Rules Of The Game #6: The Boney Joan Rule

[koganbot]

Latest column, in which I explain why everything is everything else.

The Boney Joan Rule

Your own examples or refutations are welcome.

(I'm not back from vacation, but I did find my way to a computer, and maybe I'll succeed in doing so again soon; sorry to Dave, Nia, Kat, and Jessica for not getting a chance to respond to your most recent comments.)

EDIT: Links to my other Rules Of The Game columns

Comments

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

I used to give Consistency an awful lot of importance, especially as a teenager and a student. It's much less vital now I've grown up a bit and trust my own opinion as to whether something is good or not.

Within the super-broad sphere of dance music there are plenty of different genres that are so divisive for very inconsistent reasons. To illustrate what I'm getting at, on Thursday I'm going to a dance music festival. This festival has a number of stages according to 'genre': Techno, House, Breaks, Psy-Trance, Wrong Music Mentalism, Chillout, Roots (world music, hip-hop, salsa etc). I can tell you now without even looking at the lineups that I will stick to Techno, House and the Wrong Music (like I did last year!). Other dudes won't leave the Breaks tent all weekend. The goths like Psy-trance and Wrong music but not Techno. Fair enough - everyone has different tastes. But ask them WHY they like Techno and not Psy-Trance but still like Breaks, and they'll go 'ummm Psy-trance doesn't have a pounding 4-4 beat like Techno.' Ah but neither does Breaks! 'But Breaks has whooshy bits and has more variety in the beats.' Psy-trance is ALL whooshy bits & the beats are all over the place! Personally I like bibbly squelch noises common to Techno and Psy-Trance but dislike the latter genre for its lack of structure and flow. However I'm sure that Psy-trance enthusiasts would ALSO say that Techno has a lack of structure and flow, but mean something quite different! Basically my point is that two styles of music can be very similar indeed (my Mum certainly wouldn't be able to tell the difference between Techno and Psy-trance at all) but polarise opinion nonetheless - and those opinions are based on different interpretations of the same reasoning. Does that make sense?

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

After reading this comment out to Rick, he mentioned 'so you're applying this to a group rather than individual opinion' - indeed I am. But it could apply on a personal level too - to tie it in to your example: 'I like Joan Baez's clear voice' could mean the listener likes the way her voice resonates in comparison to the backing music, while 'I like Liz Mitchell's clear voice' could mean her enunciation or the way it sounds like she's speaking down a tube directly into your ear or whatever. Same reason + different interpretation = cause for many arguments & resulting division!

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I always get the feeling that these fairly small feeling-divisions in dance music sects are a lot more intangible and social than anyone bothers discussing - surely some of it, like any dancing, boils down to "I want to dress up like *this* when I go out - will other people be doing the same or will I feel out of place?"

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

A lot of it is down to that, yes. Funky House & Hardcore = stereotypical binge drink Britain girls with scraped back hair and skimpy outfits (plus as laydees they are likely to get in free before 11!), it's all about going out dancing and getting drunk as a lord. Techno and House seems much more up itself intellectually and its listeners are quite happy to either sit at home & chin stroke whilst listening to mix cds OR go out on the bosh drugged up to the eyeballs. And Psy-trance is full of goths trying to have sex with each other, of course.

I think that's why I like Techno and House tbh - I love dancing but I also love plugging in my headphones and contemplating it. There's much less of a 'scene' and even at its most go-there-to-be-seen-not-to-dance (ie Fabric) the clientele is split fairly evenly between jeans+trainers and smart shirts+skimpy dresses (with the odd smattering of pink fairy wings) and no-one is really bothered - because they are either concentrating on the music or nattering to their own little clique of mates. It's actually quite insular in that respect as opposed to Wrong Music/Hardcore where for some reason everyone is Really Friendly...

I must admit though that I've only really started going out to dance clubs in the last two years or so, and as such my sweeping generalisations may be factually inaccurate. I'm quite prepared to be corrected on this!

(haha do my homework 4 me part infinity)

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

is this what simonR means by "scenius" -- i always liked that idea, but have only skipped and dabbled thru "3n3rgy fl4sh", cz i was "never yet ready" to "apply my brane" to it (and as always w.SR fear it being a potentially strong idea followed up by his own immediate dumbing down and conventionalising of it)

Re: (haha do my homework 4 me part infinity)

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

(disclaimer: as i haven't read EF it shd be emphasised this is MY FEAR not simon's failing -- necessarily! -- tho my fear does have actual real roots in his real actual critical practice, albeit 45 million years ago when Phytopunkton Rooled the Arth)

Re: (haha do my homework 4 me part infinity)

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

No, "scenius" as I understand it is to do with the motor of innovation in music scenes. He contrasts it with "genius" - the auteur in the studio - whereas in scenius innovation is a collective process, & I *think* it's more to do with the DJ, and producers making records which will both fit in with and stand out in a mix, rather than stand-alone "sonic statements"

(pauses in explanation to save rabbits as heavens open outside)

i.e. "It's the vibe, man".

He struggles in Energy Flash w/ conflict between the wish to embrace this as the motor of the 'hardcore continuum' and the desire to list loads of good individual records, the latter (inevitably perhaps) wins more often.

The problem with genius/scenius as I understand it (which may be a poor understanding!) is that the pure forms of either basically don't exist, and also in order to privilege the "massive" in dance fandom he has to invent by implication an incredibly passive version of the non-dance consumer.

[boyofbadgers.livejournal.com]

Yes and no. There are definitely places where genre divisions work like this: the neo-rave bangfacery/hardcore-as-is/drum'n'bass triple point immediately springs to mind. Massive overlap in sound between the three, but a v.big difference in the attitude of the punters (and DJs for the matter). But then you have social scenes which encompass several musically distinguishable genres. For example, in 96/97/98 most London acid techno, psy trance and hard house nights had exactly the same crowds going to all of them.

Psy trance is an interesting case here, in that I wd estimate that nowadays 80%+ of psy-ppl have no interest in any other dance music whatsoever, which IME of ppl-who-like-dance is rly rly odd. It seems to operate in its own little insular hippy groove. It's a bit of a shame, cos I wd like to see some of its values infecting other genres, not least the seemingly compulsory provision of cups of tea at psy venues.

[koganbot]

Ha! I have not heard many of these genre terms: "breaks" and "psy-trance" and "wrong music mentalism." I am from Mars.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

There is a big Wrong Music scene in England, specifically the West Country*. Mostly comprises of geeky dudes who have wired up their Amigas to a tray and dance about at 180bpm making animal noises (last year's Glade festival saw the Countryside Alliance Crew dressed up in tweed shouting 'PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS' through a megaphone). Or making sounds through their Gameboys. Or cut+pasted episodes of Eastenders. It's very glitchy and deliberately confusing and 'offensive to the ear'. Imagine if rave music had ADHD. Example: Ceephax Acid Crew.

Psy-trance - the fact that I find this very difficult to describe sort of seals my point up above! OK I'll give it a go: it is burbly electronica, like a waterfall of various noises at fairly high speed but with an emphasis on synths rather than the drums/cymbal crashes you'd get with your common or garden trance. What I can't describe is the appeal of it all. I imagine it probably sounds very good if you're on acid in Goa. Slsk Example: Nano Records (a whole bunch of dudes I've never heard of)

Breaks (aka Breakbeat) - one step away from drum-n-bass, ie less bass. Very much like old rave but way less interesting. Prides itself on being 'global' when really it's mostly overexcitable Australians mistaking it for samba. It's all about the beats and whooshing/maraca noises, which in theory I should really like but - but I just can't stand breaks. Slsk Example: Adam Freeland

*hahah ridiculous in-joke there that a) isnt funny b) about three people reading this *might* get)