be from re-emerging subcultures like garage rock, prog rock, or dark metal - most of the conventions of rock song structure and performance are maintained. Some of the bands that have foraged new ground in rock have twisted it with fresh new ideas such as Yo La Tengo, Stereolab, Labradford, Jessamine, Tortoise, Flying Saucer Attack, Bardo Pond and Füxa. A few synths here, some samples tossed in over there, a drum machine or just via interesting production work - these artists have transformed some of our expectations regarding rock and pop songs. One of the most interesting evolutions currently in progress is dance music mutating into the non-danceable. As Portishead popularized the public’s first venture into trip hop, it also converted bands to emulate them (Hooverphonic, Sneaker Pimps, Morcheeba) - so too are the non-danceable sides of electronic music gaining ground amongst consumers. Jungle producers Panacea, Dom & Roland, Squarepusher, Doc Scott, and Nico/Ed Rush, are among those creating a catalog of releases drenched in heavy bass, difficult breakbeats and eerie samples. Though this side of jungle has its bedmates Hard Step, Tech Step, Jump Up, and “experimental drum & bass” - it is the notion of tricking the listener that 4/4 drum sequences are something other than what they appear. One of the trick’s employed is knocking over the fans with bass LL Cool J never thought his JVC could handle. While still retaining much of jungle’s danceability, dark jungle (or Nico’s term: Drill Out) merges swiftly into a proto-industrial context, though the Wax Trax! fans may have yet to “crossover.” What has crossed over is a merging of dark metal’s sinister appeal, punk rock ethos and the ownership of a sampler - the result is gabba/er. With labels like Digital Hardcore Recordings (DHR) signing US distribution agreements with the Beastie Boys’ Grand Royal, more people will learn what the angry young German kids with synths can extend past their geographic boundaries. Gabba’s ultra fast, dark and adult nature draws the white, shaved-head boys to the raves illuminated by loud bass and laser light. Gabba acts like Annihilator profess that darker and crazier is better for electronica. By sampling adult films and scenes out of Apocalypse Now, gabber presents itself as the sampler equivalent of the guitarist’s grindcore. Naturally speedmetal would have its dance parallel. Subgenres like speedcore are evolving as we speak with the aid of labels like Shockwave and Killout - while established jungle labels like Reinforced release crossover d ‘n’b/gabber by the likes of Vertaxian. It seems as attention toward electronica grows, the record buying public will be learning more about the continuum that exists. Along this continuum right now, pop music like St. Etienne may be on one side and scare-core artists like Soldiers of Fortune reside on the spectrum’s distant other end. Breakbeat is gathering momentum both on the west coast of the United States and in London. Though in dance music’s capital city (London?) there currently resides the opinion that US Junglists can’t produce like the residents of the birthplace of jungle. US challengers are steppin’ forth from labels like Jungle Sky to claim their ability to forage valiantly forward in the jungle terrain. While Brits like DJ Hype and Goldie may criticize US Junglists - we can always be proud of where the home of hip hop is and remind them how silly many of the UK hip hop perpetrators were. With that said, the popularity of sped up funky hip hop breaks on 12” vinyl is gaining momentum amongst the DJ set. West coast raves and clubs are spinning breakbeat as crazily as Londoners throw jungle on their 1200s. The motivation to push forth in electronic culture stems partially from hip hop’s one-upsmanship - being the winner in the duel, or the most talked about DJ/MC/B-Boy in the scene. Resulting in stylistic progression and envelope-pushing moving at a much faster rate than rock music. Not only does this allow for the pioneers to be given their props but also forces us listeners and fans to rethink our appreciation for standard guitar-bass-drums-vocals rock music. Is our appreciation for genre rehashing measured at the cash register when en-masse we purchase that which sounds most familiar to us? Much of the public’s record buying stems from familiarity with artists through media attention and repetition whereas a DJ may play a 12” once and the kids never hear it again. The club kids buy a lot of music. They spend a lot of money. From purchasing the right gear to having the right sound on the stereo, fans of electronic subcultures know what’s what and where it’s at. Like hip hop, being in-the-know is of the utmost importance amongst the club set, the DJs, the promoters and the specialty record shop employees. As these scenes evolve and burn out, folks need to spend money on the latest crop of products to keep them informed on what’s worth being a part of. And as always the larger corporations will release their jungle compilation CDs a day late and a dollar short. |