Eurovision Leylines

Having watched most of the Eurovision Song Contest last Saturday night, I mulled over the thought, for much longer than was necessary, of how to apply the dynamics on show to the world of house, techno and their various offspring. Also, was it in anyway possible to watch what was on show and apply any thoughts on the attitudes of those on stage to their respective nations takes on 4/4 beats. This is obviously a ramble beginning with a whimper instead of a bang, so I'll can it right now.

I suppose I'm falling into the trap that so much of the printed dance media regularly succumbs to (I'm definitely thinking Mixmag more than any of its competitors here). Trying to think of an original angle on which to write a house or techno piece and spouting overcontextualised shite instead. The thing that most used to annoy me when reading an interview with an artist I particularly liked was that only around 50% at most of what was written related to the here and now, everything else being filler and intro, all of which you could read in any interview with said artist. Is it always necessary to introduce, and reintroduce in order to hopefully purloin new fans? I doubt it. The music I write about is, unfortunately, one of extremes and is, amongst other things, the property of nerds and geeks. To back this up, there's an interesting little debate going on over at RA in response to the review of the latest release on Hot Creations "Forward Motion." The impression I've been left with is that the Jones/Foss juggernaut threatens to engulf everything in its path, and the nerds don't like it. One of the worst things about clubbing is going out to an almost excessively male-populated club, where the only girls have been roped into coming along by their boyfriends. Anything, within reason, that gets more girls to dance, chaperoned or not, can only be a good thing. "Women Respond To Bass," as was once said.

Of course it's not black and white, nor is it easy to limit such an outlook to only one place. Different countries have different attitudes to partying and clubbing. It's not as much a way of life in the UK as a lot of people would have us believe, and conversely, neither is it in many other countries. Even though Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne and Mannheim have very healthy scenes or have become creative hubs, it's hard to imagine their respective activities becoming a national obsession. Holland, with The Hague, Rotterdam and Amsterdam, the UK with London, Manchester, Leeds and Glasgow, and Spain, with Barcelona, Madrid and Ibiza. Scenes that exist on a level on consciousness concealed from most of their populations, but seeking validation from the very people they often repudiate.