Fear of a bleepy planet

[darren_stranger]

Reflecting on the other night at Dream, in particular my observation that i need to stop 'cracking the sads' at every bit of music i don't like, i thought i'd expand upon the reasons for that a bit, if only to get it out of my system and maybe be able to fix myself that nice cup of Get The Fuck Over It that i seem to be in need of.


Despite my exaggerations, i didn't actually abuse any djs for playing bleep last week - the closest was just a grizzle to Tom about wanting to know which was the 'non-bleep' floor.  But it was after saying to one dj that i liked her set "..well, from PiL onwards" and her response that she has to play "music that other people like too" that made me realise how much i'm slipping back into being such a music nazi that i can't even tolerate a single set of music i don't like.  So i figure it might be a good time to look at why.

 

Now, i'm not going to go into why i don't like electronic or industrial music - i just don't.  That's my taste and i'm allowed to like or not like whatever music i please (which is a different, if related, rant).  What i want to explore is just why i have such a knee-jerk reaction at the first appearance of a doof beat or blips'n'bleeps at a club and can degenerate into a spontaneous episode of tourettes if it lasts more than a couple of tracks.

 

I could go right back to the early '90s and the rise of industrial and electronic styles at the expense of my own kind of music, and bitch about the hours sitting around certain clubs waiting for something we wanted to dance to, but that is kind of ancient history and mainly sets the background for more recent times.  Suffice it to say that we abandoned the club scene for years and didn't go back until the very late '90s when it seemed to become fashionable to 'mix it up' and have many different styles of music all tossed in together, which naturally included styles we liked.  Subculture in about '98/99 is what i look back to as the high point of that era, and i was even enjoying various styles of electro and industrial that really did have an appreciably gothic feel to them (instead of being 'goth' because some people in black pvc happened to listen to it) and was more open minded musically than i've ever been.  But times changed, Subculture ended and the 'mixing it up' trend ebbed away in favour of 'goth' and 'industrial' djs with specialised sets, and crowds similarly polarised.  A few clubs we had liked drifted more towards the industrial side and once again it became a game of chance whether we had a good time or sat bored for large segments of the night.

 

This was pretty much the case in most clubs we went to, though perhaps Psychonaut is the best example of the scenario where my dislike of certain types of music festered and i lost any ability to put up with it.  For a while it was my favourite club and i often had a great time there, but it wasn't always guaranteed and, as time drew on, a pattern began to emerge.  It would start with getting there nice and early so i could hear Amelia's set, which was a great mix of goth, punk, rockabilly, new wave and not-especially-doofy industrial.  The trouble was, it was exactly the sort of music that made me want to dance, but it was always too early and too few people there (it's much harder to be the only person dancing in front of 10 people than in front of 100).  So, as my feet got restless, i'd down a few drinks to wash away the self-consciousness and be just starting to get into it, with enough people arriving to get the atmosphere going, when it would be time for the dj change of shift.  Without fail, the crowd size reaching critical mass to occupy the dancefloor was generally the signal for doof and industrial hour to start, and i'd begin the cycle with which i would ultimately ruin most of my nights out.  Hearing nothing i liked for an hour or so, i'd sit and drink out of boredom and a desire to keep my mood up for when the music tide turned back my way again.  By the time it did, as often as not, i'd have lost the mood and gotten shitty at the thumping industrial beats and it'd take me half the set (and often a couple more drinks) to get back into it - just in time for the next change and another hour of boredom.  And so it would go, as i got progressively drunker and shittier as the night wore on until, at some stupid hour of the morning, i'd give up on the "two more shit songs and i'm out of here" game and just leave.  Given that was generally my only night out for the week (it's hard enough leaving Elaine sitting home by herself one night) and there was no "oh well, there's always tomorrow night", that would usually leave me cursing and swearing for the rest of the week.  Not that it was that way every time (i wouldn't have bothered if it was) but the pattern was becoming the rule more than the exception.  And it wasn't just Psychonaut - the music i liked best being reserved for No-One's Going To Dance Anyway O'clock seemed to be the rule for most nights, teasing me with the sort of things i'd really like to hear and dance to, then taking it away just as i got in the mood.  Clearly i was 180 degrees out of sync with most of the people in 'my' scene, and that also rubbed salt in the wound and made me feel like a cranky old fart.  But even that was better than the prospect of returning to the days of staying home on the weekends, with no social life, scene to call my own or anything to look forward to at the end of the week.

 

Enter Heresy.  I'd heard of clubs in other cities that dealt with disparate tastes by separating styles out into 'hard' and 'dark' floors (or variations thereof).  This sounded like a good thing to me and when Heresy started with that format it got my attention.  I was wary of it for a while, when there was uncertainty over whether the 'goth' floor may or may not open on a given night, but when they promised both floors open every week i went to check it out and loved it.  Even listening to an hour of industrial doof wasn't bad if i knew it was only until 1am when downstairs would open and then i'd get to hear mostly my kind of stuff for the rest of the night.  The upshot of that was deciding that i never, ever wanted to play the 'not knowing if or when i'm going to hear something i like' game again and therefore had no interest in 'mixed' goth/industrial nights.  Also, especially after i started dj-ing there, i came to have a zero tolerance for electro stuff being played on a non-doof floor (as could be attested to by anyone who ever had to listen to me swear and rant about bleep playing on both floors).

 

Which brings us up to today.  Heresy folded, but i heard talk about a new club at Dream that leant strongly towards the old-school goth and new wave, and i finally got along to check out Cabaret Nocturne and found it to be everything they said it was, and in one of my favourite venues too.  An industrial floor was added, but i really didn't care as long as there was one floor relatively bleep-free that i could enjoy.  And while there's always some electro or industrial stuff, it's generally in the minority and doesn't take over. But even though i always end up liking more of the music than not, some part of me can't relax and panics every time i hear a doof beat kick in, despite knowing it's not going to last all night.  There's a little pessimistic voice in my head every time that says this is it, the ride's over and it's back to the real world of beatz, bleeps and shouty guys with goatees.  And despite how often i said if i ever found a club like Nocturne i'd be there every week, in real life i hardly ever get my arse there so i know i'd have no right to bitch if it did turn bleepy (just like Revelations, which we didn't patronise enough before it decided to take a 'more industrial' direction).  And i think it's that fear, the ever-present sense that it could all turn to shit again, and that i hadn't enjoyed the ride while it lasted, that stops me being able to relax and, well, enjoy it while it does last.
 
I know it's mainly in my mind and not of earth-shattering concern in the scheme of things, but as with other topics i just wanted to put all this into words so i could stop writing it in my head and concentrate on not spoiling my own nights out by stressing about it.

 

Okay, you can get on with your lives now.

Comments

[avantave.livejournal.com]

This sounds familiar. :)

Remember me?

(Actually my most recent posts are photos so it shouldn't be too hard to figure out.)

[damien-wise.livejournal.com]

Jeez, you make yourself sound like a music whinger. If that were the case, we'd have looked like Statler and Waldorf (from the "Muppet Show") in the corner of Dream the other night. ;->
Seriously, though, I thought there was a pretty good mix of music there (once I figured-out that the selection on each floor was essentially random and you had to leg it from one floor to another on a regular basis), and the people and atmosphere didn't hurt one bit. :)

Generally, I prefer "old school" goth, some punk and new-wave. Nu-metal and "Capital-'A' Alternative" don't do anything for me. I like dancing to some Industrial/electronic, but like you I prefer it not too bleepy. Gimme melody, not machines squealing in agony at 130dB and 180BPM.

Golgotha did an excellent job the other night at providing two distinct styles and catering to the wishes of the punters with some killer tracks...kudos to the DJs for an amazing night.

[horngirl.livejournal.com]

As a general rule, the music is kept seperate between the floors. Last Friday was a bit of an anomaly, what with the Depeche Mode stuff and all.

[strang-er.livejournal.com]

Hello.

I did remember you (even your real name, eventually) but hadn't gotten around to looking out for you online.

Mind if i add?

[strang-er.livejournal.com]

What bothers me is the way it takes so little for me to start emulating those muppets - it's like i can't tolerate *anything* that's not 100% to my liking music-wise nowdays. Friday was great fun, but i was cracking the sads quite a bit and it did detract from my own enjoyment (hopefully i kept my mouth shut enough that it was only my own - i've been known to get more obnoxious on occasion).

Basically, i just want to get over it because it's so boring i even give myself the shits going on about it, and i figure it can't hurt to analyse exactly why i have this reaction to help get it out of my system. That, and i felt like explaining just why i do get like that (moreso than just having a whinge).

[avantave.livejournal.com]

Well, I had time to kill today so I went around re-introducing myself to all the people I'd lost contact with after I switched journals.

Of course not. You may notice that I added you? If you're not online from work, look at the latest photo shoot. I don't get to model very often anymore, so when I do get some decent shots they go online like the exhibitionistic camera whore I am.

[morgan303.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty much in the same place, meself. Nice post.:)

[strang-er.livejournal.com]

I like fur coat shot especially, though it needs a small silver pistol to complete the picture.

:)

[viscera.livejournal.com]

As one of the more frequent djs at Cab Noc, it's nice to come across feedback or an opinion that isn't limited to 'yay!' or 'meh.'

Request more songs! The more immediate feedback we can get in regards to what you want to hear that particular night [the crowd can change week to week quite dramatically] helps considerably. While there's some specific genre catering djs, i've found that most of who you'll find upstairs [on regular nights] cater for a whole mess of sub-sub-genres that all too often don't mesh on personal taste levels, but are all relevant [some sadly, indeed] to at least part of the demographic that appears weekly.

A major problem is that those who do appreciate the non bleep are frequenting clubs less and less [even those with less bleep], the majority are the younger generations, and while it's somewhat tempting to alienate them by playing what you want, if you don't play at least something catering to the dancefloor mood, BOOM - the club goes down, and then we have nothing.

Come out more, and request your ass off. :)

[strang-er.livejournal.com]

That's the plan. :)

I do want to get to Nocturne more, just for the sake of enjoyment (as well as the danger of 'ignore it and it will go away'). I definitely don't want to just be left with clubs that take the attitide of "if you are in the minority, stiff shit you will be overlooked" (actual quote from a dj whose clubs i have avoided like a plague since).

Anyway, the more times i hear dancey stuff that *doesn't* end up taking over the night, the sooner i'll stop worrying that it will and i might get back to enjoying that as well.

Btw - are you Aowyn?

[viscera.livejournal.com]

Knowing Tom, I seriously doubt he'll ever let it overtake Cab Noc.

Err, yes, i'm Aowyne. Should I be worried you know this? Or does it just mean that that ASIO file does actually exist? :)

[strang-er.livejournal.com]

Just connecting dots. (Took me 'til now to work out who Shocko is too).

We've met briefly a couple of times, i'm sure, but pleased to meet you online as well.