Today, while hunting for longreads, I came upon “Classics Never Die: What It Means for DJs to Grow Old,” a Pitchfork piece by Jonny Coleman from 2015:
“François K got lost when he got really caught up in dubstep and commercial techno,” Englehardt and Paul Nickerson write in an email, referencing the 61-year-old house mainstay. “Unfortunately a lot of the music he plays just doesn’t have the depth or emotion he says it does—it’s all very superficial and you can feel that when he plays now.
“It happens because calculation takes the place of inspiration,” they continue. “When you first start out, it’s all fresh and that is your driving force, but as time goes on see you see that everything is just someone rehashing something that was done better 15 years earlier. It can make you can become bitter quickly. So people like François K make a calculated decision to try to stay relevant, and that is a big part of why music is so terrible right now. Instead of speaking out against the mediocrity of everything, these ‘legends’ assimilate themselves to the current situation and lie to themselves that these new half finished, do-nothing tracks are what people like these days. Whereas 20 years ago, that same person would have said this shit is wack and pushed themselves to go further.”
Yes!
Also: EDM sucks.
Brutal.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Aren’t you glad you got to experience the pre-EDM days? The various genres have been watered down and blended into one bland soup. Laziness or an attempt to “create” one genre to appeal to the masses? Whatever the reason, it blows.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Agree, it blows! I always come back to another good line, from Simon Reynolds:
While unfair to dubstep (I think some dubstep is really good), I love the general sentiment. It’s like you said: a creating and stirring of this weird sort of bland soup that tries to appeal to now, that appeals to a culture of instant gratification, but as a result has no soul whatsoever.
I prefer and miss those nights of dancing for hours and going on a journey with the beat — when you weren’t spoon-fed the experience, where you had to earn your high. Luckily those DJs (and those old school crowds) are still around.
LikeLike