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August 27, 2006 7:29 AM Subscribe
Raves not dead! The British subculture the government tried so hard to kill is alive and well in Cornwall and Essex.
The people I heard quoted on the radio all sounded in their 40s. I wonder if it was like that night I went to see the Utah Saints and Altern8 and there was nobody under 25 there.
(With good reason).
posted by bonaldi at 7:42 AM on August 27, 2006
(With good reason).
posted by bonaldi at 7:42 AM on August 27, 2006
Oh, er, I've just realised this story doesn't include what I was talking about -- a rave turned nasty when the cops bust it up.
posted by bonaldi at 7:44 AM on August 27, 2006
posted by bonaldi at 7:44 AM on August 27, 2006
I wonder if Richard James is banking the "underground" in Cornwall.
posted by The Jesse Helms at 7:44 AM on August 27, 2006
posted by The Jesse Helms at 7:44 AM on August 27, 2006
Psytraaaaaaaaaaaance would sound crap though.
Hee. Certainly would.
I wonder if it was like that night I went to see the Utah Saints and Altern8 and there was nobody under 25 there.
Quite the opposite, but the sound of it. I kind of like those kind of gigs: people gathering to listen to music having become the people they despised when they first listened to that music.
posted by jack_mo at 8:02 AM on August 27, 2006 [1 favorite]
Hee. Certainly would.
I wonder if it was like that night I went to see the Utah Saints and Altern8 and there was nobody under 25 there.
Quite the opposite, but the sound of it. I kind of like those kind of gigs: people gathering to listen to music having become the people they despised when they first listened to that music.
posted by jack_mo at 8:02 AM on August 27, 2006 [1 favorite]
Uunfortunately, punctuation in the form of the apostrophe appears to be dead.
posted by horsemuth at 8:17 AM on August 27, 2006
posted by horsemuth at 8:17 AM on August 27, 2006
the Criminal Justice Bill's clauses banning gatherings of more than 10 people listening to 'music characterised by a succession of repetitive beats'
Whenever I read this, I wonder about how well really crazy cut-up jungle or IDM would be able to skirt the rules.
Ubar Tmar's Macrometasomacosmos would also work: Rhythms and melodies based on the Golden Mean, resulting in something which seems like it might be repetetive, but which never actually repeats.
posted by Bugbread at 8:18 AM on August 27, 2006 [1 favorite]
Whenever I read this, I wonder about how well really crazy cut-up jungle or IDM would be able to skirt the rules.
Ubar Tmar's Macrometasomacosmos would also work: Rhythms and melodies based on the Golden Mean, resulting in something which seems like it might be repetetive, but which never actually repeats.
posted by Bugbread at 8:18 AM on August 27, 2006 [1 favorite]
Misspelling, however, is alive and well in my previous post.
posted by horsemuth at 8:18 AM on August 27, 2006
posted by horsemuth at 8:18 AM on August 27, 2006
Looks like the police are getting back into the spirit as well.
posted by Luddite at 8:29 AM on August 27, 2006
posted by Luddite at 8:29 AM on August 27, 2006
bugbread, Autechre actually released an EP in protest, Anti EP, that contained a track designed to evade the act. I shall check Umar Tmar out.
I've often wondered why raves are still held on other people's property. Surely at this point there are a few ravers rich enough to buy a field and loan it out. Most of the parties I've been to have been held with permission of the owners, so why not in the open air?
In conclusion, psytrance is great, and fuck the police.
posted by topynate at 8:37 AM on August 27, 2006
I've often wondered why raves are still held on other people's property. Surely at this point there are a few ravers rich enough to buy a field and loan it out. Most of the parties I've been to have been held with permission of the owners, so why not in the open air?
In conclusion, psytrance is great, and fuck the police.
posted by topynate at 8:37 AM on August 27, 2006
Most of the parties I've been to have been held with permission of the owners, so why not in the open air?
Horrifically restrictive entertainment license laws?
posted by Artw at 8:43 AM on August 27, 2006
Horrifically restrictive entertainment license laws?
posted by Artw at 8:43 AM on August 27, 2006
why do people who put on great parties out in the country listen to such godawful music? psytrance is rub
posted by dydecker at 8:48 AM on August 27, 2006
posted by dydecker at 8:48 AM on August 27, 2006
I like electronic music but I've never been able to tell one microgenre of trance from another. If someone wants to recommend some tracks of this here psytrance, I'd be grateful.
:hitches up overalls and chews stalk of grass:
posted by fleetmouse at 8:50 AM on August 27, 2006
:hitches up overalls and chews stalk of grass:
posted by fleetmouse at 8:50 AM on August 27, 2006
Hallucinogen 'LSD' or Infected Mushroom or Shpongle but in the end it all sounds very similar.
posted by dydecker at 8:55 AM on August 27, 2006
posted by dydecker at 8:55 AM on August 27, 2006
I thought Samurai Jack put an end to this. what gives?
posted by Smart Dalek at 8:58 AM on August 27, 2006
posted by Smart Dalek at 8:58 AM on August 27, 2006
WTF happened to the rave scene in the US?
Godskitchen happened. A lot of the larger names like Paul Oakenfold switched to performing regular gigs at Ice Las Vegas, while the rest of the scene that didn't cash out wound up sliding into hard house.
posted by Smart Dalek at 9:23 AM on August 27, 2006
Godskitchen happened. A lot of the larger names like Paul Oakenfold switched to performing regular gigs at Ice Las Vegas, while the rest of the scene that didn't cash out wound up sliding into hard house.
posted by Smart Dalek at 9:23 AM on August 27, 2006
I refuse to believe that 1990s St. Louis was more hip then post-millenial NYC.
Why? From all I hear, NYC gets more and more locked down all the time. This could be a selection effect from the intertubes providing my news, though.
posted by sonofsamiam at 9:28 AM on August 27, 2006
Why? From all I hear, NYC gets more and more locked down all the time. This could be a selection effect from the intertubes providing my news, though.
posted by sonofsamiam at 9:28 AM on August 27, 2006
Seriously, what happened? I refuse to believe that 1990s St. Louis was more hip then post-millenial NYC.
Your hip meter needs calibrating. An expansive "rave scene" is a sign that St. Louis is less hip, not more hip.
As far as I know NYC has basically always been too cool for raves.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 9:29 AM on August 27, 2006
Your hip meter needs calibrating. An expansive "rave scene" is a sign that St. Louis is less hip, not more hip.
As far as I know NYC has basically always been too cool for raves.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 9:29 AM on August 27, 2006
"Raves" never go away; they just change identities every few years. Psytrance culture is alive and well in NYC, I assure you.
In just the past week there was:
a fullon psytrance party in Williamsburg;
a day party in Von King park;
Shpongle on a Circle Line cruise;
a 3-day open air festival in Upstate NY;
and the more-mainstream Camp Bisco, also in upstate NY.
Simon Posford is performing again tonight at Cielo.
The scene has a calendar page up at psyny.com.
posted by solipse at 9:29 AM on August 27, 2006
In just the past week there was:
a fullon psytrance party in Williamsburg;
a day party in Von King park;
Shpongle on a Circle Line cruise;
a 3-day open air festival in Upstate NY;
and the more-mainstream Camp Bisco, also in upstate NY.
Simon Posford is performing again tonight at Cielo.
The scene has a calendar page up at psyny.com.
posted by solipse at 9:29 AM on August 27, 2006
A more serious answer: If you're throwing even a regular sized party without the expensive benefit of renting out a bar/club in NYC you have to be careful that cops don't come. Huge party with huge speakers is right out.
Still, even if the cops stopped crashing parties, I don't think there would be many raves.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 9:33 AM on August 27, 2006
Still, even if the cops stopped crashing parties, I don't think there would be many raves.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 9:33 AM on August 27, 2006
Warehouses, airplane hangars, lofts, and the like are for winter, anyway. Summer is for the outdoors -- forests, parks, and beaches.
posted by solipse at 9:33 AM on August 27, 2006
posted by solipse at 9:33 AM on August 27, 2006
Can anyone point me to where the hottie raverchix are these days?
posted by jonson at 9:36 AM on August 27, 2006
posted by jonson at 9:36 AM on August 27, 2006
Butane does a monthly party in St. Louis with cutting edge music (this is techno though, not trance so there's no silly costumes)
Alphahouse
posted by dydecker at 9:41 AM on August 27, 2006
Alphahouse
posted by dydecker at 9:41 AM on August 27, 2006
Raves not dead!
Well, then we'll just have to try harder next time.
posted by spiderwire at 9:45 AM on August 27, 2006
Well, then we'll just have to try harder next time.
posted by spiderwire at 9:45 AM on August 27, 2006
What I want to know is WTF happened to the rave scene in the US?
Well, after you've gobbled ecstacy for years and years, it stops working, and then one night you look around and realize you're in a hot, smelly warehouse with sweat condensing on the rafters and dripping down on you and a bunch of fuzzy pantsed frootloops dancing like spastics while chewing their face off. You remember how nice it is to go to a cozy bar with all sorts of highly alcoholic drinks and bands that end at a reasonable time, and where strangers never try to inflict themselves on your personal space, and conversations still retain some edge of wit and intelligence.
(disclaimer- the warehouse I used to live in threw an 800 person NYE party last year, thankfully void of psytrance.)
posted by oneirodynia at 10:08 AM on August 27, 2006
Well, after you've gobbled ecstacy for years and years, it stops working, and then one night you look around and realize you're in a hot, smelly warehouse with sweat condensing on the rafters and dripping down on you and a bunch of fuzzy pantsed frootloops dancing like spastics while chewing their face off. You remember how nice it is to go to a cozy bar with all sorts of highly alcoholic drinks and bands that end at a reasonable time, and where strangers never try to inflict themselves on your personal space, and conversations still retain some edge of wit and intelligence.
(disclaimer- the warehouse I used to live in threw an 800 person NYE party last year, thankfully void of psytrance.)
posted by oneirodynia at 10:08 AM on August 27, 2006
Afroblanco wrote "What I want to know is WTF happened to the rave scene in the US?"
Pop punk, hip hop and Madonna, in my opinion.
Techno splintered into subgenres in the 90's, leading to the UK ravers in 2006 listening to psytrance, a descendent of the early 90's GOA (and not LA Style's "James Brown Is Dead" for example). The influence of techno/rave on popular music is almost too ubiquitous to notice in the 2000’s, but is all over our Bjorks, Radioheads and Linkin Parks.
In the early 90’s, grunge mainstreamed and was folded into rock/alt rock. The punk representation in popular music then shifted to pop punk almost immediately, briefly through a ska-punk revival and then more fully through the Green Day/blink-182 pop ascendance.
Hip hop rose and eclipsed all of the aforementioned genres, leaving its “golden age” period in the early 90’s and moving towards the styles we’re more familiar with today – perhaps with the exception of gangsta rap, which has fallen off the pop radar.
Basically, there’s no more US rave scene because the “scene” has mainstreamed, as Smart Dalek implies. I’d also argue that the Myspacing of youth culture has made music-based subcultures less sustainable in the traditional sense. That’s not to say that a rave culture would never be feasible again, but more that the distance between fringe and mainstream is shorter, so we may see a more rapidly shifting popular landscape where before we would have seen incessant innovation in the underground and gradual shifts to the popular landscape.
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that became prominent in Detroit, Michigan during the mid-1980s...expanded and related subset of genres in the 1990s emerged globally.
Punk Rock
By the end of the 1980s, these bands had largely eclipsed their punk forebearers and were termed alternative rock. As alternative bands like Sonic Youth and the Pixies started to gain larger audiences, major labels sought to capitalize on a market that had been growing underground for the past 10 years.
Grunge music
It became commercially successful in the late 1980s and early 1990s, peaking in mainstream popularity between 1991 and 1994.
Pop Punk
In February 1994, Green Day released the landmark pop punk album Dookie, the band's first on a major label. In 1999, trio blink-182 released Enema of the State, which sold over 7 million copies worldwide.
Hop hop
The golden age of hip hop, derivative of old school hip hop, began with the popularity of Run-DMC's album Raising Hell in 1986 and ended with the popularity of G-Funk around 1993. The years after 1993 contain the hardcore hip hop, bling, and underground genres, which largely define the modern era. In 2006, rap music was the second-most popular form of music in the United States after classical music[2].
(from Wikipedia)
posted by VulcanMike at 10:15 AM on August 27, 2006 [1 favorite]
Pop punk, hip hop and Madonna, in my opinion.
Techno splintered into subgenres in the 90's, leading to the UK ravers in 2006 listening to psytrance, a descendent of the early 90's GOA (and not LA Style's "James Brown Is Dead" for example). The influence of techno/rave on popular music is almost too ubiquitous to notice in the 2000’s, but is all over our Bjorks, Radioheads and Linkin Parks.
In the early 90’s, grunge mainstreamed and was folded into rock/alt rock. The punk representation in popular music then shifted to pop punk almost immediately, briefly through a ska-punk revival and then more fully through the Green Day/blink-182 pop ascendance.
Hip hop rose and eclipsed all of the aforementioned genres, leaving its “golden age” period in the early 90’s and moving towards the styles we’re more familiar with today – perhaps with the exception of gangsta rap, which has fallen off the pop radar.
Basically, there’s no more US rave scene because the “scene” has mainstreamed, as Smart Dalek implies. I’d also argue that the Myspacing of youth culture has made music-based subcultures less sustainable in the traditional sense. That’s not to say that a rave culture would never be feasible again, but more that the distance between fringe and mainstream is shorter, so we may see a more rapidly shifting popular landscape where before we would have seen incessant innovation in the underground and gradual shifts to the popular landscape.
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that became prominent in Detroit, Michigan during the mid-1980s...expanded and related subset of genres in the 1990s emerged globally.
Punk Rock
By the end of the 1980s, these bands had largely eclipsed their punk forebearers and were termed alternative rock. As alternative bands like Sonic Youth and the Pixies started to gain larger audiences, major labels sought to capitalize on a market that had been growing underground for the past 10 years.
Grunge music
It became commercially successful in the late 1980s and early 1990s, peaking in mainstream popularity between 1991 and 1994.
Pop Punk
In February 1994, Green Day released the landmark pop punk album Dookie, the band's first on a major label. In 1999, trio blink-182 released Enema of the State, which sold over 7 million copies worldwide.
Hop hop
The golden age of hip hop, derivative of old school hip hop, began with the popularity of Run-DMC's album Raising Hell in 1986 and ended with the popularity of G-Funk around 1993. The years after 1993 contain the hardcore hip hop, bling, and underground genres, which largely define the modern era. In 2006, rap music was the second-most popular form of music in the United States after classical music[2].
(from Wikipedia)
posted by VulcanMike at 10:15 AM on August 27, 2006 [1 favorite]
Well the rave scene here in DC just died it's final death with the loss of Nation and The Edge due to a baseball stadium. There are pretty much no parties remotely rave-like any more, nor any that I see coming up in the very near future.
I think the real cause is the mainstreaming of ecstasy, not the music. There was a time in the late 90s where if you wanted pills you HAD to go to a rave. Then the pills were everywhere, at the same time that cops finally started cracking down after 2000. So, paradoxically, it became easier to find pills elsewhere. So you were left with people who really loved the music. Which is apparently not enough to sustain a thriving scene.
Another problem is that the music went to complete shit around 2002. It's getting better again, though, and I think there's about to be another break out EDM dance act in the next year or so, as soon as someone manages to put together a decent live act around all the digital dj stuff.
posted by empath at 10:22 AM on August 27, 2006
I think the real cause is the mainstreaming of ecstasy, not the music. There was a time in the late 90s where if you wanted pills you HAD to go to a rave. Then the pills were everywhere, at the same time that cops finally started cracking down after 2000. So, paradoxically, it became easier to find pills elsewhere. So you were left with people who really loved the music. Which is apparently not enough to sustain a thriving scene.
Another problem is that the music went to complete shit around 2002. It's getting better again, though, and I think there's about to be another break out EDM dance act in the next year or so, as soon as someone manages to put together a decent live act around all the digital dj stuff.
posted by empath at 10:22 AM on August 27, 2006
nope, definitelly not dead. This, happened only last night :
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/essex/5290134.stm
posted by tnai at 10:29 AM on August 27, 2006
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/essex/5290134.stm
posted by tnai at 10:29 AM on August 27, 2006
The rave scene may be kicking for life elsewhere, but it's got a more than healthy existence in all of California.
posted by Orrorin at 10:45 AM on August 27, 2006
posted by Orrorin at 10:45 AM on August 27, 2006
dydecker : "Hallucinogen 'LSD' or Infected Mushroom or Shpongle but in the end it all sounds very similar."
Dydecker's perhaps being a bit unfair with his examples: he provided 3 good artists, one of which is good and quite old, and formed the basis of which a lot of later copycat psy was based, and the other two are good because they don't sound like other psy. So, yes, it all sounds very similar, but his examples are more the exception than the rule.
posted by Bugbread at 11:26 AM on August 27, 2006
Dydecker's perhaps being a bit unfair with his examples: he provided 3 good artists, one of which is good and quite old, and formed the basis of which a lot of later copycat psy was based, and the other two are good because they don't sound like other psy. So, yes, it all sounds very similar, but his examples are more the exception than the rule.
posted by Bugbread at 11:26 AM on August 27, 2006
In 2006, rap music was the second-most popular form of music in the United States after classical music
Classical is the most popular form of music in the US? You've got to be kidding me.
posted by jokeefe at 11:42 AM on August 27, 2006
Classical is the most popular form of music in the US? You've got to be kidding me.
posted by jokeefe at 11:42 AM on August 27, 2006
Quick! We MUST stop young people from enjoying themselves! They should do what we adults do! Smoke cigarettes! Drink alcohol! Sit still in a bar and listen to music from last millenium! Have quiet conversations about sports or politics! Be boring! Be evil! Be miserable! Hate life! What is it about kids these days? Out there partying and having fun? Don't they know enjoying their lives doesn't get them anywhere? What? They think they're gonna live forever?
posted by ZachsMind at 11:43 AM on August 27, 2006 [3 favorites]
posted by ZachsMind at 11:43 AM on August 27, 2006 [3 favorites]
so why not just recommend some more typical psytrance that's good to the guy then instead of calling me "unfair". jeez
posted by dydecker at 11:49 AM on August 27, 2006 [1 favorite]
posted by dydecker at 11:49 AM on August 27, 2006 [1 favorite]
Classical is the most popular form of music in the US? You've got to be kidding me.
For definitions of 'Classical' broad enough to encompass The Beatles, The Eagles, Blondie and Pearl Jam, sure...
posted by George_Spiggott at 11:54 AM on August 27, 2006
For definitions of 'Classical' broad enough to encompass The Beatles, The Eagles, Blondie and Pearl Jam, sure...
posted by George_Spiggott at 11:54 AM on August 27, 2006
That's right, the rave scene is alive and well in California. In LA you rarely find warehouses and stuff anymore. Lots of them are at loft spaces, galleries, or even at bars. There's a ranch in the Angeles Forest that has big parties pretty regularly in the woods. Desert parties still go off, though not as regularly as before. Yes, Moontribe is still around.
In college, the kids of today aren't listening to techno anymore. I have no idea what happened.
As for psy-trance, I'll just throw some names out there (I don't necessarily like all of them, but maybe you will):
OSOM, Psykovsky (hehe, yeah, a Russian guy), Fungus Funk, Texas Faggott, Parasense, Reefer Decree, Kindzadza, Kiwa, Shakta, Talamasca, Xenomorph, Haltya, 1200 Mics, Vatos Locos, GMS (Growling Mad Scientists), Astrix, Tristan. Or just look for "psycz" on Soulseek. It's the name of an MP3 release group.
I stopped listening because it wasn't trippy anymore. No psy in psy-trance.
posted by redteam at 12:07 PM on August 27, 2006
In college, the kids of today aren't listening to techno anymore. I have no idea what happened.
As for psy-trance, I'll just throw some names out there (I don't necessarily like all of them, but maybe you will):
OSOM, Psykovsky (hehe, yeah, a Russian guy), Fungus Funk, Texas Faggott, Parasense, Reefer Decree, Kindzadza, Kiwa, Shakta, Talamasca, Xenomorph, Haltya, 1200 Mics, Vatos Locos, GMS (Growling Mad Scientists), Astrix, Tristan. Or just look for "psycz" on Soulseek. It's the name of an MP3 release group.
I stopped listening because it wasn't trippy anymore. No psy in psy-trance.
posted by redteam at 12:07 PM on August 27, 2006
Dydecker,
Sorry, that was poorly phrased. I didn't mean to say you were a jerk or anything, just that the names you provided were good psy recommendations, and it is true that a lot of psy sounds the same, but to someone without experience, it would therefore seem as if you were saying that a lot of psy sounds like those groups.
So perhaps I should have said:
"Dydecker's recommendations are good. Shpongle is a psy-ambient group, with a strong psytrance influence, but they aren't psytrance. Infected Mushroom is psytrance, but have enough of a unique feel that they aren't very representative (though if you just want good psy-trance, and aren't concerned about archetypal psy-trance, they're a great recommendation). Hallucinogen is probably the best "good example of typical psy-trance" recommendation, since a lot of groups emulate him. Hence, he's better than a lot, but a lot sounds like him."
redteam : "I stopped listening because it wasn't trippy anymore. No psy in psy-trance."
You say this despite including the Finns? The Finns were what restored the last tattered hopes I had of psy-trance having any psy in it. Of course, their work is often amateur and throw-it-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks, but your average Finnish mailman probably has more psy in him than the whole Voom festival.
posted by Bugbread at 12:26 PM on August 27, 2006
Sorry, that was poorly phrased. I didn't mean to say you were a jerk or anything, just that the names you provided were good psy recommendations, and it is true that a lot of psy sounds the same, but to someone without experience, it would therefore seem as if you were saying that a lot of psy sounds like those groups.
So perhaps I should have said:
"Dydecker's recommendations are good. Shpongle is a psy-ambient group, with a strong psytrance influence, but they aren't psytrance. Infected Mushroom is psytrance, but have enough of a unique feel that they aren't very representative (though if you just want good psy-trance, and aren't concerned about archetypal psy-trance, they're a great recommendation). Hallucinogen is probably the best "good example of typical psy-trance" recommendation, since a lot of groups emulate him. Hence, he's better than a lot, but a lot sounds like him."
redteam : "I stopped listening because it wasn't trippy anymore. No psy in psy-trance."
You say this despite including the Finns? The Finns were what restored the last tattered hopes I had of psy-trance having any psy in it. Of course, their work is often amateur and throw-it-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks, but your average Finnish mailman probably has more psy in him than the whole Voom festival.
posted by Bugbread at 12:26 PM on August 27, 2006
I just moved back to the West coast of Canada and I was baffled by how vibrant the electronic music scene is out here. Specifically with regards to drum and bass. I haven't seen so many crooked hats and baggy cargo pants since 1999. It's not really my thing, but I'm all for kids getting out of the house and dancing like fools; we all need cringeworthy photographs to show our children.
posted by dobie at 12:57 PM on August 27, 2006 [1 favorite]
posted by dobie at 12:57 PM on August 27, 2006 [1 favorite]
fleetmouse:
psytrance had a split of genres lately, i guess due to the first in this (prolly incomplete) list:
- commercial (mostly) Israely Full On powertrance (Astrix, GMS, 1200 Mics, Tristan, IM, etc)
- then there's the dark side (penta, xenomorph,fungus funk, CPC, Silent Horror, OSOM, WIZACK TWIZACK, syndrom etc ... a lot of it is Russian)
- Freaktrance from (mostly) Finland: Derango, Troll Scientists, Kiwa, Texas Faggots, Salakavala, G.O.W, Kluster
- and then there's progressive: Freq, Orion, U-Recken, Fractal Glider, Dark Soho, Meller, LISH, TALAMASCA, Vaishiyas, Flugbegleiter, Silicon Sound, Echotek, D-Nox
- Psybreaks: Funkopath (Skwirm, Skweel!!), The Crystal Method, tipper, Exogenic, Dendron, Shiloh
etcetcetcetcetc & they crossbreed to ;)
there's a lot being made, not all of it to my likings but most of it great to rave on! so RAVE ON!!! (silly laws, pff)
(onlineradio: psystream.net, philosomatika.com)
jonson, they re here>>
some pics of this year's boom festival
posted by borq at 1:14 PM on August 27, 2006
psytrance had a split of genres lately, i guess due to the first in this (prolly incomplete) list:
- commercial (mostly) Israely Full On powertrance (Astrix, GMS, 1200 Mics, Tristan, IM, etc)
- then there's the dark side (penta, xenomorph,fungus funk, CPC, Silent Horror, OSOM, WIZACK TWIZACK, syndrom etc ... a lot of it is Russian)
- Freaktrance from (mostly) Finland: Derango, Troll Scientists, Kiwa, Texas Faggots, Salakavala, G.O.W, Kluster
- and then there's progressive: Freq, Orion, U-Recken, Fractal Glider, Dark Soho, Meller, LISH, TALAMASCA, Vaishiyas, Flugbegleiter, Silicon Sound, Echotek, D-Nox
- Psybreaks: Funkopath (Skwirm, Skweel!!), The Crystal Method, tipper, Exogenic, Dendron, Shiloh
etcetcetcetcetc & they crossbreed to ;)
there's a lot being made, not all of it to my likings but most of it great to rave on! so RAVE ON!!! (silly laws, pff)
(onlineradio: psystream.net, philosomatika.com)
jonson, they re here>>
some pics of this year's boom festival
posted by borq at 1:14 PM on August 27, 2006
The British subculture the government tried so hard to kill
the heroin seems to have done a pretty good job as well.
posted by sgt.serenity at 1:56 PM on August 27, 2006
the heroin seems to have done a pretty good job as well.
posted by sgt.serenity at 1:56 PM on August 27, 2006
Borq: Weird to see so many non-Asians in the Boom pictures. Makes total sense, of course, but having only experienced psy in Japan, my image is all of Asian hippies with the occassional Israeli or American mixed in.
posted by Bugbread at 2:09 PM on August 27, 2006
posted by Bugbread at 2:09 PM on August 27, 2006
What I want to know is WTF happened to the rave scene in the US?
I don't find either oneirodynia's or VulcanMike's explanations to be adequate.
The parties stopped when the DEA started to use an existing law on the books (known as the "crack house" laws) to bust up raves. See 21 U.S.C. § 856. At the height of insanity glowsticks and masks were considered "drug paraphenilia."
The threat of criminal and civil liability drove away promoters in droves. The result was that almost all "raves" are now held in traditional clubs, or are much smaller, less-organized affairs then the heyday in the 90's t early 00's. For more information see the Electronic Music Defense and Education Fund.
Saying that it is the result of "pop punk" is giving faux acts like Good Charlotte too much credit.
I don't think I would enjoy this "psytrance" (prefer 'traditional' house); but if it helps bring back the culture -- to each his own.
posted by karson at 2:28 PM on August 27, 2006
I don't find either oneirodynia's or VulcanMike's explanations to be adequate.
The parties stopped when the DEA started to use an existing law on the books (known as the "crack house" laws) to bust up raves. See 21 U.S.C. § 856. At the height of insanity glowsticks and masks were considered "drug paraphenilia."
The threat of criminal and civil liability drove away promoters in droves. The result was that almost all "raves" are now held in traditional clubs, or are much smaller, less-organized affairs then the heyday in the 90's t early 00's. For more information see the Electronic Music Defense and Education Fund.
Saying that it is the result of "pop punk" is giving faux acts like Good Charlotte too much credit.
I don't think I would enjoy this "psytrance" (prefer 'traditional' house); but if it helps bring back the culture -- to each his own.
posted by karson at 2:28 PM on August 27, 2006
What I want to know is WTF happened to the rave scene in the US?
Emo killed it. This makes me sad. I wrote a poem about it...
posted by Sparx at 2:58 PM on August 27, 2006
Emo killed it. This makes me sad. I wrote a poem about it...
posted by Sparx at 2:58 PM on August 27, 2006
What I want to know is WTF happened to the rave scene in the US?
Most of the people who could best answer this are at Burning Man this week. Even aside from Burning Man (which has gone pretty mainstream but still a hell of a lot fun, imo) the west coast techno-dance-outdoor party scene is vibrant, organized, and entrenched. By choice and necessity it flies totally under the pop culture radar. You won't find any flyers for it at Urban Outfitters anymore, but nearly every weekend this summer there's been a killer party somewhere. And maybe it's just that I'm getting older, but drugs don't seem as central to the experience as they used to. Seems to me the scene didn't die...it...matured.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 4:04 PM on August 27, 2006
Sss gud news, Artw! Thanks for the in-sight.
Just in case anyone missed it, here's what happened right here in "land of the free, home of the brave" Utah last summer.
Utah August 2005 ... guns, choppers, dogs
posted by Twang at 4:28 PM on August 27, 2006 [1 favorite]
Just in case anyone missed it, here's what happened right here in "land of the free, home of the brave" Utah last summer.
Utah August 2005 ... guns, choppers, dogs
posted by Twang at 4:28 PM on August 27, 2006 [1 favorite]
@ sgt.serenity
>> The British subculture the government tried so hard to kill
> the heroin seems to have done a pretty good job as well.
Oh right, that's it. Ye're *clearly* an expert on what's goin' down mate. Whoof.
posted by Twang at 4:31 PM on August 27, 2006
>> The British subculture the government tried so hard to kill
> the heroin seems to have done a pretty good job as well.
Oh right, that's it. Ye're *clearly* an expert on what's goin' down mate. Whoof.
posted by Twang at 4:31 PM on August 27, 2006
Yes. The Rave culture in the UK largely turned indoors into events at the Ministry of Sound, La Hacienda, and the like. This is clearly due to the fact that heroin makes people want to wear leather shoes instead of trainers when they dance.
posted by Bugbread at 4:49 PM on August 27, 2006
posted by Bugbread at 4:49 PM on August 27, 2006
bugsbread: check this
i was suprised to read NO2 is so popular in uk, man that's hippie crack, party pooper nr1
the czechtek battle o 2005
posted by borq at 5:07 PM on August 27, 2006
i was suprised to read NO2 is so popular in uk, man that's hippie crack, party pooper nr1
the czechtek battle o 2005
posted by borq at 5:07 PM on August 27, 2006
borq:
Thanks. Interesting.
The most interesting thing in that chart, for me, was Portugal. The other purples I expected, but I never pictured Portugal as being into psy.
Actually, I realize why I said the "voom" festival up above: I was mixing together "Boom" and "Voov".
posted by Bugbread at 5:22 PM on August 27, 2006
Thanks. Interesting.
The most interesting thing in that chart, for me, was Portugal. The other purples I expected, but I never pictured Portugal as being into psy.
Actually, I realize why I said the "voom" festival up above: I was mixing together "Boom" and "Voov".
posted by Bugbread at 5:22 PM on August 27, 2006
i don't even understand what "rave" means. What is "rave" music anyway?
posted by dydecker at 7:54 PM on August 27, 2006
posted by dydecker at 7:54 PM on August 27, 2006
Oh right, that's it. Ye're *clearly* an expert on what's goin' down mate.
I might even know the people that first started selling ecstasy mate - who the fuck are you , laddie ?
posted by sgt.serenity at 8:11 PM on August 27, 2006
I might even know the people that first started selling ecstasy mate - who the fuck are you , laddie ?
posted by sgt.serenity at 8:11 PM on August 27, 2006
dydecker writes "What is 'rave' music anyway?"
Depends on the country. In Japan it's any electronic music played at an outdoor concert where people go to dance. Which means it covers a whole, whole lot of territory.
posted by Bugbread at 9:43 PM on August 27, 2006
Depends on the country. In Japan it's any electronic music played at an outdoor concert where people go to dance. Which means it covers a whole, whole lot of territory.
posted by Bugbread at 9:43 PM on August 27, 2006
we have a different definition of what a "rave" is then. This is a US/Europe thing I guess. I've been to plenty of outdoor parties, including Japan, and never once heard anyone call it a rave. The way I understand the world, rave cooked its goose in England in about 1993, though it still goes on strong in the America (though as has been pointed out, people are likely dancing to drum'n'bass as to "rave" music.
Likewise, "Rave" music conjures up images of The Shamen or early Prodigy or acid house from back in the day.
wiki has a clear summary of the strange divide over this word.
posted by dydecker at 10:06 PM on August 27, 2006
Likewise, "Rave" music conjures up images of The Shamen or early Prodigy or acid house from back in the day.
wiki has a clear summary of the strange divide over this word.
posted by dydecker at 10:06 PM on August 27, 2006
the key thing about raves is the illegality, no? Once you have tickets, security and taxes paid it's not a rave anymore.
posted by dydecker at 10:55 PM on August 27, 2006
posted by dydecker at 10:55 PM on August 27, 2006
Dydecker: Japan has a unique definition of rave, I admit, and it's pretty useless in a discussion like this. That was just tossed out as trivia. I'm a little surprised that you never heard anyone refer to an outdoor party as a rave, though, because that's the word for it. For example, in America people will go to a rave in a warehouse or the like. In Japan, they might go to a party in a warehouse, but nobody would call it a "rave". "Rave" = "Outdoor electronic music party".
What's weird is that "raver" refers to the same thing that it does (or did) in America: Big panted, glowstick wielding, visor wearing clubber. Which means, ironically, that in Japan "ravers" don't often go to "raves" (since "ravers" generally don't like goa, and most outdoor events are goa events), and people who go to "raves" are seldom "ravers".
I feel relatively confident about these assessments because:
I've lived in Japan for yonks.
I used to wear big pants, glowsticks, and visors.
I used to go to a lot of clubs.
I also used to go to a lot of outdoor goa events.
I know a lot of musicians, promoters, and party-heads, across several electronic genres.
But, as I say, that's all a digression, just trivia.
posted by Bugbread at 5:49 AM on August 28, 2006
What's weird is that "raver" refers to the same thing that it does (or did) in America: Big panted, glowstick wielding, visor wearing clubber. Which means, ironically, that in Japan "ravers" don't often go to "raves" (since "ravers" generally don't like goa, and most outdoor events are goa events), and people who go to "raves" are seldom "ravers".
I feel relatively confident about these assessments because:
I've lived in Japan for yonks.
I used to wear big pants, glowsticks, and visors.
I used to go to a lot of clubs.
I also used to go to a lot of outdoor goa events.
I know a lot of musicians, promoters, and party-heads, across several electronic genres.
But, as I say, that's all a digression, just trivia.
posted by Bugbread at 5:49 AM on August 28, 2006
Yeah, I honestly have never heard it once. Japanese I know who go to psychedelic events were very strict about calling them "parties" - this was 2001-2004. I'll ask. Must get to the bottom of this!
posted by dydecker at 7:58 AM on August 28, 2006
posted by dydecker at 7:58 AM on August 28, 2006
Okay, I got to the bottom of it. Yes, generally called raves! You learn something new every day!
posted by dydecker at 8:08 AM on August 28, 2006
posted by dydecker at 8:08 AM on August 28, 2006
The St. Louis scene was indeed amazing back in the day. Whether or not it was hip -- I couldn't give two fucks. I just know that in the day, it was going *off*...
12 years later, I've got a 6-year-old son, another on the way, and I'm trainspotting drone metal. They still do outdoor parties here in Colorado, but it's mostly a circle jerk of aging hipsters pimping tired microhouse and ignoring dubstep and breakcore.
The article was good, but honestly, I didn't catch a single whiff of the old energy. Nostalgia has it's purposes, but let's never confuse it for being cutting-edge.
posted by irix at 8:09 AM on August 28, 2006
12 years later, I've got a 6-year-old son, another on the way, and I'm trainspotting drone metal. They still do outdoor parties here in Colorado, but it's mostly a circle jerk of aging hipsters pimping tired microhouse and ignoring dubstep and breakcore.
The article was good, but honestly, I didn't catch a single whiff of the old energy. Nostalgia has it's purposes, but let's never confuse it for being cutting-edge.
posted by irix at 8:09 AM on August 28, 2006
The more I think about it, the more I suspect there might be some factionalism in the use of the word. When I think about my really goahead acquaintances, you're right, they tend to say "party". The vibe I always got (and this may be my personal misreading) is that it was a subtle way of pointing out that, to them, a party outdoors was not an exceptional thing, it was the default (think about, for example, in English, how we usually say "a party" vs. "an outdoor party", with "a party" being assumed to be indoors, and "an outdoor party" pointing out that outdoorness is something that isn't included in the word "party"). So for them, it's not like there were "regular parties" in clubs, and "somehow unusual parties", which were outdoors, but outdoors parties were "regular parties".
The people I know who referred to them as "raves" were generally people who went clubbing a whole lot, and went to outdoor parties. Since indoor parties happen all year, and are easy to get to, "party" for them generally meant indoors, and a party outdoors thus needed some other name, hence "rave" (or, also, just "yagai", meaning "outdoors").
I'd never actually thought about it before. Kinda interesting.
And, on further reflection, I think this is safe to say: Some Japanese call outdoor parties "parties". Some call them "yagai". Some call them "raves". But few if any Japanese call indoor parties "raves", despite the efforts of promoters, who will sometimes use the word "rave" in the name of their indoor parties (I'm looking at you, balding geezer "Mega Tokyo Rave Night Project" John Robinson).
posted by Bugbread at 8:27 AM on August 28, 2006
The people I know who referred to them as "raves" were generally people who went clubbing a whole lot, and went to outdoor parties. Since indoor parties happen all year, and are easy to get to, "party" for them generally meant indoors, and a party outdoors thus needed some other name, hence "rave" (or, also, just "yagai", meaning "outdoors").
I'd never actually thought about it before. Kinda interesting.
And, on further reflection, I think this is safe to say: Some Japanese call outdoor parties "parties". Some call them "yagai". Some call them "raves". But few if any Japanese call indoor parties "raves", despite the efforts of promoters, who will sometimes use the word "rave" in the name of their indoor parties (I'm looking at you, balding geezer "Mega Tokyo Rave Night Project" John Robinson).
posted by Bugbread at 8:27 AM on August 28, 2006
Whoops. Forgot to refresh, so I didn't see your last comment up there.
posted by Bugbread at 8:28 AM on August 28, 2006
posted by Bugbread at 8:28 AM on August 28, 2006
irix : "I'm trainspotting drone metal"
English, please?
posted by Bugbread at 8:29 AM on August 28, 2006
English, please?
posted by Bugbread at 8:29 AM on August 28, 2006
there hasn't been anything called a 'rave' in the dc area since the launching of the rave act. It's all 'parties' now. And actually, even at the 'height' of the rave scene in 1999 or so, they were still mostly called 'parties'.
posted by empath at 1:53 PM on August 28, 2006
posted by empath at 1:53 PM on August 28, 2006
How cool am I? (for cool read old) I have a copy of VOOV - 'it's a gas' which I first heard played by a Goa DJ (as in a DJ who played in Goa) in 1992. Back then people were asking the DJ to play it harder and faster, but I just assumed that was due to their copious consumption of cocaine rather than a trend. I mean, at two in the afternoon, after 15 hours of Goa trance, even I was thinking that maybe it might be time for a change. It's as good as a rest, they say!
I call it the London effect: take any music to London and they will play it too fast. Breakbeat -> Jungle, US House -> 2 step etc. etc. Even London Hip Hop used to be all about how fast the rappers were for many groups.
I have Moving Shadow 1, which includes 'Psychotronic' which is a kind of early psy trance thing. I am pretty sure I would be into psy-trance if Iwere younger hadn't heard it all before. Psychotronic sounds, for realism.
rant
In the past (which probably means before large comercial involvement) DJing used to be about good tunes to dance to. There was no adherence to a particular BPM or some other arbitrary feature of the music to decide it's apropriateness to a particular scene.
Disco used to be about groove, then came the Bee Gees and Euro disco.
Goa used to be about the 'spiritual' (probably read wierd), then came psy. I knew this was MS when I saw an item on the television news about psytrance in 1995. Psychic TV happened in the 80s, anyway. Me thinks *maybe it's time to give up on 'intelligent techno' and embrace the funk of house*
Balearic used to be about keeping it fresh and funky, then came ibiza house tedium.
Rave used to be about fun, then came the piano based vocal anthem ecstacy dictatorship. With annoying hardcore 2 minute cycles.
There was even a kind of backlash against the compartmental approach to music in the late 90s/early 00s when many mainstream DJs performed 'eclectic' sets. People were amazed at this radical approach.
Djs, play interesting music and stop boring me with rigid genre classified sets. Entertain me. Show some skills, on the decks and in the beat mining.
/rant
It sounds like the sounds(ystems) at the rave in the article were maintaining a rigid genre based music policy. Ho hum.
Good on them anyway, party on and on. Stupid puritanical fiesta free societies need an escape valve, and not necessarily one provided by the legally sanctioned alcohol soaked venues. And everyone else in the world who doesn't have that excuse party on too. Who needs an excuse to party?
Also, just about everything was initially at a BPM of 120, to contradict myself somewhat. Psytrance sits at more like 135-154BPM AFAIK, they like to go on about alpha-wave stimulation and what not, but we know why they like it at that speed. Well, it's underground isn't it?
posted by asok at 7:03 AM on August 29, 2006
I call it the London effect: take any music to London and they will play it too fast. Breakbeat -> Jungle, US House -> 2 step etc. etc. Even London Hip Hop used to be all about how fast the rappers were for many groups.
I have Moving Shadow 1, which includes 'Psychotronic' which is a kind of early psy trance thing. I am pretty sure I would be into psy-trance if I
rant
In the past (which probably means before large comercial involvement) DJing used to be about good tunes to dance to. There was no adherence to a particular BPM or some other arbitrary feature of the music to decide it's apropriateness to a particular scene.
Disco used to be about groove, then came the Bee Gees and Euro disco.
Goa used to be about the 'spiritual' (probably read wierd), then came psy. I knew this was MS when I saw an item on the television news about psytrance in 1995. Psychic TV happened in the 80s, anyway. Me thinks *maybe it's time to give up on 'intelligent techno' and embrace the funk of house*
Balearic used to be about keeping it fresh and funky, then came ibiza house tedium.
Rave used to be about fun, then came the piano based vocal anthem ecstacy dictatorship. With annoying hardcore 2 minute cycles.
There was even a kind of backlash against the compartmental approach to music in the late 90s/early 00s when many mainstream DJs performed 'eclectic' sets. People were amazed at this radical approach.
Djs, play interesting music and stop boring me with rigid genre classified sets. Entertain me. Show some skills, on the decks and in the beat mining.
/rant
It sounds like the sounds(ystems) at the rave in the article were maintaining a rigid genre based music policy. Ho hum.
Good on them anyway, party on and on. Stupid puritanical fiesta free societies need an escape valve, and not necessarily one provided by the legally sanctioned alcohol soaked venues. And everyone else in the world who doesn't have that excuse party on too. Who needs an excuse to party?
Also, just about everything was initially at a BPM of 120, to contradict myself somewhat. Psytrance sits at more like 135-154BPM AFAIK, they like to go on about alpha-wave stimulation and what not, but we know why they like it at that speed. Well, it's underground isn't it?
posted by asok at 7:03 AM on August 29, 2006
When music has become so heavily branded and effort-free, it's no wonder illegal raves are back
posted by Artw at 9:46 AM on August 30, 2006
posted by Artw at 9:46 AM on August 30, 2006
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posted by jack_mo at 7:40 AM on August 27, 2006