I did see it, and my favorite thing about it is that the writer identifies house as "primarily a British export." Reminds me of when Salon.com said that with "Play," Moby was restoring the spiritual element to techno. I wrote in, and actually got published, telling them that I was sure Mike Banks, Rob Hood, Derrick May, etc. etc. etc. and all the other African American producers who helped develop techno would be glad to know that a white kid from Connecticut was restoring the soul to their music by sampling out blues recordings. I didn't write to the editor this time, although I thought about it.
Brian -----Original Message----- From: M Elliot-Knight [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, August 31, 2001 3:14 PM To: 313@hyperreal.org Subject: [313] Another journalistic hack Though not directly related to Detroit I thought I'd share this because of the link to the recent comments by Stacey Pullen in XLR8R... San Francisco magazine September issue "Pulse of the City" by Sheerly Avni (page 89) The Boomboom Room (with apologies to the late John Lee Hooker) "House music is a British export and was the dominant music of the Bay Area's early '90s rave scene. It's bar far the most popular electronic dance music in San Francisco. On any given night, you can usually find a small club where they are spinning music that is darker and heavier than house, such as drum 'n' bass, edgy techno, but on that same night, you can choose from among at least ten venues spinning house music. I've never like house. Happy, up-tempo rhythms, video-game bleeps - it's disco at its worst. Every time I hear it I think, "Oh, they're playing that song again, the one that goes thump thump thump really fast." But if rap and arock are too familiar now, house could be the answer - so subversive, so new, that my conservative ears can only hear it as noise. Maybe house is the new rock 'n' roll - Brando with Glo Sticks...." She later talks to Paul Kantner (formerly of Jefferson Airplane) of all people about today's dance culture. This is how the conversation goes: I tell him about the people I've met so far who describe today's dance scene in the same way I've heard old hippies talk about community in the '60s. "It's different now." "Why?" I ask. "There's drugs, there's music, there's sex." "They don't have as good drugs. Sex is always good. But most of what they're taking is the equivalent of horse tranquilizer. Which can make you pleasant, but it doesn't let you see God. In the '60s, we spoke to God on a regular basis, and he spoke back to us in many interesting ways." I make a mental note to check with my new clubbing friends: find out if they've ever seen God on the dance floor. "Can a DJ build the same energy with a crowd as a band?" I ask. "He could if there was a real community, but there isn't. It's just people coming together to dance. They're not coming to experience the universe." She then goes on to write about Liquid after telling her friend in confidence that she wouldn't. She's a hack and a lousy friend. Sorry, I had to get that out of my system and yes I wrote to the editor. Did any of you West Coast 313ers see this article? MEK _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
