reCord WisDom. 10 things to think about. record buyers, DJs, producers + labelmen. i am writing this to the reaction of many who say they are having trouble shopping the last years or who perpetuate the idea it was all better in the past.
10) laugh at the common exchange "all the new music sucks this month" i recall the same things were said back in 85, in 90 and all through the 00's... so that means the 10's will be no different. its just us producers complaining for our jaded sakes. basically its been the same formula since day one: there are at least 25 records you need every month from right now until the day you die. poetry and music are the genius of human personality and the supply has been and will continue to be awesome. as long as we can be ccreative expect to be amazed on dancefloors of the world. it never gets old p.s. 25 is actually conservative, its probably more like 50 to 75 records, cds, 7 inches. whatever.
a further point from above, if you were complaining about everything sucking then maybe you were listening to the wrong records? think of yourself as a student and not the teacher. explore different labels, check out different categories, etc etc.
find the trends and do your best to ignore them. when a hit record comes out everyone is so excited they copy it sometimes intentionally and sometimes subconsciously. if it doesnt add something to the first example then don't perpetuate second class creations and go with the original.
if u are in the biz, and when you have to log in 100 records or mp3s a day, then all of a sudden it seems like everything is redundant and can be described in 2 words. thats actually not the truth, its easy to get jaded, keep the faith.
and dont be mad at us in the music industry. sometimes its really about how intelligent the buying audience is. if you are stupid enough to buy the same record time after time, go right on ahead because at the end of the day its a business and while there are some artistic geniuses who try and make "aural sculptures" there are many others who just make functional genre tools that are great for the moment but will not stand the test of time. again, many of those are really great records but its important to at least know the difference.
having said that, another thing illustrating this point is to recognize the fact producers and labels will act safely and stagger their talent putting out slightly different versions of the same thing over and over again with no variation in concept because they are afraid you might not buy / play / support it. i have no real problem with that even though i purposely don't emulate that model personally :-) the producers and labels following this model should make each release slightly better than the last so its never a question of quality or redundancy. like apple.
play records the right way. use new records to reinforce classics. use the classics at peak points in middle and end of sets to create anticipation. to understand the mix is to be a student of anticipation and if a person who heard you play can tomorrow walk into a shop, describe what he heard and if he walks out with the record you played, we have all succeeded: customer, DJ, label, store and artist.
take everybody seriously at all times. there is just no way to know who will be the hot producers next year or ten years from now. the only clue is that they are probably as dedicated to this as you.
on a humorous note, if i were to come up with statistical ratings for DJs, it would be like baseball (yeah somehow i'm biased) what would those stats be? gigs played, cities per year, hours logged, records per hour average? new to classic ratio? what else do we need on the back of our trading cards. i remember they tried to do this before but PEOPLE DONT WANT PURE HYPE YOU GOTTA BACK IT UP WITH FACTS thats why baseball cards were religion in american youth i knew a good player based cuz i can read his numbers and your batting average is your batting average. no wins and loses ( because they are all wins for us DJs) but we do have to have a category for home runs. sometimes a DJ just knocks us out of the park !
this is an article written by reade TRUTH
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2 comments:
PART ONE
I pretty much agree with you, this situation isn't really new to someone who has been around for a while.
I wouldn't maybe go so far as suggesting how to play records "the right way". For example, I don't like it how "classics" nowadays are often played like an alibi or testimonial for the DJ - it should be aesthetic criteria that determine the place of a tune in a mix.
And concerning statistical ratings for DJs, clubs and the like: things like that have to be a joke, really. I always thought that "underground people" - unlike more passive mainstream folks, who need somebody to tell them what to listen to - are active and seeking music lovers who are able to judge for themselves what they like and don't like.
Maybe one shouldn't take this self-important "scene" too serious sometimes...
However, I think that these current diffuse complaints actually refer to a range of different things that have developed over the last ten years or so. I'm just wondering why a lot of people come to solely blame the music for everything.
(I still can find so much great music today, I could never have enough money to buy it all - but mind you, I'm listening to pretty much everything from Blues to Industrial...)
On one hand, the fond memories of our youth will probably always be greater than most things that are around us today, mainly because we tend to forget the negative and remember and cherish those "golden moments".
In the past, there weren't that many information resources (music-wise) and most people didn't realise how much crap there was. Today, we have a wealth of information and music, we can observe almost anything. But that's to much for many people to handle on themselves - they get bored, complain or turn their ear to what the "opinion makers" say. (I think in this respect, websites like Beatport, Resident Advisor or Discogs aren't that different from what MTV was in the past - although it might not be their fault in the first place.)
PART TWO
On the other hand, there are some aspects that did have a negative influence on the scene.
Technical aspects aside, what MP3 and internet really affected most is the way we deal with music and culture in general and how we value them today. Their availability and mass consumption degraded them to short living lifestyle gimmicks that quite often aren't perceived or respected as art anymore.
To be a DJ or producer is way easier (and cheaper) today. This led to a situation, where almost everybody in the scene feels like he/she has to be a "maker" somehow. This culture lacks some long-term attraction for simple fans and dancers, because it is too shallow. Creating lifestyle products doesn't take a lot of artistic integrity and it won't have a very lasting impact on the audience.
That's why there is a lot of cookie-cutter shit and blatant rip-offs out there.
In a difficult economic situation, indie labels tend to work more and more like mainstream companies: playing safe, offensive marketing and PR.
Some indies should have more of credibility and down-to-earthness.
The younger generations basicly grew up in a situation like this and have a different approach to music and culture. There's a different audience and vibe in the clubs today, because people come with other expectations and wants.
You don't have this intensity and manic dancing in many clubs anymore because people have seen / heard it all on the internet. The first hand experience isn't so unique as before. Sometimes I think, a "live event" has become like a resource for material to post on blogs / Myspace / Facebook, Flickr and YouTube.
All this might reduce the excitement of the music experience.
Having said that, good music and parties are still out there. Just don't expect that everything that has the tag "Electronic Dance Music" on it has to be great.
Maybe we have to wait until Techno has grown as old as Jazz now, where things have settled a bit. Those who like it are into it, others might pass by but continue to search for something else.
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