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Minimal Killed The Dance Music Star

Author: Aaron Roach
Friday, October 12, 2007
Unless you're a mainstream music fan, genre trends are never easy to follow. One day you're at the forefront of something 'totally awesome'. The next day you're over it, ready to adopt a new, 'totally awesome', sound, because everyone else is.

In light of this, how different are dance music trends and bandwagon supporters than kids listening to pop- The answer is a resounding 'barely'.

In a world where music stylings generate movements, dance music - while somewhat always evolving - never truly gives people something to hold on to. We've had many, many genres cultivate from many, many genres. We've had spurts of brilliance from the musical plant, but more oft than not, we've had a lot of unnecessary stems that just diluted the sound.

From this, we've seen many fads come and go. Yes, we still have our trance (we always will), but in recent years, however, a sound has really come to the fore: minimal.

Minimal has really made a dent within the music world. For an old sound, it's doing big things. Thanks to Trentemoller and the like, it's become a haven for those who never knew that music could sound so beautiful without much happening. It's kind of like what Progressive did for the scene - the difference, however, is that Prog somewhat knew when to die.

While Trentemoller actually had talent, it opened the doors for others to jump on the genre. One of the more notable converts was Chris Fortier, who went from a beautiful, beautiful Bedrock to this sound that was just...bleh - and we had to listen to three discs of it. It was the first major notable convert.

Who followed suit- Why, yes, it was Mr Jimmy Van M.

It's the Emo sound of electronic music. It has the same negative space that encompasses the 'conforming by non-conforming' feel. Friends that were once bopping their heads to fucking good sounds have opted to sit in the corner of a club and think about...I don't even know what they're thinking about.

Why is boring music so popular now- How can anyone listen to three minutes of a minimal record, let alone seven minutes- Seven-minute minimal records are like listening to an hour of the same loop.

People are cashing in on the phenomenon as well, with most unknown producers finding synthetic textures for their Gaybleton Live. Their shit sounds are finally being accepted, saturating the market with more drudge. And for what- A quick hit of Ice while contemplating nothingness-

Who plays into that- The digital download markets that send emails out, reminding you they've just had thousands of tracks uploaded in a week. Says it all, really.

What's even more disappointing is that, when you go to events or clubs, you see the punters dancing to the sound without really understanding it. They're just into it, because it's cool.

Obviously, this extends down to the DJs who want to crap on about how cool some shitty little label with a wicked European name is the bomb. It's a new smug for them, the same people who were playing entertaining music two years ago. They've become lost in their own bullshit.

More than anything, it's sad to see people the world over find so much solace in one particular sound that they are blinded by other music qualities. There is so much more to the world than minimal.

At least trance gives to people without pretence.

If you don't find yourself in acquiesce with the above, then you've become complacent.
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