Triumph of the Bland

The meek were meant to inherit the earth, but it seems like the bland have taken over electronic music. As minimal drowns in a sea of self-indulgence, Jonny D is being hailed as the hero of the hour, house music's new school saviour. This, we are told, from the Guardian's music blog to Resident Advisor to every online outlet where a cursory browse through Beatport and a broadband connection combine to form an informed opinion, is his time. The same places also inform us that this is the "year of the DJ tool". The last time I heard that phrase being used so frequently was the late 90s, when loopy techno, an infinitely substandard xerox of Jeff Mills' Purposemaker series, was popular. Everyone was making loopy techno, but only a tiny handful of releases sounded interesting or even vaguely challenging (it would be interesting to see how many of that small minority stood the test of time -  perhaps very few). The rest sounded like what would happen if you stuck your head into a washing machine on spin cycle with a African guy chanting in the background -  in short an uninspiring, painful experience. I don't mean to disparage Jonny D unfairly -  I'm sure he's a decent guy and his interview at RA suggests that he does what he does for the right reasons -  but his popularity is symptomatic of a general acceptance of dull, watered down electronic music, the triumph of the bland. Jonny is, if the media and blogs are to be believed, riding (and in some cases steering) a wave of fresh house music from Germany. Seriously though, has anyone actually listened to this stuff? Most of it is flat sounding, poorly mastered, like early 90s US tribal house with all the richness and rumble of those heavy, heavy drums squeezed out, sanitised for easy consumption. Without getting bogged down in the software vs hardware, digital vs vinyl debate yet again, these tracks, irrespective of whether they were made using a laptop or a bank of Rolands, are just badly produced. Of course, there are some very talented exceptions in this sphere -  Cassy, STL, Kassem Mosse and the resurgent Move D - but the championing of the mediocre means that genuinely talented house producers like Patrice Scott and Aroy Dee don't get the recognition they deserve. My feeling is that people who play, listen to, write about or just consume electronic music have become too lazy and complacent. From my own perspective, I see that the language used online and in print has changed in recent years, descending into unquestioning, over-enthusiastic endorsements or lazy, hackneyed descriptions - have a look at some of the writing on Beatportal for example - even though RA and voices like Sherbune and pieces at FACT and Wire as well as a small group of blogs still question, debate and dissect with style. When the bland tones disappear, as happened recently on mnml sggs, when the frankly godwaful Onur Ozer mix CD was slated, the dissent is attributed to malicious 'haters' and not critics with a passion for music who are being honest enough to call a DJ out over a lame mix. But I digress: the same unquestioning attitude is prevalent among consumers. Maybe technology and digital media have made music easier to find and consume. It's also possible that people have got used to listening to software-made music with no oomph, but these are only theories. The truth is that there is a huge volume of electronic music with soul, depth and feeling still being made. 'Orbitalife' will invariably be voted track of the year wherever you turn, but you owe it to yourself to at least explore the alternatives...

Comments

[Scott]

Word. 2008 seems like a year when producers looked backwards instead of forwards. Back in 2005 and 2006 minimal seemed exciting, new, even avant garde at times. M_nus seemed like an innovative, underground label, but two years later after a million copycats, some of whom the label has embraced (cough, Dubfire, cough), the genre seems a little out of steam. To say that minimal is dead is to miss the point; experimentation seems to be missing across the board in electronic music right now, whether it is cookie- cutter minimal or deep house that sounds as if it could have been produced back in the 90's. Then again, maybe I am just looking in the wrong places. I can't help be feel eager for this deep house revival to be over and to hear what's next.

[Z]

You took the words right out of my mouth. Although there are some of his tracks I do enjoy. Oddly enough, the tracks of his that I found interesting were his least popular efforts, like the synth track on Manipulation, "If You Can Read My Mind," and "Walkman."

Anyway, he may as well enjoy it while he can!

[yard]

Here here! Totally agree with your assessment of bland and boring. We need more regional scenes.. not just in Berlin!

[Kenny]

Deep house has returned. Except most of it isn't actually proper deep stuff at all. It's just more bland music for people who haven't moved away from minimal because it's gotten staid (that happened years ago), but because they were told to move on to the next ineffectual musical trend (so as not to look silly and dated, this is dance music after all!)As with too much mnml it doesn't cause them to think much, but instead just shuffle around the floor looking vaguely disinterested, like a fucking gombeen.

please let the likes of Patrice get some fucking props out of this! His records are amazing.

[Steve]

We at LWE have never given Johnny D much credit beyond having become quite popular and (over)working a sound that many would try to mimic. Personally, I described "Orbitalife" as the most overrated record of the year and haven't reviewed anything of his because it's rarely worth the webspace. I'm glad you're calling others out for jumping on his bandwagon so quickly and enthusiastically, but I want to distinguish LWE from the pack in this regard.

[b0b]

I must say I agree with that analysis. The problem is that most producers are just making 'tracks' and not music. Mere tracks most of the time do not stand on their own from start to finish. It's often a halfway job of blandness, poor or uninspired composition that lead to nothing very worthwhile: you'll have forgot it all quick and it doesn't stand the test of time.

A counter example of this is the latest Alton Miller release on Yore: each track is organic, un-digital, gritty, soulful, musical, very carefully composed and stands up on its own. I've found that the older classic deep house producers (Alton Miller, Glenn Underground, Osunlade, ...) that are still releasing music today, blow away the competition because they carefully craft music instead of piling up forgettable 'tracks'.

[qtel]

yeah the world definately need more techno bastards with opinions...it's amazing how easily offended blog dwelling back-slappers can be...bring it on!!!!

[Sam]

Yes, would have to agree with you re. the Ozer mix. Truly a nadir for techno / house in general.

[Humdritte]

"Maybe technology and digital media have made music easier to find and consume"

That's a key point in the way music (and also other fields, like journalism for instance) has been affected - for better or worse.

[Karl]

Maybe I should start of this comment by admitting to being a passenger on the hype train and I have even written good reviews on some of these records.

Johnny D seems to be a bit of a one trick pony, from listening to some of his stuff. But I still quite like Orbitalife, good groove and a fun little number. In general Im feeling Oslo as a label and Mountain People too, which I feel have been at the forefront of this revival vibe.

I do however agree with a lot of these productions having a software-ish sound and the american "originators" have a more interresting vibe to their tracks, grit, warmth, phatness, call it what you want. But when the idea and groove is good I don't really mind.

It's interresting to note however, that if we see the deep house revival and the "true techno music" revival (to quote shed) as two different reactions to the minimal backlash the techno angle is truer to it's source material than the deep house stuff?

Do you think that all these european guys are gaining popularity with this sound and the american cats being overlooked is due to the fact that the european labels are more readily available at mp3 stores and so on?

[Karl]

http://ronanfitzgerald.net/houseisafeeling/2008/11/05/back-soon/

interesting thoughts.

[Brophy]

@ Kenny: 100% with you on patrice - ridiculously great records, he's a buy on sight for me at the moment. would love to hear him spin

@ Steve- no, I didn't mean LWE in the post. really like the site, even if the music isn't always my thing(it often is tho). I laughed out loud when I saw that Jonny D post btw

@ Humdritte - it's good and bad I suppose, but it has meant a number of areas have suffered to some degree

@ Karl - if you like it you like it, that's cool. agreed though, very hard to get US house on MP3.. maybe Ronan got sick of listening to Jonny D only joking.. maybe he's just not interested any more. i read that post he did..

@ Qtel - always amazes me how much consenus there is on music blogs - isn't that the whole point of a blog - to have and express your own opinions

[Z]

The revival does have some good qualities. Producers/DJs such as C2, Kerri Chandler, Dennis Ferrer, Brothers Vibe' and others are getting a nod from the newest generation, which is something I feel is very important. Also, Johnny D may be an easy target but there are others who bastardize this vibe far worse than he does. I can't count the number of tracks on Beatport that try to imitate Locodice's "Seeing Through the Shadows" but fail miserably.

[Brophy]

Z - I agree, it's great Chandler and Ferrer get props as well as craig's older stuff, but a lot of the C2 remixes have become formulaic. kenny larkin's new album is great - it's on planet e and is well worth purchasing. Don't get me started about the amount of dross on beatport! Luckily, I still buy vinyl.. I don't think jonny d is incredibly crap, just incredibly bland and I used him as an example of how bland music seems to be championed. anyway, check the larkin album

[chrisdisco]

@ brophy: the consensus thing - amongst blogs and beyond - is an interesting one. very frustrating. something i've felt consistently, and especially over the last year from running our blog, is how little space there is for criticism/critique. when you push much beyond praise, or heaven forbid write a post longer than a couple of paragraphs, people often either tune out or refuse to read what you're saying. nuance disappears as questioning becomes attack, and criticism is presumed to be personal.

we've been forced to limit/schedule/balance the amount of more critical posts we make, because we were starting to be branded as 'haters' and people weren't listening. and i really hate that we need to moderate it in that way.

but still, despite all ronan's childish bitching and moaning, i think these blogs do play a very important, and positive role, even in their current form. if there is a little bit too much consensus at times, a lot of reflects a strong push towards conformity in the scene more generally.

anyway, this post is starting to turn into a rant so i'll stop now. last thing, though, i pretty much agree with everything written in the original post. i think one point you make, which you don't bring out, is your reference to the loopy techno phase of the late '90s. conformity in techno aint nothing new, perhaps it is just more obvious/prevalent now...

[stop]

[Kenny]

"would love to hear him spin"
he's playing Dublin on 20th Dec!

[tiddlerz]

johnny d gets an RA interview and he is getting player hated all sides!
have to say i am a big johnny d fan as well as sascha dive prosumer and prob some other wack german wanna be house producers.
you might not agree with the hype around these guys but when it comes to bland they are nowhere near the top...

[tom/pipecock]

"have to say i am a big johnny d fan as well as sascha dive prosumer and prob some other wack german wanna be house producers.

you might not agree with the hype around these guys but when it comes to bland they are nowhere near the top..."

hmm, i can't agree with you at all. it's funny, i had an idea to make a post about this but i've been beaten to it. i'm still gonna do the post, but now i have two other points of view to discuss!

[chrisdisco]

@ tiddlerz: you really can't put prosumer in with sascha dive and johnny d. totally different, prosumer most definitely does not suffer from the superficiality/disposability the other 2 do. and i think dive is the worst of the bunch - it is like he is constantly trying to prove how 'deep' he is. by my count, he has 3 records with 'deep' in the title, not to mention the name of his label 'deep vibes'. umm... ok sascha, we understand. you are 'deep'.

[gmos]

@ Karl
I don't think it's just about the availability of mp3's (although it may be a factor), more that most European media sources concentrate on the European scene. So when someone has a popular "deep" record on the European scene, writers then start putting them at the forefront of the deep revival, whether or not they've had much influence overall. I think this is what frustrates people most who have been listening and buying this stuff long before any supposed revival.

I think this is underlined when you notice how much more exposure a US artists tends to get just by releasing on a European label (eg, Reggie Dokes).

[Ronan]

"despite all ronan's childish bitching and moaning"

but chris you just complained that whenever you criticise something people have a problem with that?

can anyone honestly say that the above debate hasn't been hashed out repeatedly over the last 12-18 months?

us producers not getting their dues, disposable german producers, vinyl/mp3, digital/hardware.

is anyone going to actually say "yes this is a bit depressing we need to find some new ways to write about music we like or criticise music we don't like"

or are people just happy to continue batting the same ping pong ball back and forth?

I'm not trying to put anyone down or be superior, I'm just as guilty of getting involved in the same old hacked out arguments but seriously...the biggest malaise at the moment isn't the music, it's that people have NOTHING new to say.

[Brophy]

Hey Ronan, in the piece I think there is a line about 'I don't want this to turn into a "vinyl/mp3 vs digital/hardware" debate (I'm too lazy to pull the exact quote). What I am pissed off about is what I see as bland music getting the props, it doesn't matter who made it, how they did it, where they come from - if it sucks, it sucks. I'd say this kind of debate has been going on for the past 20 years, the only difference is people used to do it in pubs and clubs, etc, now they use the internet to do it. anyway, I would hope this post would give people a chance to enter into a good (civil) discussion about their likes, dislikes etc. I think that's healthy.
I also agree on whoever said Prosumer is in a different league to the Dives and Jonny Ds of this world: his album is excellent (in my humble opinion)...

[Ronan]

Fair enough, I was going to add above that as much as I didn't agree with you on Johnny D you did say that in the piece.

But do you not feel that whatever you said about disliking Johnny D, whatever reasons you gave, the responses would be similar?

I do agree debates about music have been going on for years but the current framework in techno is a bit rickety by now....

Aren't there more reasons to like/dislike artists than "I prefer Patrice Scott" or "I prefer xxxxx".

What does Patrice Scott or STL's music actually tell us about Johnny D's? Does anybody think there is any similarity between the three artists?

Even STL and Scott don't sound alike to me.

[Brophy]

But do you not feel that whatever you said about disliking Johnny D, whatever reasons you gave, the responses would be similar? - I was kind of hoping that there would be a mixture of different opinions so as to start a debate...

do agree debates about music have been going on for years but the current framework in techno is a bit rickety by now.... - do you think? I think it's great at the moment: the print mags which used to have all the power and call all the shots are on the decline and there are loads of good blogs etc springing up all the time. discourse and debate about techno has got much more democratic, eg everyone can take part. this has its downsides, there is a load of crap out there, hence the remark about 'broadband and a glance at beatport combining to make an informed opinion', but to be honest, I read blogs more than mags etc now. I tend not to comment any more because I don't have the time.

Aren't there more reasons to like/dislike artists than "I prefer Patrice Scott" or "I prefer xxxxx". - I think I listed the reasons why I don;t like JOnny D. I love Patrice because he makes great records that work for me on a number of different levels, eg musical, his grooves etc. He has a beautfiful warm, raw, musical sound. Jonny D doesn't.

What does Patrice Scott or STL's music actually tell us about Johnny D's? - Does it have to tell anything? I have no idea to be honest

Does anybody think there is any similarity between the three artists? - not really

Even STL and Scott don't sound alike to me. - I agree, they don't but I love them both

[Ronan]

I only asked those questions cos I couldn't quite see where the connection is between those acts and Johnny D...the reason to mention them.