Music: Electronic Dance Music - Part IV

[Birko19]

Paul Oakenfold was soon to go "mainstream" and would play pop club music somewhere around 2001 and 2002. I remember there being many complaints of Oakenfold back in 2003 and wondering where he went. Most likely, he became like Robert Ouimet did two decades earlier and just sought out new music and a different venue to perform their music.

Also, note that all the djs were from Europe. If you were from North America, unless you lived in the big cities like Montreal, Toronto, New York or Los Angeles, you did not see those acts. You never got to see them.

You're right, soon after 2000 Paul Oakenfold started to drop and became more mainstream (I was one of those complainers btw). I also grew up in Hamilton and partied a lot in Toronto back in the late 90's/early 2000's so saw a lot of acts during that time.

The point I'm trying to make is this list back then favored the underground sound more, whereas today it's the opposite, I mean for a DJ like Solomun to not even be in the top 100 is beyond absurd, and it's crazy how we go from top guys like this:



To this:

 

[Xelebes]

You know what, Hardwell is quite reasonable to be at the top. It mixes that electro-house basslines while keeping the trance grooves. Remember, it was Tiesto, Rank 1, Armin van Buuren and the sort who pioneered the breakdown formula and it began in 1999-2000.

I have always been a techno person so I was never nostalgic for Sasha or Digweed. The stuff sounded pants on most afterhours soundsystems of the time (which is where I spent most of my listening in the early 2000s.) Techno always sounded clean on the soundsystems. House wasn't too shabby. When Chris Liberator came over, it was always awesome.

 

[Hyperglide]

I'm with Birko19. The top DJ's today to me personally suck. If y'all like them and that's your bag then by all means go ******** that's what makes music fun. But honestly they aren't very talented compared to DJ's of yore like Squarepusher, Boards of Canada, Photek or Aphex Twin to name a few. The fact that a guy like Hardwell is #1 is laughable. Mind you that's just one publication posting that list but I'm sure most media have those guys intermingled somewhere in the "top 20."

Some of my faves this week:

 

[Xelebes]

Squarepusher, Photek, Aphex Twin and such were never near the top 100 djs at any given time. They were all niche musicians who carved out their niches very well. They were unremarkable djs though (well, maybe not Photek.) That wasn't their gig.

Speaking of IDM, IDM was interesting for a short while but quickly devolved. It had its moment around 1998 to 2003 and then started getting worse and worse into jazz noodling and the crowds dwindled. IDM gave way to Scandinavian skwee - something slightly more dance oriented. And skwee was a major influence for Brostep.

 

[Birko19]

Squarepusher, Photek, Aphex Twin and such were never near the top 100 djs at any given time. They were all niche musicians who carved out their niches very well. They were unremarkable djs though (well, maybe not Photek.) That wasn't their gig.

I was about to say that as well, but damn BOC are amazing, listening to their stuff is a journey, pure timeless music:

 

[Hippasus]

Squarepusher, Photek, Aphex Twin and such were never near the top 100 djs at any given time. They were all niche musicians who carved out their niches very well. They were unremarkable djs though (well, maybe not Photek.) That wasn't their gig.

Speaking of IDM, IDM was interesting for a short while but quickly devolved. It had its moment around 1998 to 2003 and then started getting worse and worse into jazz noodling and the crowds dwindled. IDM gave way to Scandinavian skwee - something slightly more dance oriented. And skwee was a major influence for Brostep.

I thought Autechre's EPs 1991-2002 had some very rhythmically complex parts toward the end.

 

[End of Line]

Saw Antiserum and 12th Planet last night. Pretty good show by both.

 

[awfulwaffle]

Armin Van Buuren is coming to Phoenix. And I bought tickets! I can't wait, so stoked. This year has been crazy, saw Kaskade on new years, Hardwell, Nicky Romero, A&B, Markus Schulz. It's been a fun year.

 

[Finnpin]

 

[Xelebes]

Some synthpop.

 

[5280]

Are you trying to post crap stuff from the 90's to counter my argument? If so it's not working, because I'm in complete agreement with you that both videos you posted are crap and cheese. I'm talking about lists like this:

http://www.magneticmag.com/2014/10/dj-mag-top-100-2014-results/

Here are your top 10 from last year:

1. Hardwell
2. Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike
3. Armin Van Buuren
4. Martin Garrix
5. Tiesto
6. Avicii
7. David Guetta
8. Nicky Romero
9. Skrillex
10. Steve Aoki

That's a very sad list of DJ's, I mean Tiesto and Armin Van Burren used to actually be good DJ's but I heard some of their recent stuff and I guess kids these days enjoy this pop music so they pretty much decided to change it up to that rather than stick to their roots. Here's what this list looked like 15 years ago:

http://www.undergrounder.narod.ru/4u/html/topdj00.html

1 Sasha
2 Paul Oakenfold
3 John Digweed
4 Paul Van Dyk
5 Carl Cox
6 Judge Jules
7 Danny Tenaglia
8 Fergie
9 Lisa Lashes
10 Danny Howells

Granted I think Fergie and Lisa Lashes played rubbish music, the most popish DJ on that list was Judge Jules and compared to that 2014 list he sounds like an underground mastermind.

Yeah, I can't agree with you more, I hate to be one of "those" guys, but give me the old dudes any day of the week.

 

[Birko19]

Solomun from Tomorrowland 2015...

Seriously, this guy better be in the top-100 in 2015, he's criminally underrated.



I love how he played Donna Summer's I feel love in the end, that track is so timeless and ahead of its time.

 

[Hyperglide]

Just heard this and had to share. Awesome blend of older classic and more modern D&B.

 

[Birko19]

Some synthpop.

This sounds like something from the Hacker (Michel Amato).

 

[Philly85*]

Solomun from Tomorrowland 2015...

Seriously, this guy better be in the top-100 in 2015, he's criminally underrated.



I love how he played Donna Summer's I feel love in the end, that track is so timeless and ahead of its time.

a lot of DJ's play that. Sven Väth uses it regularly along with many others. I Feel Love and Blue Monday are two retro dance staples in house DJ's sets. that's a pretty good set though and yes he is quite underrated.

 

[Birko19]

Brilliant Boiler Room set by Laurent Garnier (EDIT: IT IS the best BR set I have heard, WOW, one of the best sets of all time I would say):

a lot of DJ's play that. Sven Väth uses it regularly along with many others. I Feel Love and Blue Monday are two retro dance staples in house DJ's sets. that's a pretty good set though and yes he is quite underrated.

Yea I heard Sven Vath play it in his Boiler Room set. I feel like the song has been played by many generations, I remember it played often back 10-15 years ago by many DJ's, specially those who played progressive house.

 

[Hyperglide]

el oh el



Track heard above.

 

[Hyperglide]

Come on guys keep this thread alive. It's barely registering a pulse..

 

[ColePens]

Going to see Flux Pav in Pittsburgh this weekend coming up. Can't wait.

 

[Hyperglide]

Just found these 3 tracks in the last 20 minutes. Going on insta-rotation all week. Gunna run this.

 

[Hyperglide]

 

[End of Line]

I'm in there somewhere. Went to BassLights for the first time and what an experience. 2 days of Bassnectar and Pretty Lights was absolutely amazing.

 

[Burner Account]

Flume posted a preview of his upcoming album the other day

https://soundcloud.com/flume/skin-lp-preview

Huge Flume fan. I can't wait for this one.

 

[ColePens]

Ultra Music Festival going on now... twitch is streaming some of it. Anyone know a good site to grab some live sets?

Btw.. saw Hardwell in Pittsburgh. ****ing epic show. Great venue, too.

 

[Xelebes]

Hearing a lot of big things going down on the top end of the dance music scene. Quite a few clubs are getting burned by bringing in the big names and are starting to cross them off their lists, if they haven't closed. This is especially true in places like Las Vegas and Miami.

Vegas Turns Up Nose At Superstar DJs

Call it the death of the DJ.

Las Vegas, the place that turned Taylor Swift’s boyfriend Calvin Harris into a $400,000-per-night commodity, is poised to cash in at least some of its soundboard-superstar chips.

On April 28, when the new nightclub Intrigue opens at Wynn Las Vegas, no world-famous knob-spinners will swell the payroll. “It is the opposite of a big DJ-driven club,” Sean Christie, chief operating officer of Wynn Las Vegas, tells The Post’s Michael Kaplan.

Explaining that the new spot will feature a small, private VIP room, where social media is verboten and conversation is encouraged, Christie adds, “The DJ is no longer the most important part of the recipe.”

EDM is Over - It's Like Disco

Ever since commercial house, or "EDM," blasted its way onto the main stage, people have been predicting its demise. But speaking to the Miami Herald, one former industry heavyweight now says its time has come.

“EDM is over—it’s like disco,” says Vanessa Menkes, the former head of communications for the now defunct Opium Group, whose clubs like Mansion and Set were kings of the South Beach nightlife for many years.

“In 2005, you could open your doors on a random Saturday night and make $150,000. Those days are not coming back.”

Menkes says EDM has become a victim of its own success, which hit its peak sometime in 2013. Since then, drink and entry prices have spiraled out of control, as clubs cater more exclusively to high-rolling VIP customers. Even a standard night out might run upwards of $100 (around £70) in Miami.

The noise is so much that Avicii says that his tour in 2016 will be his last.