Start The War On Minimal

[Jay Pace]

that was one point i didnt quite agree with ya jay - have you seen how big the happy hardcore scene is here in the UK, even today???????? it shits all over techno mate, probably most other styles for the 18-21 age range

hehe its still massive, and fair play to everyone involved in that scene. I went to a few nostalgic happy hardcore raves about 2002 and was suprised to find happy hardcore had mutated into this mad bouncey full on gabba sound. But its a "frozen in time" sound. People fall into it in their teens then grow out of it. The older gen grow out of it and either fall out of dance music altogether or use happy hardcore as a stepping stone to something else. Techno for example. Stacks of techno fans came down the well trodden path from hardcore to TEKNO to techno. But whilst techno fans grow old, happy hardcore seems destined to be forever full of teeny boppers.

Happy hardcore is a sort of phase, a "rights of passage" young ravers go through. There's nobody I know now, despite the claims how "hardcore will never die" who still listens to much it. There was a time and a place....

Its what I love about techno. Still does the tingles for me, but no issues with the mind tickle or the good honest stomp. But I've been happy as larry that in recent years there are producers out there who can whip up a full on stomp at 130bpm without trying to burst my eardrums with distorted noises. Credit to all the producers who made the transition and did it with style.

[Barely Human]

Music is what it is. Doesnt matter what the arrangement is as long as it stirs something inside you. The difference ive found with techno is it isnt instantly accesable. It grows on you. When I first heard some of my favorite tracks, I didn't think they were anything special. But they got under my skin after a while and these are the tracks which still stir me today.

Most of the music I apprieciate the most is not techno. I love all music for what it is.

Remember, music is not something that can be created, it can only be found. That is to say it was already here, you cant create a new sound, you just discover it.

A lot of things we hear have been done over again through the course of time, speaking of happy hardcore, check this track out from the 1960's and see the similarities to 1996/1997 happy hardcore - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8_UN1Sz4XM

[Jay Pace]

Thats ace. Strip out the swing, chuck in a few piano rolls, distorted kicks and a few "lets go's" and you're there.

[Darkmode]

I left that group on facebook as it was full of idiots being negative & bitchy which is a bit childish & immature

[tocsin]

Yeah I think the whole genre thing annoying I remember the days when it was Electro, Techno, House, Trance & Drum & Bass now there is loads of stupid genre tags for music that is basicly the same

I got no real problems with genrefication. It's just there to help sales/exposure. If people want to make it something defining of them personally, and get huffy when you say you don't particularly like a certain genre, that's where I laugh. Things would be better in that regard if people grew a little bit of a spine again, allowed their sense of humor to develop as a result, and not take any perceived disliking of a sound or style as an attack on their entire life and person.

[tocsin]

It's sooooo obvious this change is all down to generation change. Generations affect the way music is. And you simply can't stop it. It's what keeps the wheel moving and the putters guessing. Embrace it. Force yourself to get into it. It might feel awkward at first, even criminal that you would dare to do such a thing, but you will NOT regret it. Mark my words.

One thing that I've found particularly amusing for the better part of the last decade is that what you say above is something that even needs to be pointed out to another into making techno music. I just don't get it. The one thing that absolutely got me hooked on making "techno" music was the ability to create actual sounds I hadn't heard before which don't occur in nature, and arrange them in ways which aren't really possible under any other circumstances. It was a change from the very beginning, and has largely been a journey of chasing after something exciting and unique from there. In my opinion, not changing it up is exactly the same as change for the worse.

[Dorian Hunter]

I can`t see why it is called innovative when Techno is getting more and more boring but I guess I`m just ignorant :)

[RDR]

I work in a college and get to see a lot of kids coming through who like Happy Hardcore... but they also like RnB and Drum and Bass in equal measure. Usually through the sound of tinny sony ericson speakers.

The hardcore scene is MAHOOSIVE and i get the impression its a well run, commercially viable form of entertainment. But then the people who run it obviously realised YEARS ago that it was entertainment - not really an underground scene, but a way for people to enjoy themselves. They started out doing massive events and stuck with it - pleasure island, doncaster dome, destruxion etc etc. Its the dance music equivalent of stadium rock.

@Jay - dont you think most genres of music are stuck in time, one way or another? I do - but thats why people like them i think.

Minimal? - i like it, it works, people enjoy it, there's crap tunes and great tunes. Good production is what counts, vibe and spirit and you'll always get that when a group of musicians get into a sound.

[Jay Pace]

@Jay - dont you think most genres of music are stuck in time, one way or another? I do - but thats why people like them i think.

Not explained myself well on this at all. Musically its changed loads, the old school hardcore sound mutuated into the utra fast piano rolling breakbeat sound, followed by 4beat followed by fairly hefty gabber styles. Musically it moved with the times. Quite like all of the different styles tbh, but the crowds at hardcore raves seem destined to be forever young (classic choon) and aged 14-20.

After a while you grow out that sound and that atmosphere, and want something different that hardcore can't really provide. Most people I know are the same, wanted a different atmosphere in a club, got more into the music itself etc. Might be a boring old **** but I've had loads more fun going out since music got slower and less in your face... Sometimes you want a full on stomp, but not all the time.

[tocsin]

I liked it a lot more when I could hear everything in one place.

[The Overfiend]

You mean Whistle Parties in Pennsauken?

[Smear]

I liked it a lot more when I could hear everything in one place.

A lot of people say that though, but unfortunately most people's open-mindedness is the exact opposite of what they claim.

Not a personal dig at you obviously, haha.

[davethedrummer]

I can`t see why it is called innovative when Techno is getting more and more boring but I guess I`m just ignorant :)

techno is NOT getting more and more boring
sorry but that is not true.

[tocsin]

... Whistle...

Sure, or anything else like that. Perhaps I've got rose tinted glasses on, but music lineups in a lot of the venues/parties around NYC until about the end of the 90s just seemed to incorporate more.

A lot of people say that though, but unfortunately most people's open-mindedness is the exact opposite of what they claim.

Not a personal dig at you obviously, haha.

Yeah. I'm not sure how much it is about open-mindedness vs. being in the know for some though. At least, around NYC, clubs pretty much cater to one sound on a given night. Most of the other parties promoted at them are also one sound events. The more diverse stuff can be harder to find if you're looking in the obvious spots, which is kinda backward.

[Patrick DSP]

At first, when I saw this group I thought it was just your basic, i hate this shit, my shit is better type of group. But then i read what they were actually saying about minimal music and how it's completly taken over every club and even with prime time slots in clubs and events; it made sense. i'm sorry but for prime time, i'd like to let my hair down and thrash about a bit harder than 130bpm. not to say there isn't a place for minimal, there is. i actually enjoy it, but i enjoy the ability to choose more.

I miss being able to choose what type of music i'd like to listen to when i go out. rather than which minimal or electro house artist i'd like to listen to (again).

So for me, start the war against minimal? damn right i singed up! do i want it to go away all together? hell no! Variety is the spice of life. But, do i want bandwagon dj's to stop trying to cash in on fads? ****ing hell yes.

[Jay Pace]

Why does everyone assume every punter, dj and producer is "bandwaggoning"

Why aren't people allowed to genuinely like going out, playing and making the stuff?

[S.L.U.T Promotions]

techno is NOT getting more and more boring
sorry but that is not true.

too right henry....what is that lad on about...is even on the right forum to be saying such comments?!?!?!

just got me a download of sparks to rinse @ S.L.U.T on saturday ;)

crackin track!...not boring ATALL!....inovative to sat the least

[S.L.U.T Promotions]

At first, when I saw this group I thought it was just your basic, i hate this shit, my shit is better type of group. But then i read what they were actually saying about minimal music and how it's completly taken over every club and even with prime time slots in clubs and events; it made sense. i'm sorry but for prime time, i'd like to let my hair down and thrash about a bit harder than 130bpm. not to say there isn't a place for minimal, there is. i actually enjoy it, but i enjoy the ability to choose more.

I miss being able to choose what type of music i'd like to listen to when i go out. rather than which minimal or electro house artist i'd like to listen to (again).

So for me, start the war against minimal? damn right i singed up! do i want it to go away all together? hell no! Variety is the spice of life. But, do i want bandwagon dj's to stop trying to cash in on fads? ****ing hell yes.

i agree patrick...i play minimal as well as harder stuff...i play a variety of styles (hard/industrial/minimal/electro/dub etc..)because i like to mix it up..im playing minimal and down tempo techno at my event on saturday but the time slot for this is early (2nd set) because it has a place there to build the night up to a peak time style (cue mr mooy)....minimal is not a peak time music (imo)....only for a minimal orientated night (of course).....these bandwagon dj's need to to wake up...there selling themselves short...in the wise words of bill hicks "play from your ****ing heart!"....R.I.P bill hicks

[Smear]

Well yeah, you could argue that this kind of group is a form of bandwagoning, since it's directly and deliberately opposed to another supposed bandwagon.

It's almost impossible to be completely unaffected by changes in the world around you. Some people will adapt, others will refuse to for the sake of it, and others will make what they think are minimal and reasonable concessions to get by with what they do, be that releasing records, putting on nights or just going out and enjoying themselves.

Situations like the current climate in techno are a lot more complex than a lot of people would like to think, and there are much more than just two stances available.

[tocsin]

Why does everyone assume every punter, dj and producer is "bandwaggoning"

Why aren't people allowed to genuinely like going out, playing and making the stuff?

Probably depends what region you are in. Around NYC, I've definitely grown a bit sick of it. Over a decade ago, the friends I had who were into minimal would make fun of other people for dancing because they "wouldn't be able to dissect the music." No joke. This wasn't just one douchebag either and they thoroughly believed that, to dissect (aka. appreciate) a track that is "minimal," moving to it would kill that. They considered it the same as adding ketchup to a gourmet meal. Now, in more recent times, add a fair amount of cocaine to that kind of silly snobbery, and the minimal "scene" just gets really dull very quickly.

As for bandwagoning, look into "Minitek" and make your call. You'll find just about any and every complaint made about a style of music or a festival in a number of those review threads, many of which were well earned.