>To immediately address Mr. Knight's concerns, I blieve the book was first
>published around 97-98, which is when big beat was a new and exciting
>sound. And judging from where electronic music went after big beat in
>terms of mass appeal, seems as though Mr. Reynolds wasn;t that far off.
>Granted- Big Beat now seems trivial, but you can't deny the importance of
>the Chemical Brothers and Norman Cook in bringing electronic music to a
>higher level of awareness to the public. A level that hasn't been topped
>since.
Ah this is true...
However, I'd like to know how many people who went to all the Chemical
Bros.
and Fatboy Slim shows back in the heyday of Big Beat are still listening to
this music? It seems to be more of a "flash and it's over" movement as
opposed
to the steady life of techno and house.
So - after the party was going for a few years how many people were already
heading
for the door? Now the White Stripes are "saving rock 'n roll"
The mass appeal didn't last in either case of Hardcore or Big Beat.
I'd like to see a new addition with some kind of update on his thoughts
or maybe "Generation Ecstasy part deux - everyone back to mine"
I know that the Chems and Fatboy Slim were/are immensely popular but they
had to
cop rock 'n' roll images to get there - which does nothing for any music
producer
who doesn't want to sell themselves like that. I'd argue that Big Beat
brought
little attention to any other genre that wasn't presented as a circus.
Plus, how can someone write a book saying that one subgenre is going to
save the entire
world of electronic music and then turn around and slag off other
subgenres?
I think he does/did a disservice to all electronic music by leaning so hard
against some
very important styles and artists. Aphex Twin did quite a bit bringing
millions of people
into electronic music and his influences in music production are heard a
lot more today than
any Big Beat track.
Reynolds had an agenda.
MEK
