IDM Mailing Archive

This is a post which has evolved from an original discussion concerning the diference between indie and dance..USA and UK..Slowdive/Seefeel:

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Date: Thu, 21 Apr 1994 13:47:15 -0400 Reply-To: 4ad recording artists list <4AD-L@JHUVM.BITNET> Sender: 4ad recording artists list <4AD-L@JHUVM.BITNET> From: "K. Darcovich" <kdarc%SG1.CHEM.NRC.CA@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU> Subject: burgerking/kfc/tacobell - Moby-less Strip X-To: 4ad-l@jhuvm.hcf.jhu.edu To: Multiple recipients of list 4AD-L <4AD-L@JHUVM.BITNET> Status: R steve said:

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UK. I don't care where Moby hangs, he is probably a few miles away from a stadium full of bic-holding dweebs at an Eagles concert. Moby doesn't mean anything to more than a speck of the populace here. Try playing an Orbital record for Joe Sixpack in Des Moines. He'll tell you to turn that disco shit off. You're ignorant if you think otherwise... <<< I v. much agree with Steve. I've been in/around a bit of the techno scene in detroit/windsor. They are virtually unknown where they live, yet in brussels/rotterdam/paris, detroit is viewed as some kind of techno-heaven. there was an excellent interview with a guy from UR on CKCU-fm here in Ottawa where he explained the random origins of the techno scene there, mainly thanks to Derrick May who is basically such a nice guy that he would help anyone get started making records who was interested. (ie; it has more to do with Derrick May than with the city of detroit, other than the unpressured atmosphere of detroit as a place to work). I ran into John Acquaviva of Cybersonik who was truly surprised that I even knew who the hell they were. He had a radio spot on WDET from 00h00 to 03h00 on Sunday night, so he couldn't say it was a super-popular scene, esp. since the slot was cancelled due to low listenership. Their 10-DJ rave-blowout in the new years holiday 2 years ago didn't attact more than 4-500 people. A lineup like that in Europe would have been closer to the proverbial "eagles concert" in terms of popularity. Most of the detroit DJs (that's what they refer to themselves as) end up spending time in Belgium and Holland to promote themselves. People from europe who make the techno-pilgrimage to detroit are v. disappointed to find that the scene is essentially one record shop, one club (wknds only) and a circle of perhaps 15 good DJs, 50 beginners/ amateurs/wannabees and their personal friends. The club attendance is sporadic. One main reason is that there really isn't big money associated with any of this, the DJs do it mainly because they like it. kd. <<<<<<<<<< Thought you might be interested andy

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> there was an excellent > interview with a guy from UR on CKCU-fm here in Ottawa > where he explained the random origins of the techno scene > there, mainly thanks to Derrick May who is basically such a > nice guy that he would help anyone get started making > records who was interested. (ie; it has more to do with > Derrick May than with the city of detroit, other than > the unpressured atmosphere of detroit as a place to work).

It's a bit more complicated than that. In the late 70's and early 80's, the most challenging and interesting music being played on the radio in Detroit was coming from one source -- the nightly show of a near-anonymous gentleman who went by the name "The Electrifying Mojo". He would begin his late night show every night by landing his Mothership (I'm not making this up), complete with spacy commentary and bizarre hoover noises. For the next 4 hours, interspersed with his otherworldly ramblings, he would play the most eclectic free-form selection of music ever heard in this town, before or since. He'd veer from Miles Davis to Queen to P-Funk to gospel to gregorian chants to Prince to... Kraftwerk. During their impressionable teenage years, the city's leading techno lights absorbed it all. When they started making music, all of this stuff seeped out with it -- the instrumentation of Kraftwerk, the space-funk ethos of George Clinton & his clan, and the gritty post-industrial decay of Detroit all found it's way into tracks like "No UFO's" and "Strings Of Life".

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> One main reason is that > there really isn't big money associated with any of > this, the DJs do it mainly because they like it.

There are a few people making money -- take a look at Richie Hawtin's car if you don't believe me. :) But for the most part it's true -- no one does techno in Detroit to get rich. But then again, after seeing what the smell of money did to Seattle and Manchester, is that such a bad thing? ----------------------------------------------------------------- dave walker, detroit art services _ marmoset@msen.com freeke robot luv