Losing interest in dance music

[chava]

now it’s almost cringe to be into intense dance music because of euro and american goths with their masculinist aesthetics - weird when hardcore/hard techno/gabba was once music for far leftists and anarchists - well in the UK at least!

Ain’t it always masculine vibes at these hard-core events? Whether the crowd are left right or center?

[spudrina]

Don’t you think this romanticised working class = more vibe and better art is just fetishising being poor? To me it’s quite a simple way of looking at things. Like really my only reference point and something I’ve followed is dubstep and grime. I’d say a localised community (Croydon for dubstep and mainly east and further that way for grime) and a 3rd space in a record shop (apple records, rhythm division) radio (pirate radio ie rinse, deja etc), club (plastic people) was the driving factor. Take away those spaces, regardless of class, and I’m not sure what you’ve got left. It’s why I think things feel a bit static right now, no local communities can seem to grow with dedicated music spaces.

And from the interview I’ve seen with goldie, he seems to be one of the most self-conscious artists. One example I know but don’t need to say much about what he contributed to UK music

[Yung_Dave]

IMO at the end of the day, aesthetics without substance is pretty bait, and there’s a lot of it out there. But, there are still some people putting a lot of work to make sure there’s more behind the music, making it more than just simple appropriation or whatever like white doods using dancehall drums in their tracks (not the best example, i know lol).

[chava]

i thought the harder industrial sounds coming back would be a kind of implicit musical critique of the capitalist realism ideology but that has never really materialised has it, and now it’s almost cringe to be into intense dance music

Howcome ‘intensification’ is associated with critique of capitalism? If there ever was an ideology / structure that rewarded intensity (and ‘innovation’) as an expression it is capitalism. Perhaps ambient is the only real oppositional style.

Agree about your other point about eclecticism which easily just drains energy and relevance. Not sure whether this is a class thing though, but I believe this debate to be very UK- centric.