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The usual end of the year circus (pg. 2)
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| LoveHate |
| I have love for all of the music journalist out there in 2016 |
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| Woony |
| quote: | Originally posted by idoru
To me, that reads as though if you go out, you usually only go to Berghain. From an "outsider-looking-in" perspective, there's a lot of awesome stuff going on in Berlin beyond that club, much of which is varied and substantial, not just "hype names". Am I misunderstanding your post, or is there something about Berlin-beyond-Berghain that I don't know? |
Well, what I really love is classic, detroit rooted techno and good sound. And Berghain is the only club that really offers both (although the former sadly less and less). Unlike what some people think, there's not actually that many clubs here that consistently have techno lineups (and i'm quite tired of most of the dark modern techno stuff). Tresor often has quite good lineups but the sound in the basement is absolutely terrible and while i'm generally not someone that complains about tourists, everytime you go there you literally get hit with all the stereotypes. Griessmühle has good lineups sometimes and supposedly good sound now but I really don't like the vibe of that place and the people that go there are really sketchy. Maybe I need to check it out again. About Blank has good bookings sometimes but it's really more of a hang out club. The sound isn't terrible but it just doesn't hit you in the same way. I've always loved the Berghain system and the acoustics of that room more than all that crap about the vibe and atmosphere and what not. Hearing techno on some crap basement system just isn't the same and sadly apart from Berghain, Berlin isn't really known for having particularily good sound.
Case in point, I spent quite a bit of time at CDV this summer and I would often hear music that resonates with me much more than all that dark modern techno crap. I'd hear some old electro-ish detroit techno or killer 90s tech house and just think to myself, I wish I could hear this at Berghain but instead you are hearing it on CDV's glorified hi-fi stereo. I actually prefer that to some overly cranked crap system like at Tresor but you just can't really experience the music the music fully.
People keep telling me to go to Heideglühen, which I still haven't but when all people talk about is how great the vibe is and yadda yadda i'm sceptical. The lineups there are pretty good classic house lineups, which is fine by me but it's not something I live for and apparently the sound isn't remarkable either. |
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| Woony |
| quote: | Originally posted by SYSTEM-J
I have the feeling a lot of these DJs and acts just drift into this sphere quite arbitrarily and start getting coverage, get Boiler Room appearances, make their way onto the circuit of promoters who book the online hype DJs because it will fill a club with that same kind of music "fan". The Black Madonna has, by all accounts, been around for decades, but suddenly she's playing absolutely everywhere. Why? |
I think a big part of it is that underground dance music is now all brand-driven in the same way fashion is in that the content is secondary to some nebulous kind of metaphysical "brand image".
And both of their "brands" fit the narrative of what people crave right now - exotic, non european DJs and non-male, queer, feminist, gender-critical DJs etc. DJ Nobu has been playing at Berghain for years and he had an RA podcast in 2011, so they were ahead of the curve on that one :p He's always been known for playing the same stuff the europeans are playing but in a very smooth/technically proficient way so it's not like he offers anything special. But an older japanese guy hammering out techno is a pretty appealing image and he fits the demand for mysterious, non-european techno DJ on festival lineups. And I mean especially with Black Madonna, she's a walking branding machine. She just plays a bunch of crowd-pleasing hits and feel good disco but I guess when it comes from a loud, fat queer feminist woman it's totally a sign of courage and . People don't book her because her music is remarkable, they book her because she stands out and it's an easy way to get your token female/queer/marginalized/feminist-whatever-token-DJ. |
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| Mr.Mystery |
| So is this list good or bad? Because I have no idea. |
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| evo8 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Woony
Well, what I really love is classic, detroit rooted techno and good sound. And Berghain is the only club that really offers both (although the former sadly less and less). Unlike what some people think, there's not actually that many clubs here that consistently have techno lineups (and i'm quite tired of most of the dark modern techno stuff). Tresor often has quite good lineups but the sound in the basement is absolutely terrible and while i'm generally not someone that complains about tourists, everytime you go there you literally get hit with all the stereotypes. Griessmühle has good lineups sometimes and supposedly good sound now but I really don't like the vibe of that place and the people that go there are really sketchy. Maybe I need to check it out again. About Blank has good bookings sometimes but it's really more of a hang out club. The sound isn't terrible but it just doesn't hit you in the same way. I've always loved the Berghain system and the acoustics of that room more than all that crap about the vibe and atmosphere and what not. Hearing techno on some crap basement system just isn't the same and sadly apart from Berghain, Berlin isn't really known for having particularily good sound.
Case in point, I spent quite a bit of time at CDV this summer and I would often hear music that resonates with me much more than all that dark modern techno crap. I'd hear some old electro-ish detroit techno or killer 90s tech house and just think to myself, I wish I could hear this at Berghain but instead you are hearing it on CDV's glorified hi-fi stereo. I actually prefer that to some overly cranked crap system like at Tresor but you just can't really experience the music the music fully.
People keep telling me to go to Heideglühen, which I still haven't but when all people talk about is how great the vibe is and yadda yadda i'm sceptical. The lineups there are pretty good classic house lineups, which is fine by me but it's not something I live for and apparently the sound isn't remarkable either. |
Once you experience a proper club sound setup its hard to go back
has anyone seen this Skream guy? I always thought he was dubstep but according to that RA blurb he plays house/techno now |
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| idoru |
| quote: | Originally posted by Woony
Well, what I really love is classic, detroit rooted techno and good sound. And Berghain is the only club that really offers both (although the former sadly less and less). Unlike what some people think, there's not actually that many clubs here that consistently have techno lineups (and i'm quite tired of most of the dark modern techno stuff). Tresor often has quite good lineups but the sound in the basement is absolutely terrible and while i'm generally not someone that complains about tourists, everytime you go there you literally get hit with all the stereotypes. Griessmühle has good lineups sometimes and supposedly good sound now but I really don't like the vibe of that place and the people that go there are really sketchy. Maybe I need to check it out again. About Blank has good bookings sometimes but it's really more of a hang out club. The sound isn't terrible but it just doesn't hit you in the same way. I've always loved the Berghain system and the acoustics of that room more than all that crap about the vibe and atmosphere and what not. Hearing techno on some crap basement system just isn't the same and sadly apart from Berghain, Berlin isn't really known for having particularily good sound.
Case in point, I spent quite a bit of time at CDV this summer and I would often hear music that resonates with me much more than all that dark modern techno crap. I'd hear some old electro-ish detroit techno or killer 90s tech house and just think to myself, I wish I could hear this at Berghain but instead you are hearing it on CDV's glorified hi-fi stereo. I actually prefer that to some overly cranked crap system like at Tresor but you just can't really experience the music the music fully.
People keep telling me to go to Heideglühen, which I still haven't but when all people talk about is how great the vibe is and yadda yadda i'm sceptical. The lineups there are pretty good classic house lineups, which is fine by me but it's not something I live for and apparently the sound isn't remarkable either. |
Gotcha, thanks for the insight! :) |
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| SYSTEM-J |
| quote: | Originally posted by Woony
I think a big part of it is that underground dance music is now all brand-driven in the same way fashion is in that the content is secondary to some nebulous kind of metaphysical "brand image".
And both of their "brands" fit the narrative of what people crave right now - exotic, non european DJs and non-male, queer, feminist, gender-critical DJs etc. |
While I can certaintly see that about the Black Madonna, most of the DJs on the RA list don't remotely fit that description. And while that may be her hook, why now? I think it's instructive that certain DJs suddenly just pop up into the hype-whirlwind. I feel that the hype becomes self-sustaining after a while. Once a DJ has cropped up in a few of the right places, people go see them just to "check them out", the bookings snowball, they crop up high on this list, the cycle repeats.
It's the same with Pitchfork, where they cultivate a carefully eclectic canon of current artists. They cover a couple of seemingly random artists from a niche genre, the followers start listening to those artists specfically, and they end up being booked at Pitchfork-esque festivals like ATP all over the world. You can see the effect in how juke/footwork went viral on the blogosphere a few years ago, even though it was 10-15 years old by that point.
My basic point is that most clubbers aren't really diggers. They don't really cultivate their tastes. They still want a list serving up of hot names to check out, and they enjoy those names more or less based on taste. So you end up with a list that really, to me, feels completely arbitrary. Even based on the spectrum of music that RA covers, are those the 100 best DJs out there in 2016? no.
| quote: | Originally posted by evo8
has anyone seen this Skream guy? I always thought he was dubstep but according to that RA blurb he plays house/techno now |
He's been playing techno for years. I caught some of his set at Sonar in 2013 and he was playing very ravey high energy techno. Good fun. I used his Chemical Brothers remix from last year in one of my sets. |
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| MR STROKE |
| While I don't agree with the list per se. Tale of Us is on absolute fire right now. Can't get enough of them at the moment. |
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| MR STROKE |
| quote: | Originally posted by Woony
People don't book her because her music is remarkable, they book her because she stands out and it's an easy way to get your token female/queer/marginalized/feminist-whatever-token-DJ. |
This is a little disingenuous no? |
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| Sykonee |
| quote: | Originally posted by evo8
has anyone seen this Skream guy? I always thought he was dubstep but according to that RA blurb he plays house/techno now |
Seen him twice. First was way back in 2007, when he was King Dubstep Man. Was also the first time I heard a proper dubstep set, and... I kinda' liked it?
Second time was 2014, which by that point he'd totally phased out the dubstep since it was completely played out. Mostly played crowd pleasing house and tech-house. Wasn't all that impressed, but I guess he was still figuring things out at that point.
I'm quite surprised enough RA readers would have even seen him to vote him so high in their poll. Never would have figured they'd give him much chance since those folk viciously abhor scene defectors (re: Dubfire). |
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| rdevito |
| C'mon...Ben UFO is awesome :) |
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| craiggarner |
| quote: | | [i][b]but I guess when it comes from a loud, fat queer feminist woman it's totally a sign of courage and . |
She mentions a husband here: https://www.residentadvisor.net/features/2793
Seems a little ridiculous to deride a scene that favours stereotypes whilst doing the exact same thing yourself. |
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