A few thoughts on the state of this thing most call progressive house...
This should not be viewed as a typical rant about "how boring things are getting" - because it isn't. The views expressed are (obviously) derived from my vantage point in the music world and therefore may not comply with others.
I'm not complaining that there's nothing good out there. I did enjoy Sasha & Digweed last week- but there was something missing. There were no surprises- and I see these two figures as the ones who have surprised me in the past. I remember seeing John Digweed in march of 2000. that set was so unbelievable to me - the kind of music that was presented was unreal -of course it didn't hurt that it was presented by digweed, but it was so forward thinking...
It was about this time last year when I would have been heard saying how impressed I was with the state this music and it's close relatives were in- the pace at which boundaries between genres were being blurred was escalating - and this was making for some fascinating stuff. But at this time this year I'm feeling something different.
Has the name "progressive house" become too much of a genre rather than a concept? i.e.- is it just a label rather than an approach to describing what it's roots are and what it's saying? Or is it an oxymoron to start with? Sure there are a lot of good tracks coming out, but the fact that people sometimes refer to it as "boring old prog" tells me something about what it has become. That statement just baffles me... boring old progressive...
I'd also like to point out some similarities between the current state of progressive house and the whole drum n bass situation a few years ago- things got darker and darker and more homogenous until a lot of people got bored with it (not all people- and not necessarily me- i stilll enjoy selections from all genres of dnb). This is the same sort of thing happening with progressive now. Now the commercialisation of drum n bass may have contributed to it's downhill slide, and if that was the case, then I denounce the new orders and depeche modes involved in this kind of music. Progressive has thusfar eluded the fate that claimed trance... but for how long?
I feel things are at a turning point right now...or are at least accelerating at a greater pace towards this point.
I think things need to either be redefined/renamed - or I need to stop paying attention to labels altogether - but I find this diffucult since I review mixes and have to constantly draw their origins and references.
Or maybe I should shutup and let things happen the way they happen?
I look forward to reading some opinions from both regular progressive forum posters and others who may just lurk most of the time.
This should not be viewed as a typical rant about "how boring things are getting" - because it isn't. The views expressed are (obviously) derived from my vantage point in the music world and therefore may not comply with others.
I'm not complaining that there's nothing good out there. I did enjoy Sasha & Digweed last week- but there was something missing. There were no surprises- and I see these two figures as the ones who have surprised me in the past. I remember seeing John Digweed in march of 2000. that set was so unbelievable to me - the kind of music that was presented was unreal -of course it didn't hurt that it was presented by digweed, but it was so forward thinking...
It was about this time last year when I would have been heard saying how impressed I was with the state this music and it's close relatives were in- the pace at which boundaries between genres were being blurred was escalating - and this was making for some fascinating stuff. But at this time this year I'm feeling something different.
Has the name "progressive house" become too much of a genre rather than a concept? i.e.- is it just a label rather than an approach to describing what it's roots are and what it's saying? Or is it an oxymoron to start with? Sure there are a lot of good tracks coming out, but the fact that people sometimes refer to it as "boring old prog" tells me something about what it has become. That statement just baffles me... boring old progressive...
I'd also like to point out some similarities between the current state of progressive house and the whole drum n bass situation a few years ago- things got darker and darker and more homogenous until a lot of people got bored with it (not all people- and not necessarily me- i stilll enjoy selections from all genres of dnb). This is the same sort of thing happening with progressive now. Now the commercialisation of drum n bass may have contributed to it's downhill slide, and if that was the case, then I denounce the new orders and depeche modes involved in this kind of music. Progressive has thusfar eluded the fate that claimed trance... but for how long?
I feel things are at a turning point right now...or are at least accelerating at a greater pace towards this point.
I think things need to either be redefined/renamed - or I need to stop paying attention to labels altogether - but I find this diffucult since I review mixes and have to constantly draw their origins and references.
Or maybe I should shutup and let things happen the way they happen?
I look forward to reading some opinions from both regular progressive forum posters and others who may just lurk most of the time.
