Dance Music...
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Topic: Dance Music...
Posted By: komplexnous
Subject: Dance Music...
Date Posted: April 23 2005 at 11:50
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I'm taking a risk here, but this is the best place where I think I can
find answers without being attacked for a question: why listen to dance
music? What is the point of this one-emotion-music (of utopian
joy)? It seems to be so abundant simply because it satisfies some
primal instinct for...reproduction, to put it better (because it isn't
for god(s) too much anymore)? Could it be instinctual music, while the rise of non-dance music is serving as a means to satisfy our minds, intellect, and other human emotions? Could the rise in the number of non-dancers (those who do not listen to dance music) be related to the increase in self-awareness and intellectual yearning (which happened with some individuals before psychology entered societies and began changing the human world)? I mean, music throughout history has almost always been dance until scholars began to emerge (usually implicitly) requesting intellectual music. Then there were musicians longing to portray emotion and technical/intellectual aspects in their music (displaying self-expression that could be related to others, connecting us in a sense). Before that, music was for dancing and worshipping god(s), right? What type of people listen to dance music? Can those who listen to such music be generalized (of course, not accurately, but generally) as younger with more spunk and drive or those who wish to revisit their youth? Or more to the point, what is the purpose of this music? Does it make people remember good times in clubs, etc.? Or, am I just overanalyzing a genre that I just do not like and others call me soulless for not liking (when I see dance music as soulless!)...? (Or, am I missing out on some intellectual or emotional dance music out there that I may like?) Do others feel the same? Is this worthy of a discussion between music lovers? (For those thinking I'm attacking you for liking dance music, I'm not; the internet is full of reasons to like and need to listen to dance music. I'm looking for different viewpoints.) (Note: if this post annoys people and moderators see it as pointless, just delete it, which will likely happen since most people don't like to have reason with types of music- you just like it and intellect/analytical thinking with music is taboo, right?) |
Replies:
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: April 23 2005 at 12:04
| i wholeheartedly agree with most of the points you make.....i hate the genre....it all sounds alike...there isnt much creativity or groundbreaking going on within it....and yet its dominating the globe's radio stations...radioheads song "idioteque" is a critique of exactly this phenomena and it is a great song.....it is a dance club beat and sound but with emotional and intellectual lyrics ....the contrast is very tongue in cheek, asking"why are you listening to this when the world is going up in flames and everyone seems to not care? rather silly"....lyrics like "women and children first" and "who's in a bunker" really get the point out....check it out |
Posted By: goose
Date Posted: April 23 2005 at 12:06
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Since there isn't really a single style of "dance music", I'll give you a few examples of electronica with beats, these are IDM ("intelligent dance music" Try: Aphex Twin (and indeed, anything on Warp Records) Squarepusher (excellent bass playing) Venetian Snares (just mad) and the album Merzbeat by Merzbow - he's a noise artist, but that disc and another one he did recently are his attempt to work with beats as well (note - don't start with that That's only scratching the surface - I admit I know next to nothing about the style in general. Actually, come to think of it, if you're into modern jazz, Jaga Jazzist may be your thing - electronic jazz and excellent with it. Then there's Cinematic Orchestra, but you probably wouldn't associate them with dance music, since beats aren't really that predominant in their music. |
komplexnous wrote:Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: April 23 2005 at 12:10
| goose i believe you are severely misinterpreting what dance music as the thread meant it is....aphex twin is NOT dance music...have you ever heard aphex? try dancing to it then...good luck...same thing with squarepusher....electronic does not automatically mean dance |
Posted By: Metropolis
Date Posted: April 23 2005 at 12:16
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But Aphex and Squarepusher and all those similar artists are all generally referred to, as Goose says, as Intelligent Dance Music (IDM)
------------- We Lost the Skyline............ 
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Posted By: Man Overboard
Date Posted: April 23 2005 at 12:37
I'm not sure if it's dance music... Pat Mastelotto's solo album
XtraKctS & ArTiFaKcTs (or however the thing's capitalized!) is
really excellent, experimental electronic music with King Crimson
sampled all over the place. 
------------- https://soundcloud.com/erin-susan-jennings" rel="nofollow - Bedroom guitarist". Composer, Arranger, Producer. Perfection may not exist, but I may still choose to serve Perfection. Commissions considered. |
Posted By: Megamoss
Date Posted: April 23 2005 at 12:55
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There's lots of dance music out there which is varied, clever and musically credible. You just have to get up and find it because it won't present itself to you on MTV or the radio. ------------- Functionless Art Is Merely Tolerated Vandalism |
Posted By: Gentle Ronnie
Date Posted: April 23 2005 at 12:56
| I was going to say how I hate dancing, but then I remembered myself dancing to Genesis' 'Dancing out..." yesterday. Nevermind. |
Posted By: goose
Date Posted: April 23 2005 at 13:09
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If he were only talking about the dull, lifeless dance music, then
wouldn't make any sense. It'd be like asking "Is there any good third rate rock music?" Plus as someone said, there is a DM in IDM (and if I recall rightly, a couple of Squarepusher's albums were very danceable indeed - I don't know the titles though). Warp is primarily a dance label - electronica gets a lot further from dance than their releases - drone, for example. Even Autechre is less like dance than these guys, and he (they?) still comes under the broad category of IDM. |
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: April 23 2005 at 13:15
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yes i like autechre too sorry didnt mean to offend you...i guess i missed his entreaty for good examples of the genre
here you go then: aphex twin squarepusher musique prefuse73 andre 3000 "the love below" it isnt rap! tortoise autechre plaid calexico yo la tengo meat beat manifesto the orb (almost anything on the "nothing records" label, besides marilyn manson) |
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: April 23 2005 at 15:44
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Dance music.... http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?what=L&obid=6579"> AIRWAVE 'ABOVE THE SKY' On the track you will find a sample taken fron the '72 album '666' by Aphrodites Child. Even the crazy heads who create this music actually have some taste i guess
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Posted By: goose
Date Posted: April 23 2005 at 15:55
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Not to forget the club mix of Owner of a Lonely Heart And Merzbow did an album using samples of prog songs (Aqua Necromancer? I think) but it's noise so it doesn't sound all that prog |
Posted By: komplexnous
Date Posted: April 23 2005 at 17:29
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That was quite a funny post Gentle Ronnie! Regarding the whole presenting on MTV comment; if a "band/artist" were on there, I would have an even more difficult time "discovering" them, as I despise that horrid channel.  That is ironic; I was asking about intellectual dance music, and a genre is out there called IDM! 
I must give the genre a listen since it is difficult to imagine
intellectual dance music that would actually be danceable without
feeling odd. And, isn't dance music a sort of innate (or dare I
say, primitive) mating ritual by humans? I mean, dance music does
not get played anywhere unless it does not challenge the crowds who
seemingly want nothing more than to numb their brains and solely focus
on their physical being, usually (and making this action spiritual/deep
[,etc.] at times, almost like a sort of Zen moment that one can do by
listening to Earth and/or collecting one's thoughts quietly and freeing
them for a period of time, which offers to be more refreshing in some
people's minds...).I'll check out all of these artists you have been mentioning, although I have heard (note: not listened) to quite a few of them. Thank you all for not coming out with virtual pitchforks ready to attack, even though I may come off as rude or insensitive to others' tastes... I must say, quite a few people and friends I know love dance music, it being popular, "underground" or simply not known too well. They all sound the same to me, with the exception of some trip-hop and more experimental electronica. Even then, they all usually repeat that same high-pitched hiccup sound in the same rhythm, if you know what I mean. (I think it's the equivalent of the guitar's presence in rock music with the only change in it being tempo; correct me if I'm wrong.) Then they throw some female or whispering vocals on the beat repeating the same phrase for the remainder of the song, ranging from 30 seconds to over a half hour! I mean, with Prog, you get some amazing solos, shifts, twists, etc., but with dance music, that same looped beat goes on and on and on and on....  To me, it isn't that broad of a genre, yet.
If one can dance to it, it's dance music, where most Prog and Indie,
classical, etc., is not! I mean, to dance to a certain music, it
must be predictable or repetitive,
or else it can not be danced to, right? Even more, it is
traditionally not mentally challenging as those who would like to dance
are focusing on shaking their limbs and head to a rhythm or protocol of
sounds-turned-to-movements (Latin dancing, etc.). I'm sorry; I'm
making dancing sound as I perceive it, and that can be quite offensive
and likely simply ignorant on my part. :( ...enlighten
me...(?)...But, before I begin ranting once again (and possibly upsetting others), I'll go and check out these groups/people mentioned here so I may be more exposed and educated about what I classify as dance. Thanks for taking the time to post on this topic; it really can be interesting (especially since thinking about dance music can be so taboo to many people)!  |
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: April 23 2005 at 18:01
| two songs you must listen to, both by aphex twin: "windowlicker", and "a complex mathematical equation" |
Posted By: goose
Date Posted: April 23 2005 at 18:41
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Even the sort of repetitive dance music you're talking about has hundreds of subgenres - jungle, breakcore (although I think that's more experimental), drum 'n' bass, drill 'n' bass (the grindcore of dance music? The problem with IDM is that it isn't really meant to be danced to (last New Year's Eve I was at a party and I knew the guy who was DJing, some girls asked for dance music and I got him to play Venetian Snares' remix of the Coronation Street Theme and cleared the dance floor |
Posted By: James Lee
Date Posted: April 23 2005 at 22:33
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I don't think modern dance music is exclusively about utopian joy...much of it is more or less concerned with itself ('dance', 'music', 'beat', and 'rhythm' probably make up a good percentage of all dance lyrics and titles But some of the most original musical experimentation of the last 20 years has been 'hidden' in the stuff that evolved out of the acid house movement. As with anything, 90% of it is disposable crap, but there's plenty of examples of the other extreme, too. Rock hasn't (for the most part) inspired people to dance for a long time, and people need that- it's basic to our musical instinct. There's no rule that says you can't have art and groove in the same song. ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/sollipsist/?chartstyle=kaonashi"> 
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Posted By: Man Erg
Date Posted: April 24 2005 at 02:02
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Another good example of IDM/Prog is Steve Hillage/Miquette Giraudy's System 7.Hillage and Alex Paterson (The Orb).have been long-time collaborators.System 7 recorded a trance version of Neu's Hallogallo a few years back.It is worth checking out. ------------- 
Do 'The Stanley' otherwise I'll thrash you with some rhubarb. |
Posted By: Jim Garten
Date Posted: April 24 2005 at 11:56
Also worth looking for are The Orb's remixes of Pink Floyd - I have their re-workings of Meddle, Dark Side and Animals, all of which (especially Aninals) are well worth hearing.... Although NOT if you're a purist. As far as dance music in general is concerned, there seem to be as many genres/side-genres/pidgeonholes as there are in any other form of music; the bottom line is, if it feels good, dance like nobody's watching, if not, retire to the chill room with the libation of your choice. CHOOOOOOOOON!!!!!  sorry ------------- 
Jon Lord 1941 - 2012 |
Posted By: gleam
Date Posted: April 24 2005 at 12:07
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I think you guys are over intellectualizing the whole thing... Do the following; come to Miami, visit south beach and you'll see why people like dance music. Our particular brand of dance music is Salsa and Merengue, shared with a "prieta latina" or "una garrota Brazilera".
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Posted By: greenback
Date Posted: April 24 2005 at 16:11
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I like many dance music artists, especially in the Euro-Dance sub genre. The keyboards are VERY well played, they sound crystal clear, and I really love the GREAT female lead vocals! their songs are really catchy and addictive! One of my favorite band is definitely 4 strings: the female singer is just awesome, and it is rather a brilliant techno-euro dance music, full of modern keyboards. I also love very musch DAZE, with its straight forward & sexy female singer, and its catchy songs: http://www.mp3.com/albums/300911/summary.html - http://www.mp3.com/albums/300911/summary.html I like also Aqua, who made the wonderful "Doctor Jones" and "Turn back time" tracks. Those artists, especially DAZE, remind me the beautiful young girls in the bars! My favorite dance singer is definitely Mylene Farmer: she almost sings perfectly, and her music is very ethereal too: many proggers should like her stuff, i'm pretty convinced! http://www.mp3.com/albums/153985/summary.html - http://www.mp3.com/albums/153985/summary.html ------------- [HEADPINS - LINE OF FIRE: THE RECORD HAVING THE MOST POWERFUL GUITAR SOUND IN THE WHOLE HISTORY OF MUSIC!> |
Posted By: Vicky Garten
Date Posted: April 26 2005 at 07:30
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Have a look & listen to this site http://www.chaosunlimited.co.uk - WWW.chaosunlimited.co.uk . anything on the Nano recoreds label. I am interested to know your reactions. ------------- Confusion will be my epitaph |
Posted By: Blacksword
Date Posted: April 26 2005 at 08:15
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I was dragged kicking and screaming through the rave years by my techno obsessed friends. I have danced like a d!ck for hours to the spinning turntables of Jeff Mills & Derek May, both regarded as masters (?) I will defend some dance music. Dont judge all dance music by what you hear in the charts, and what appears on those horrendous Ibiza compilations. 'Intelligent' techno artists have been mentioned here, like Aphex Twin & Squarepusher, and they are worth checking out IMO, but it could be argued that they dont really make music you would want to dance to. Its more listerning electronica really. I always thought Orbital made great tunes, and were very capable as both musicians and as manipulators of the technology they used to create it. Same goes for Leftfield, FSOL and The Orb. ------------- Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy! |
Posted By: PROGMAN
Date Posted: April 26 2005 at 08:56
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Dance Music: I've Got 4 Words to Describe It. C.R.A.P. ------------- CYMRU AM BYTH 
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Posted By: komplexnous
Date Posted: April 27 2005 at 08:56
Thank you for all of the responses (including PROGMAN's hilarious post and goose's very-true post )!
I checked out almost all of the artists mentioned here, and I must be
honest (and hopefully not very rude), the only dance artists that I
seem to like are Steve Hilliage, The Orb, and a few of the IDM
ones. However, many of the songs I liked can easily be called NOT
danceable (just like much of Electronica and Ambient)! 
Evenmore, I would not be able to listen to these albums longer than a
couple of songs (let alone the entire albums where I would hit NEXT
quite often). But, after hearing many samples, I can understand why people appreciate the music
(but not all of the time). It has that annoying, repetitive dance
rhythm going, but there is some background substance and many textures
added to it (like some of Chaos Unlimited and many others), showing off
some serious talent with the boards! But, I can satisfyingly get
that in much of Prog music and other genres, etc. (with emotion
attached to it)! Futhermore, almost all of the dance music is
lacking other more human (instead of simply animalistic) emotions as
well, which I did not mention before as being something that I also
look for in music. I can, however, see why dance textures (etc.)
have been put into other types of music, as the textures in dance music
are very well done and potentially very moody if given a respectable
environment (AKA emotional music that requires an audience's listening
attention).I should mention, while searching for music, the dance-rhythm-music that I liked most was from (get ready, it may make many of you laugh and able to easily criticize me) Nine Inch Nails (who don't solely make such music, but when they do, it isn't bad to me). Trent Reznor can be repetitive with his lyrics at times almost ruining a song, but it is the closest that I have come to really liking a song with a strict dance rhythm. He expresses emotion in his not-so-great lyrics along with a hint of intellect at times, intertwined with animalistic emotions, like anger and/or lust possibly trying to implicitly deliver a certain message of transcendence, or maybe I'm analyzing it too much... Regarding Salsa, etc., I live in an area where this type of music is always heard, and I frankly do not enjoy it. Yes, it often has a lot of talent being put into the music than others, but as I have said before, dance music seems to be annoyingly reptitive or too predictable; Salsa (etc.) is full of predictable rhythms (etc.) (with a few minor changes) so people can dance to it, as such music all have their respective dance patterns (which is why they all sound the same to others). One can say we are over-intellectualizing music, but as I have mentioned before, I'm taking a risk and doing something that is regarded as taboo by the majority of people: analyzing dance music. Why is it so wrong to use the intellect given to us? What I have come to believe is that dance music is liked when one's brain relates it to a sexual encounter of some type without thinking about that. I think this is the reason why dance music, with it's annoying nature to many people's intellectual side, has become madly popular. But, if we actually think about why we like such music, we will usually turn it off and put on some music to listen and relate to... All of this is simply my little and insigificant opinion, though... (As for Spanish music in general that is danceable at times, I do quite enjoy many of Santana's tunes and a couple Ozomatli songs...) Well, I don't mean to come off as some disgruntled old man, but I still am not a fan of dance music in general. Call me soulless, over-intellectual (..?!?...), or anything else others can come up with...[edited out rant]....As for IDM and a few others out there who are truly experimental, that music is in a rough spot: it's not danceable but is, leading to a difficult fan-base to build up (like NIN who have a very unstable, in number, fan-base that can get huge or rather small). It can be appreciated, though, and it seems to be gaining many listeners despite it being in such a rough position.  I'm going to probably go on a
search for others like those mentioned above, NIN, and Chroma Key (if a
lot of the IDM songs are "dance" songs, Chroma Key can be too! )... Well, thank you for enlightening me about some dance music that is quite listenable (and intellectual)! I should mention...honestly, I can't blantantly attack "dance music" anymore, since I like some, if even only a small amount, now. |
Posted By: goose
Date Posted: April 27 2005 at 12:28
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I've found I can't attack any genre now - if I search long enough there's always some obscure bugger doing something interesting .
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Posted By: komplexnous
Date Posted: April 27 2005 at 18:51
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I agree, goose! Dance
music was the last genre that I attacked; I used to always attack Rap
(well, I still aggressively attack most of mainstream nonsense-Rap), but there is some very interesting music going on in the "underground scene," so... |