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

[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.