The Label EDM & the demise of uniqueness

Discussion in 'Lounge' started by Retrolize77, Jan 14, 2018.

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  1. Retrolize77

    Retrolize77 Audiosexual

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    Thx for taking the time to go thru my post, you got some good points there. I write my stuff out of the blue, from the heart, and often enough I need a shove to get on track with the facts.
    Wasn’t easy e in nwa?
    By the way, rap music was always full of braggin & boastin, as a white European kid i related more on the music side , and the more philosophical messages , than the stereotype stuff always attached to rap music.
     
  2. Retrolize77

    Retrolize77 Audiosexual

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    Thx for the namedropping, gotta check em out (many things to check out actually, together with the other stuff you great peeps in here mentioned!!)
    And I do think one can compare stuff from back then with nowadays stuff, because the inner creative spirit will float into the art we all love & live, if u use a laptop or a 1 million bucks studio. But back in time, It was way harder and you had to be better in what you do to get something like a deal, nowadays you can use those platforms on your own and see what happens. Which is more democratic & cool, it’s just you gotta search the pearl in an ocean, so much contamination.
    But it’s all good as it is, I’m not a guy wanting to turn back time, we live here n now, and it’s good as it is.
     
    Last edited: Jan 15, 2018
  3. Retrolize77

    Retrolize77 Audiosexual

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    I liked „poison“ very much , the out of space single was great back then, liked the fat of the land the most!

    I really love the fsol - lifeforms artwork, there was a limited edition booklet coming with the double cd which looked great, but only was willing to pay for the normal edition back then , dead cities artwork was great too.
    Did anybody remember the genuity of Portisheads first 2 albums? Big dj premier Fan Geoff barrows pressed selfcreated drumloops to vinyl to sample them for the second album! : )
     
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  4. Retrolize77

    Retrolize77 Audiosexual

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    Remembrance time again:

    The debut of air, moon safari, what a laid back 70‘s sci fi jazz vibe that was, that intro tune, and those 2 tunes with so talented French singer Beth hirsch? Superspecial


    From Sneaker pimps debut album becoming x , this „how do“ tune is timeless, love it since day 1.


    Morcheeba debut was great, same with sneaker pimps , unexpected dope sounding beats with great female singers, loved the triphop age really. Massive attack, who ruled massive in that genre, protection & mezzanine , wow...trickys Martina topley-bird, a voice like raw silk, Check nearly god - I’ll be the prophet !!

    That Ill communication album from the beasties, damn...Björks 3rd album homogenic was out of this world (prod by 1/2 Lfo if I remember right)

    Madonnas album with William orbit was great work too, dj shadows midnight in a perfect world , dj krush - kemuri, pfff, mo‘wax, Ninja tune...ahhh.

    With this 90s appreciation stuff, i play into the hands of those new kids on the block , but hey, it’s when I get socialized, and I’m proud of that era, don’t want to get that kind of imprint nowadays.
     
    Last edited: Jan 15, 2018
  5. SineWave

    SineWave Audiosexual

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    I've got so much to say about the subject, but I'm unsure of the quality of things I want to say, so better to keep my gob shut for now. :rofl: Nice thread, enjoying reading it. :wink:

    Maybe after having some brain-boosting done, I'll be smarter [not]. :rofl:
     
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  6. spyfx

    spyfx Guest

    when you have time please do :wink: :bow:
    it can only become better when SineWave is on it :bow:
     
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  7. Retrolize77

    Retrolize77 Audiosexual

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    For me, I just try to speak my mind out of the moment, if there’s impure data coming up in the process, this forum can be a nice corrective immediately , which is good. Go ahead : )
     
  8. curtified

    curtified Rock Star

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    Im 36. Might be young to you (I dont know your age) but I have seen the rave scene build up and die in my lifetime. Ive also been doing this Flosstradamus project for 13+ years. So I have paid my dues in this game.

    Im saying "old head" mentality. I feel like im an old head. I hear new music coming out and it makes me uncomfortable and interested at the same time.

    What I was suggesting to the OP etc. Is dont waste your time hating on a new genre. Try to understand it and take elements from it. Or leave it in the rearview and make music you love to make. Getting frustrated with something that is different is what holds this world back.

    There are so many I can post in here. Shouts to spyfx for posting the josh pan stuff. dudes got the sauce.

    Even dudes like cashmere cat have amazing musical elements in their music.


    I feel like dubstep is more of a box than trap. It is based in hip-hop and hip-hop has been around and evolved so much in its time on earth.
     
  9. Utada Hikaru

    Utada Hikaru Producer

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    I am 23 years old and even if I read this post years ago I still would agree totally with everything you have said, is not just a thing of "oldgeeks". J-M Jarre is probably my favorite artist in electronic music and love a lot of music of 70s, 80s, 90s, and some amazing artists out there that share their music in Bandcamp where you can find many great new music (and also where I share my own).

    No that you are talking about EDM I want to share with you this text that one day I found:

    Is EDM the worst thing that has ever happened to music in its history?
    In recent years, the EDM (Electronic Dance Music) has become the most popular electronic music genre, filling stadiums in different cities around the world, where tens of thousands of young people enter into an euphoric frenzy waiting for the DJ to throw the bass and raise them to collective dementia. Dj's and producers like Tiesto, David Guetta, Steve Aoki, Skrillex, Swedish House Mafia or Avicii have become world stars who charge at the level of the greatest popstars. Their music can be heard in the songs for dancefloor by Madonna, Rihanna, Pitbull or Paris Hilton (who, inspired by them, is also Dj).

    It's no exaggeration to ask, as Drew Ressler does on the Disco Demons blog, if EDM is the worst thing that's ever happened to electronic music. And perhaps, along with reggaeton, one of the poorest things that has happened to music in general, conjured up feelings of banal euphoria that make fans a kind of automaton programmed by a primitive formula: Pavlovian ravers salivating by the bell of the "DROP". At least this is the impression left by many of these massive EDM sessions -- although, as always, there are exceptions.

    What's a little disturbing is that the EDM was once a broader term for all kinds of electronic music (as the name clearly indicates): techno, house, trance, dubstep, drum & bass and others. But today the term has become generic, encompassing all sorts of subgenres as if it were the backbone of electronics and causing many people to immediately think of one of the above mentioned DJs when talking about electronic music or dance music. This leaves electronic music in bad shape.

    The EDM is characterized by simple and sticky melodies with vowels that can be quickly sung once they are heard, dirty or sandy synthesizers, a little white noise and usually a drop: the climax that pops when the bass is dropped. The first part of this definition is very similar to what we all vaguely know as "pop music", music produced for a commercial purpose, usually by great labels that manufacture "artists" as the cosmetic image to make music known. Artists and music form a strategic ensemble -according to market studies, consumer tendencies and pre-established formulas of sound manufacturing- to be liked by the masses, appealing to basic emotions in their less subtle aspects (almost as a form of mass hypnosis). The EDM has been described as "predictable","robotic" and "cheesy" (a term that refers to the cheap emotions generated by music with a pseudo-epic).

    The most regrettable thing about the EDM is that, as it is supposed to be representative of electronic music for dancing, it can sometimes act as a fence that makes it more difficult for new generations to find artists with truly interesting and authentic proposals -- or that valuable artists cannot consolidate themselves if their music is not very compatible with the stadiums or discotheques of thousands of people in Ibiza and the market strategies. In a sense, the EDM has transformed the perception of electronic music, de facto turning it into the new pop music (with a little conspiracy we might even think that it is music created to keep the population consuming low vibration realities). Behind the EDM (and what was once Eurodance and Eurotrash) lies a rich stream of less complacent sounds, linked to different realities and smarter ways of experiencing nightlife and tribal communion of sound. In a way, it is logical that genuine electronic music should be relegated and marginalized from mainstream music, in order to avoid being co-opted by the amazement of crowds and marketing. In any case, nowadays there is more and more music and a lot of it very good: it is necessary to look beyond billboards, Ocesa concerts, MTV videos, Rolling Stone reviews and even, sometimes, to venture beyond Pitchfork.

    Whether you like techno, house, minimal, dubstep, psychedelic trance, ambient, IDM (the most intelligent version of EDM) or any other genre, we invite you to explore a little deeper in the spacious electronic music room. The EDM, although it seems to eat the world right now, will surely perish in a few years' time. Electronic music, however, will live much longer and will continue to develop some of the most refined and important artists in musical history.

    Finally I want to share this video in which talks about all the music and their "industrialization":


    Cheers!
     
  10. Retrolize77

    Retrolize77 Audiosexual

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    Yeah, dubstep is def on my to checkout list, especially since Moritz von Oswald whom I really like admit that there’s cool music to find in that genre, Mala - Mirrors (full album) is on that list for example, so much music out there
     
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2018
  11. Retrolize77

    Retrolize77 Audiosexual

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    I agree with almost everything u wrote/quoted! Thx for bringing up those statements!
     
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  12. spyfx

    spyfx Guest

    You have my greatest respect,my friend thank you :bow:
    I agree with everything you said ^ here,i will also like to add that yes age has nothing to do with someone's deepness & depth of consciousness,
    i've seen 15 year olds "being" mature like 50 & 50 year olds "being" & "acting" like 5 in my lifetime(i'm 37),once again thank you for your thoughts :wink: :bow:.
    fellow members please listen to the music of Flosstradamus & Josh Pan & others :bow:,it is music that came from the soul :bow:
    yes ! that's the spirit ! best wishes to you & everyone else hear,lots of creativity & inspiration :wink:
     
  13. Army of Ninjas

    Army of Ninjas Rock Star

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    As someone that makes weird, unique electronic music, I don't like the EDM label either. I never know what genre to call my own music lol. Do genres even mean anything anymore?
     
  14. spyfx

    spyfx Guest

    to me "labels" where useful when you where going in a record store & wanted to know where the music that you like(what section)is ,
    on the other hand it was also great digging in random,you could find great music that way to...
    today "genres" are mixed more than ever imho & as i said before at the end all is good...music is a gift from the Universe to us :bow:
     
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  15. Retrolize77

    Retrolize77 Audiosexual

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    that Josh pan stuff sounds really good from a mixing point of view, powerful stuff, will listen to at home, just had a quick look actually.

    This flosstradamus,hm, just checked 1-2 tunes in youtube... each his own,
    @curtified i totally respect the work & knowledge that brought you there where you are, you propably got a nice life,enough bucks for a lifetime, and your music sounds polished /hi-res as it’s technically possible. But hey, you do what you love, and do no1 harm, respect to you.
    I just prefer stuff like this



    Have a good day people, and spread goodvibes
     
  16. dadarkman

    dadarkman Producer

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    Simply NOT accurate for the United States timeline; It may be for the U.K but not the U.S.

    I can clearly remember the term introduced and abused for the Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, BJork, Goldfrapp, Aphex Twin, Fatboy Slim and others of that era in the U.S: It was "Electronica". We're talking late 1990's. Madonna's 1998 "Ray of Light" album was openly branded an Electronica album because its production borrowed the electronic flavor of that timeframe. Now, the rush of using the term "EDM" in the U.S. didn't start after or around 2010-11 and that was in the dance industry circle. The U.S. media and various outlets didn't pick up fully on it until 2012. 2010-2011 saw the rise of Big Room, Electro and the more mainstream kind of Progressive House as the forefront genres in Electronic music in the U.S clubs scene. We're talking about hits like Quintino & Sandro Silva's "Epic", Afrojack's "Take Over Control", Benny Benassi's "Cinema", Hardwell's "Spaceman", Avicii's "Levels"; all released between 2010-2011... That was when the "EDM" craze starts to litter the media and radio here in the U.S.

    I know such for sure cause I've been djing, frequent the festivals, the dance music conferences and produce the many genres of so-called EDM way before anybody in the mainstream U.S was abusing it. I am literally part of it and I can definitely track back the timeline!

    As I said it to many folks in my circle before, I'll say it again: Dance music has been around wayyyyy before the term "EDM", and I'm sure it will be around and survive after the full demise of the term (which is already in effect). For better or worse, the music, the many Genres, and core audience will always be around!
     
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2018
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  17. spyfx

    spyfx Guest

    i agree & could write also all the above you said in my first post :wink: :bow:
    i simple don't see why my "timeline of things" is not accurate ? :dunno:
    tell you a funny story there was a time not very long ago that here in the U.S there where some cd compilations with "hot edm/dance" music & the tracks where old tracks from Europe that where "hits" long time ago(If you where from Europe you would laugh & understand)
    nice to hear your thoughts :wink:
     
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  18. Retrolize77

    Retrolize77 Audiosexual

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    Thx for the insight view & info.
    The creative people just get creative, it’s the media & industry that needs labels to sell it.
    As long as people dance, can’t be nothing wrong with it. As long as you can make a living out of your creativity, I respect it. Personally, which kind of vibe you pass to others with your music, it’s a question of attitude & socialisation
     
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2018
  19. dadarkman

    dadarkman Producer

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    I'm not sure if you realize it but you wrote the following:
    "the term simple was introduced by the so called "music industry" in the U.S little after bands like the Prodigy & Chemical Brothers started to become popular in the U.S (& some d&b) from the U.K."

    So reading through this sentence where it says that "EDM" was "was introduced by the so called "music industry" in the U.S little after bands like the Prodigy & Chemical Brothers started to become popular in the U.S" makes the U.S. timeline inaccurate because the term "EDM" was not known and definitely not used back then in the late 90's. It only started to spread around in the U.S in the 2010's. Around the time that the Prodigy, Chemical Brothers and the likes were on top of the dance music scene, "Electronica" was the term used not "EDM". There are about 13-15 years or so between when the term "Electronica" was being heavily used and when "EDM" was coined to be the rebranding of electronic music (Yeah, I know! It's a lot of years already). See what I mean?

    I replied to your post so I could help the O.P. (who seems not to know much about "EDM" in general) and others reading the thread to understand the timeline in the U.S. Pretty much around late 90's and early 2000's, the term "EDM" was not directly being used yet or it was unknown to the majority of us in the scene here in the U.S.
     
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2018
  20. Retrolize77

    Retrolize77 Audiosexual

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    After the 2 Artificial Intelligence Compilation early 90s dropped, in german Techno mags of the time (groove/frontage) the term intelligent was brought up, later electronica i think
     
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