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british media
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Henry
Started Topics :
4
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85
Posted : Mar 23, 2004 16:47
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A thread opened on the main trance page about a girl who wants to do a DJ magazine article on psychedelic trance.
Shpongle topped the Buzz chart last year.
In mixmag this month it has comment with enrico from psygate under the heading "10 reasons why you should trip out this summer" which cites the "Somonthaki" (!) festival as one of the high points of the psy calender. And sugggests that clubbers head for the boom where "top acts infected mushroom, asterix and talamasca host the event".
In a video footage last year Youth commented "This scene will eventually go overground but I'm not sure I want to be there when it happens".
Another thread mentioned that the king of morocco is a big GMS fan.
Are we at the beginning of a bizarre shake up? Will we see Xenomorph on top of the pops? Sirius issness to remix the strokes?
Or is this just a bit of collumn inch filling?
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John
IsraTrance Full Member
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76
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768
Posted : Mar 23, 2004 17:04
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Dance music moves in mysterious ways - with all sorts of things moving in and out of the media's glare. Who would have thought Acid Techno would suddenly be cited by lots of commercial hard house DJs as an influence? ... and who would have thought hardcore would undergo a resurgence?
These sort of discussions often assume that there is just psy trance and then "normal" music - and any exposure will bring lots of THEM into OUR music and destroy it - which is bollox of course!
There are loads of scenes that are just as non-commercial, done for the love of msuic and underground as psy is. I cannot see a bit of exposure doing much harm to psy trance - hasnt done breakbeat or techno any harm has it?
But quite surpised by Youth saying he didnt want to be there when things went over ground - as I'm sure he was when it did (channel 4 news in the mid 90s) 
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Henry
Started Topics :
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85
Posted : Mar 23, 2004 17:15
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touche john.
I still think psy is a special case though. |
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jon
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
17
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441
Posted : Mar 23, 2004 19:58
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I think there are two questions : will trance become more popular in UK, and will it become more popular in the World-at-large.
In the UK I think it is becoming more popular and actually Enrico has a lot to do with this.... I am serious : he is having these huge regular parties with Infected Mushroom, Astrix,, and now one at the Brixton Academy..... you dont get noticed in the popular press if you just put on anonymous squat parties 
Hmm I think also it takes more well-known DJs to help boost the popularity... like Sasha and the Shpongle remix, and also John 00 Fleming who plays some psychedelic trance....
I think in other parts of the World fullon psytrance
is _already_ quite popular. Israel obviously, but there are also places like Brazil and Portugal, and other places most likely.
Will it become as popular in the UK as, say, Drum and Bass? I would be verrrry surprised, because of the hippie stuff that goes along with it.... but I hope I am wrong! The more popular it is the better, in my book. I am not a big fan of elitism
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discostu
Started Topics :
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77
Posted : Mar 23, 2004 20:35
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Jon,
Do you not run the risk of losing a unique sense of community that seems so lamentably absent from other 'more popular' nights in the UK!
I agree that exposure logically can only be positive in terms of musical creativity and as consumers, we will enjoy the benefits, however I think mass exposure can also breed a sense of individuality and this may poison the global community vibe that characterises trance parties? |
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Henry
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Posted : Mar 23, 2004 21:11
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Not a big problem either way. I just saw some things coming together this morning and thought I would log it.
Best wishes
H |
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John
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
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768
Posted : Mar 23, 2004 21:15
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But we've all been here before - RTTS used to do regular parties at Brixton Academy and Paul Oakenfold and Danny Rampling both did mix CDs for Dragonfly back in the days when they were very big DJs indeed.
Goa trance (as was) didnt take off - but - as is often the way with dance music and its constantly shifting nature - it no doubt influenced euro and hard trance - which led to the big trance boom of the late 90s...
And does the Acid Techno free party scene have any less community vibe than the psy trance scene? I'm not a fan of happy hardcore - and its easy to be dismissive - but why does that scene have any less sense of belonging than psy trance?
As i said - psy trance is NOT the only underground dance scene and i dont buy the "unique sense of community argument" about psy trance - think it just adds to the view that psy trance is inward looking.
I think we're lucky in the UK becuase of all the diferent sorts of music that you're exposed to. It does sadden me sometimes when you're abroad at festivals talking to people and they've gone straight from liking Metallica to psy trance and have never been aware of acid techno, tech trance, good house music, D&B, breakbeats etc.
not sure where this ramble is leading - so I'll stop
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NeutroN
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
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875
Posted : Mar 23, 2004 21:25
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I really do think that we should all stop with this idea that psytrance should be small and only for the 'right' people, what are you scared of? are you sacred that other people may also like it?
I doubt very much that psytrance will become pop come on, what are the chances of seeing infected mushroom on mtv uk? hip hop is to big man lol
The only problem that i see here is losing the trance 'culture' (which i do believe their is) and everything turning out like ibiza. - this only in the UK.
Evolution, it is up to us (organizers, artists, public...) to keep the core elements still alive, I would hate to see a party with out the deco, color and peacefullnes.
 "Great things are only possible with outrageous requests." Thea Alexander |
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jon
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
17
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441
Posted : Mar 23, 2004 21:49
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I do think that psychedelic trance can be quite inward looking.... often people are quite unaware of other genres, or else think that they are totally crap and have nothing to do with trance.
Sometimes if I tell trance people I am going to a prog house night they say 'oh' like i had just told them i was dying or something.... hehe but actually for this reason I am hopeful about this UK festival later this summer : it could open peoples' eyes - for both trance people and non-trance people.
EDIT: also the fact is I have been on all sides of the argument myself!! At one time I used to like acid techno and also hard house, though it's too fast for me right now, and at another time I was a total trainspotting psy trance fascist and would sneer at people if they didnt like the 'coolest' artists.... hopefully now I am a bit more chilled out
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brij
Started Topics :
9
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204
Posted : Mar 23, 2004 22:25
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These large scale parties are both 'good' and 'bad'. They are great to provide some of the most well-known psy artists with exposure for their music which would (hopefully) allow them to make a living from it. They could also lesser-known artists oft' dreamt of opportunities.
However, when there are several thousand people in a club, generally the venue is at capacity levels, making for a less comfortable event. Organising parties on this scale is a serious financial investment, and however much the promoter may wish to limit the numbers below capacity, the money to do so must come from their own pocket. (This can be overcome by putting up the ticket prices to compensate;) This causes a lack of community, as people don't tend to start friendly conversation with the guy on the dancefloor who is constantly treading on their toes. (Mindscapes and Friends@ Drome was always a great dance, but my god did it get crowded at times). At this point I should point out that Tribe of Frog are doing parties limited to 80% capacity (I take my hat off to you). I think that events such as Enrico's are likely to gain popularity in the mainstream. But what these large events can never do is recreate the sense of community, which can be readily achieved on a small scale. The decor can be far more immersive and the party can be far more personal and friendly, because when you walk out at the end of the night you will recognise everyone around you. This is certainly not true with thousands of people present. Outdoor events can obviously overcome the space problem: At Morocco2001 (where the king went in disguise) it was a twenty minute walk from the main floor to the chillout! This having been said, I heard that Samothraki wasn't the most spacious of festivals. Given that they run for several days they partially overcome the latter issue of impersonality. However, we are not an country for the great outdoors most of the year.
Coming back to the main thread, small events are unlikely to get much in the way of publicity compared to 'Indoor Festivals'. The fact that these parties tend to operate in a semi-legal area (especially while the current drug laws exist as they are in this country, while promoters seek 'friendly' security and out of the way clubs) is one of the reasons you don't see psynights at Ministry of Sound and Fabric.
I like going to see the big name acts, but show me:
a 500 capacity club; good DJs/acts; a chillout that allows anybody in the club get themselves comfortable at any time of night (what is the point of a chillout that can accomodate 20 people when there are 2500 people in the club); and the same goes for finding space on the dance floor; and finally an organiser who puts the revellers first and doesn't actually want to make a living out of his party but is happy to risk his purse (this means he must either be very rich with money to burn or be a good businessman to not to lose money);
and I will show you a party with community atmosphere, where anyone is welcome especially those who have never heard psytrance before.
Psytrance parties do tend to have a good atmosphere (but it is not unique).
They are exclusive events for the 'right' kind of people (assuming that the 'right' kind of person is anybody who likes the music)
In an ideal world the music would become mainstream and psytrance parties would happen in lots of small pubs and club all over the country (like you find for drum and bass and r 'n b).
In london we are spoilt for choice of parties. Outside London the psytrance events are few and far between (Bristol, Oxford, Leeds, Brighton,Cambridge, Edinburgh..... apologies for those cities I have missed), but even in these places the parties tend to come but once a month.
Perhaps a bit more of the psychedelic mainstream is exactly what non-london psytrance parties are yearning for.
Finally, drum n'bass may have ventured into the mainstream, but ask any afficionado's and they will tell you that there are actually only a few good
'real' drum n'bass nights and the rest play mainstream dn'b.
Perhaps the same will become true of psytrance (that ought to keep the psychedelic snobs happy too)
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FluoSamsara (Oxygen)
IsraTrance Full Member
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Posted : Mar 23, 2004 23:29
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Boom Festival 2002 brought more interantional tourists to Portugal than any other event in the Summer of 2002 (information from "Visao" magazine, kind of like the portuguese version of "Time" magazine).
I think this shows a bit how big the psy scene is getting...
I saw this thread and thought it would be interesting to tell my personal experience on this, I've been living between Portugal and UK for 4 yrs (study in UK, vacations in Portugal) and every time I get back to Portugal I get impressed by how the psy scene is growing...
In Portugal Psy Trance has definetelly become a mainstream, trance parties have more ppl than any house or techno party...
Everyone at least between 15-28 y.o. knows about it, both listeners and non-listeners, this is one of the things I find very diferent from UK, in UK only Psy listeners know about it, it is still an unknown thing for most ppl that are not into it...
You can now buy psy trance cds in stores similar to virgin (not virgin in particular because it went bankrupt in portugal) and in many "normal" cd shops...
We have lots of rock festivals in Portugal in the summer, with all the total mainstream bands like Jamiroquai or Massive Attack or any of those big names. Even this festivals most times have a separate Psy Trance area.... Or an area dedicated to dance music, but it will definetelly have some psy also, I think this also shows how big things are getting.....
We had a fashion show last summer and guess who was playing there....Infected Mushroom (yes....in a fashion show...)
We have tv programs about dance music and they talk about psy parties all the time, we've got alternative sports programmes on TV that are always playing psy trance as the music background....
Anyway...things are getting big....!
Is it good? HUmmmmm.....
As everything in life, I guess its got its positive and negative aspects...
I remember five or six years ago, psy was only known between the listeners, there were only parties in spring and summer, and the first party on the year was always a dream come true, everyone had been waiting for so long for a party, the vibe couldn't be better, after a couple of parties you would start recognizing everyone, it was a like a big family, a comunity
Now its just new faces in every party, 2 or 3 parties per weekend non-stop all year round, wich is also good thing because you can go to a party basically anytime you want, you don't have to be waiting for a party to happen...At the same time its not the same special feeling it used to be...and many ppl have no idea what they are doing there...
The P.L.U.R. feeling is also geting a bit lost....and in my opinion this is the most critical thing, because psy trance for me its not just the music, it stands for much more than that!
But anyway...let it grow! I welcome everyone to a party, as long as they know what they are doing there and have some extra motivation besides a free-drug environment....wich is the main reason to go to parties for many of the newcomers...thats no good....
Basically its not so personal anymore...but at the same time there is much more to choose from, which is a good thing, more ppl means more parties and more music that can't be a bad thing....
Anyway.....I think its good that things grow, but sometimes I just miss that family feeling in a party that nowadays is only present in small private parties... |
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brij
Started Topics :
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204
Posted : Mar 24, 2004 00:16
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I think it was almost a year ago when I saw a copy of the first 1200 micrograms album in HMV, and they were stocking the Distance to Goa compilations for a long time before that.
Also, there have been a few psychedelic artists playing at festivals. I remember at Glastonbury a few years ago when there was psytrance in the Glade. I don't know whether this is a regular occurance.
Fluosamsara, how do you think the parties in england compare to those in portugal, as far as the atmosphere is concerned?
If you fancy trying a small night come to our party in oxford, as there are generally about 200 people there, which gives a nice atmosphere.
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discostu
Started Topics :
7
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77
Posted : Mar 24, 2004 00:42
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It appears there are certain trends emerging from this thread....
That perhaps this 'insular' and even elitist (not my words) atmosphere that some associate with the scene, seems to be UK specific. As FluoSamsara mentions there is a great acceptance and knowledge of Psytrance in countries like Portugal. Perhaps this 'elitist' perspective that Jon mentions is a product of a country that looks to other musical genres as dominant and therefore, like the minority groups of any culture (take your pick) the psytrance scene fights its corner and perhaps projects a sense of community that can be confused with elitisme!
It does also appear that people feel that this sense of community is inevitably lost on mass production of parties.
I dont know about anyone else, but I do feel lucky that I stumbled upon this music and that I dont have to que for 4 hours to get into see the DJ's I want to see! This is the beauty of an 'unpopular' type of music! |
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discostu
Started Topics :
7
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77
Posted : Mar 24, 2004 13:05
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Has anyone thought of the psychological and social implications of this movement going overground?
I see it as a saving grace that the parties are reasonably scattered and set apart! (Granted, London enjoy a weekly onslaught almost).
If the psytrance scene became as popular as Britney Spears or Westlife, and retained 'everything' that goes with a good rave, then surely we should all be booking ourselves into the funny farm now!
As for Monday mornings - after a Saturday night at the Mayfair Club, you can be sure that the UK share index will fall by more than couple of pence!
In fact if we take this one step further, it is in the national interest that Psytrance remains 'unpopular' and 'underground', God help us all when Molecular perform live on Top of the Pops! |
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canyouhearthegoblins
Started Topics :
6
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214
Posted : Mar 24, 2004 13:21
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nice stu
having conquered the monday morning now  , i say BRING IT ON
you're not going to know whats hit you when you get down here!!!!
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