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Scooter and the Postmodern Cheese

Wow, it's been a while since I last posted a thread here...

This might be a bit of a controversy (or not), but here's something I was thinking about the other day: What's wrong with Scooter? Some people seem to hate it with passion and, personally, I believe Scooter is probably one of the most misunderstood acts in the Electronic Dance Music scene. The reasons behind such misinterpretation are numerous, but I hope I can, with this post, cast some light on this problem.

The fact that they hail from the same country as Friedrich Nietzsche is no coincidence. As Gary Aylesworth points out in his article about postmodernism, Nietzsche was an important precursor for the movement. Through his life-worshipping philosophy, he was able to (accidentally, perhaps) lay the theoretical foundations for Scooter's catchy multi-layered mockery.

quote:

Music makes its appearance as the last plant among all the arts which grow on the soil of a particular culture�perhaps because it is the most inward and hence arrives last, in the fall, when the culture which belongs to it is fading. (source)

These quasi-prophetical words by Nietzsche are also interesting in this case because Scooter is a product of the 90s, the decade in which postmodernism seems to have lost its spot in the limelight (refer to the Sokal affair for more on this). It's important to notice that there was far more to postmodern music (as I see it) than Scooter, as it had also spawned a rather organised movement in Tokyo, Japan, known as Shibuya-kei. But, no matter how fun Cibo Matto and Pizzicato Five are, I don't intend to explain their music here, for it doesn't seem to be the object of any prejudice.

Nietzsche's "On the Uses and Disadvantage of History for Life" argues that the ability repeat an unhistorical moment is fundamental to a culture's life (and Charles Baudelaire later draws on that). That's one of the main idea behind Scooter's dialogue with mainstream EDM (what most of us would consider to be rip-offs). I lost count of how many times I listened to a tune of theirs and recognised a melody. It's there, revamped, with some hyperactive MC babbling about ice cream in a van, and how much the fish might cost on any given day. They're capable of turning any masterpiece into some kind of frivolous parody. Just like media in general manages to turn everything - even tragedies - into tasteless commodities. Discourse analysts would have lots to say about it. But, what matter is that, in Scooter's case, it's fun. Dance music needn't be anything other than that. It doesn't have to change your life, nor save the whales (although this would be kind of cool). As long as you're bobbing your head to the beat, music is doing its job.

And, that's it. Thanks to Eurodance, Eurobeat and most things Euro- back in the 90s, cheese was ubiquitous, and Scooter simply took it to the next level. It was able to rely just on that (which is the biggest difference between them and what was going on in Japan and their zany shibuya-kei movement). It's a tribute to eurodance ephemera, in a decade that saw the death of way too many genres (such as happy hardcore, which ended up being marginalised after the advent of jungle music).

What many producers seem not to have understood is that, if they're "ripped off" by Scooter, the best thing to do is ripping them off back. That's how their social criticism works. Besides, this would end up being a very interesting dialogue after a while. I'd approve of that.

That's the final argument, I reckon: the reason why most people still seem to be annoyed by Scooter is because they insist on taking it seriously. That's absurd, Scooter is just a playful parody on what people think its serious... in that sense, Scooter is not unlike this post

I'm listening Scooter - the logical song/ramp as I type this.

I guess you can say it's a social criticism song in some ways. I don't know why the hell he was shouting out siberia, seemed like a non sequitur.

Dislike because of blatant ripoffs that don't credit the original producer. Dislike because most of their newer stuff gets radiotime and thereby giving "my" music a bad name. Like because it can be lots of fun when not taken seriously.

quote:

Originally posted by Internet TufGai I'm listening Scooter - the logical song/ramp as I type this. I guess you can say it's a social criticism song in some ways. I don't know why the hell he was shouting out siberia, seemed like a non sequitur.

Exactly! And these non sequiturs are simply awesome

I'm sorry, but what the hell does a nineteenth century philosopher have to do with a cheesy euro-dance group who make music a living?

quote:

Originally posted by Redd Dislike because most of their newer stuff gets radiotime and thereby giving "my" music a bad name.

What does it matter what other people think about what you listen to?

quote:

Originally posted by Beat Blog I'm sorry, but what the hell does a nineteenth century philosopher have to do with a cheesy euro-dance group who make music a living?

It's all right but, haven't you read the first post? Music is part of culture, and I'm just pointing out how Scooter is related to postmodern culture (which had Nietzsche as one of its precursors).

Is this a smart analysis of Scooter?

I say Bring back the fish.

I think we somewhat started to speak of that there (see link )

I took a look at the link, it is nice yet a little obscure (it is philosophy after all) so I am curious to see how exactly you would make Scooter fit into all those notions, unless the idea is that they are meta-art: taking on music that already exists and turning it into a parody, as you said.

That is maybe making them too much honour to tie them to Nietschze. Yeah sure, Scooter is probably meta-art (let's be mundane: parody), and they are having fun in the extra-cheesiness. As a matter of fact I like how they strive in to reach new pinnacles in bad taste. For 30 seconds.

That's the real problem there: yeah sure you can probably look at that in a very toughtful way, but in the end, Scooter produces insipid, monotonous stuff. Listening to one song in a while can give you a good laugh, indulging the complete album must be horrible.

Parody (or meta art, or post modernism) is nice, but it also requires talent. Scooter's no Aqua... and obviously they are no KLF (which already had a very ironic look at their own production). Euro[dance/etc...] has been for a very long time aware of its own cheesiness, and we are well into "post-modernism era" for the last decade -in all fields of art-. So Scooter is hardly the first or best exemple of this.

So no matter how I look at it, Scooter is either a running gag that lost interest long ago, or a cynical attempt to cash in on formulaic tripe.

EDIT: Though you could give them that they can really turn gold into mud, but it is also true of a lot of untalented artists.

Re: Scooter and the Postmodern Cheese

quote:

Originally posted by Lira What many producers seem not to have understood is that, if they're "ripped off" by Scooter, the best thing to do is ripping them off back.

On this year's Modeselektor's album there is a track called 'Hyper Hyper' and it's a parody of that Scooter song. You should check it out

Sample

quote:

Originally posted by Lira It's all right but, haven't you read the first post? Music is part of culture, and I'm just pointing out how Scooter is related to postmodern culture (which had Nietzsche as one of its precursors).

Yes, I read the post; I just think you're drawing an incredibly long bow.

It would be like if I stated that Jose Nunez has some sort of connection with Sigmund Freud due to the sexual nature of his track Bilingual.

Perhaps you have a point, because calling Scooter's music a parody of Euro-trite would explain some of their more ridiculous moments. They also have an obvious love of The KLF, who were themselves never afraid to be parodic. However, it just seems tougher to attribute that kind of self-aware intelligence to Scooter than The KLF.

his music is fun.

keep in mind they've been doing it for a while now too. Their game was originally eurodance and happy hardcore (they took it a step further from captain hollywood i guess). So they arent some flip and fill group trying to steal the show.

They have used influences and catchy melodies from push and other artists. but they have also been producing original stuff for much longer.


appreciate their music for what it is, you dont need to dig down deep and analyze it. Its fun high energy (new age eurodance?), not beethovens 5th.

whats this?


http://www.discogs.com/release/1135373

1982??

Scooter is not that old, according to their official bio.

An incorrect credit? Scooter would not be that uncommon of a name... in fact this band would make far more sense in that tracklist.

They even have a song called you (duration do not match exactly but heh...)

EDIT: Well MuzikArfiez.be thinks the same

First of all, I think most people dislike Scooter because it evokes certain aspects of culture that people dislike. Also it's just not that interesting or sexy of music.


The front man HP Baxxter (Hans-Peter Geerdes) actually is rather interesting - according to wikipedia: "Geerdes studied law for one semester, however completed an apprenticeship as a wholesale and foreign trade buyer."


http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1490159/


I think there is definitely an element of parody with the group. After all their website is "scootertechno.com"

also one of the members Jens Thele is the director of Kontor Records, which has a pretty big hand in the "global dance market"

It's hard to imagine they would simply be silly for the sake of being silly.

There are plenty of other ways to make money.

quote:

Originally posted by Laeke Scooter is not that old, according to their official bio. An incorrect credit? Scooter would not be that uncommon of a name... in fact this band would make far more sense in that tracklist. They even have a song called you (duration do not match exactly but heh...) EDIT: Well MuzikArfiez.be thinks the same

sorry my bad... montana cleared me up as well

Man when I was younger I used to listen to Scooter, I'm not even going to lie. But as you mature, you start to wonder, why is this German constantly yelling gibberish?

Ring me up!
Skip to the dip now!
What we say?
Jigga Jigga!
Welcome to the main arena!

Rofl.

"Friends" is still kinda hot though. Lol.

quote:

Originally posted by Nrg2Nfinit sorry my bad... montana cleared me up as well

Not a problem, we all rely too much on discogs/IMDB/wiki those days.

Heh, Nietsche and Scooter in the same article?

Anyways, check out Scooter's "Rhapsody In E". Quality trance track right there.

But judging of some their more assinine lyrics I sincerely hope they are self aware enough to be making it for laughs

I lol'd

Of course Scooter is self-aware!

They have song titles like, "We Are the Greatest" and "Everything's Borrowed."

The whole point of post-modernism is that the "medium becomes the message", and so Scooter's over-the-top parody of the excesses of dance music becomes over-the-top dance music in and of itself.

Those non-sequiturs that HP throws out, like "The Painted Cow!", are no less vapant and goofy than the serious vocals in most trance songs that ramble on about everything being connected and swimming in deep blue oceans. Scooter is just more upfront about it.

I do agree that most trance lyrics are assinine sa well lol

And yeah, they probably are very self-aware with those titles and Baxxter's one-liners

quote:

Anyways, check out Scooter's "Rhapsody In E". Quality trance track right there.

I agree, very good track.

Back in the UK/Ireland FTW

Wouldn't the question be "Scooter being self aware, does this make their whole act good, even as a joke?"

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