Tuesday, March 11, 2003
Everything Starts With An E
So I'm on a bit of a discovery mission, learning all about the early rave culture and acid house phenomenon in the UK, which in my view is so critical to everything we take for granted now about DJ's, music, partying, and pop culture in general, but at the time was quite revolutionary. The historical importance of the British "Summer of Love" as it's often called - really 2 summers I think: '88 and '89 - has only begun to be fully appreciated as a cultural turning point with long-lasting repurcussions. Anyway, being that this fantastic music (including the American techno and house tunes that in part inspired the British acid house movement) is still, after all, rooted in the 80's, it's a bit of shock hearing music which is tapped into the same chemical frequency as today's electronic music yet sounds so clearly, well, OLD. Even returning to the 94-96 era techno, ambient, and jungle - my entry point into this continuum - I'm surprised to find how much this music has evolved despite how imperceptible the changes seem when they are happening.
So with that, let us thank Everything Starts With An E for being such an amazing sonic and visual document of the 88-92 period of UK dance music! The streaming DJ sets and pirate radio clips are incredible - Sasha at the Hacienda in '89, Grooverider in '90 (!), Sunrise, Amnesia House, Top Buzz, Sunrise FM. And early rave flyers. Enjoy!
¶ 1:15 PM
So I'm on a bit of a discovery mission, learning all about the early rave culture and acid house phenomenon in the UK, which in my view is so critical to everything we take for granted now about DJ's, music, partying, and pop culture in general, but at the time was quite revolutionary. The historical importance of the British "Summer of Love" as it's often called - really 2 summers I think: '88 and '89 - has only begun to be fully appreciated as a cultural turning point with long-lasting repurcussions. Anyway, being that this fantastic music (including the American techno and house tunes that in part inspired the British acid house movement) is still, after all, rooted in the 80's, it's a bit of shock hearing music which is tapped into the same chemical frequency as today's electronic music yet sounds so clearly, well, OLD. Even returning to the 94-96 era techno, ambient, and jungle - my entry point into this continuum - I'm surprised to find how much this music has evolved despite how imperceptible the changes seem when they are happening.
So with that, let us thank Everything Starts With An E for being such an amazing sonic and visual document of the 88-92 period of UK dance music! The streaming DJ sets and pirate radio clips are incredible - Sasha at the Hacienda in '89, Grooverider in '90 (!), Sunrise, Amnesia House, Top Buzz, Sunrise FM. And early rave flyers. Enjoy!
¶ 1:15 PM
