Sunday, November 27, 2005
regarding the width of my mind, musically
okay. so i need to clear up a bit of a misconception that seems to have developed and been widely circulated.
despite all statements to the contrary, including my own rather hyperbolic enthusiastic exclamations, i do in fact enjoy dancing to and listening to many different styles of music.
the evidence:
item #1--my best morning on the playa involved a longass techno set by wolf & lamb.
item #2--i have spent hours of enjoyment at space 550 and at undisclosed wilderness locations dancing with the psytrancers.
item #3--allison lee and i terribly enjoy such aural gems as paul oakenfold and sasha and dj micro while touring the countryside by automobile. i may have been doubled over laughing at the crowd for the entirety of the only real trance party i ever went to, but that doesn't mean i didn't enjoy myself.
item #4--i have planned entire evenings around making sure i hear specific jungle sets.
item #5--i will drive all the way to sacramento to hear my favorite dnb dj.
item #6--i went through a phase in which i was willing to date a housey dj. (denoting at least a certain level of resignation, if not enthusiasm.)
item #7--hooping is really only done properly if there's house involved.
my choice in dance music really comes down to the dancefloor it manages to create. it happens that in my experience the best dancefloors are created with breaks or break-derived genres. breaks is a great genre for dancers, and it's a great genre for dancing with other people.
psytrance? you're not supposed to even look at each other. i swear to god. it's weird. and i've talked to trancers that admit gazing longingly at breaks crowds trying to figure out how to make their scene look half as fun.
jungle/dnb? very hard to match that frenetic movent up with other people--and you start to feel a bit self-conscious of how much bouncing is going on. and you have to wear boring clothes.
anthem trance? dude, waving your arms over your head while screaming and rising upon your toes does not count as dancing. and you have to wear skanky clothes.
house? okay, so here's where the new thoughts and analysis come into text. houseis the one other big genre for which people actually dress fun and dance together. this is great, in theory. now sf doesn't happen to have shown me a particularly astounding house scene yet. BUT. i recognize that this may have a lot to do withmy lack of effort. upon returning from my most recent excursion to new york, i had some revelations and theories to ponder. i had spent two long nights out having a great time and doing a lot of dancing, but with no breaks. this was impressive. so i guess that's more evidence that i like the 4/4. and then... i was terribly intrigued to figure out why those nice new yorkers are all so good and friendly. is there any underlying theme explaining why all these new people are just so darn great? could it be...HOUSE???
right, so that might be taking it a bit too far.
but regardless, i came to the conclusion that if i wanted to stay happily settled in san francisco, i would need to find some more people to be just as excited about. so I OFFICIALLY RESOLVED TO START BRANCHING OUT.
and i have. i have gone to two house parties in the last three weeks. and guess what? i danced LOTS and had a fanTAStic time at both of them. it's not about to become my favorite genre for moving my body, but then that's not the point. the point is that i'm having a lovely time :)
despite all statements to the contrary, including my own rather hyperbolic enthusiastic exclamations, i do in fact enjoy dancing to and listening to many different styles of music.
the evidence:
item #1--my best morning on the playa involved a longass techno set by wolf & lamb.
item #2--i have spent hours of enjoyment at space 550 and at undisclosed wilderness locations dancing with the psytrancers.
item #3--allison lee and i terribly enjoy such aural gems as paul oakenfold and sasha and dj micro while touring the countryside by automobile. i may have been doubled over laughing at the crowd for the entirety of the only real trance party i ever went to, but that doesn't mean i didn't enjoy myself.
item #4--i have planned entire evenings around making sure i hear specific jungle sets.
item #5--i will drive all the way to sacramento to hear my favorite dnb dj.
item #6--i went through a phase in which i was willing to date a housey dj. (denoting at least a certain level of resignation, if not enthusiasm.)
item #7--hooping is really only done properly if there's house involved.
my choice in dance music really comes down to the dancefloor it manages to create. it happens that in my experience the best dancefloors are created with breaks or break-derived genres. breaks is a great genre for dancers, and it's a great genre for dancing with other people.
psytrance? you're not supposed to even look at each other. i swear to god. it's weird. and i've talked to trancers that admit gazing longingly at breaks crowds trying to figure out how to make their scene look half as fun.
jungle/dnb? very hard to match that frenetic movent up with other people--and you start to feel a bit self-conscious of how much bouncing is going on. and you have to wear boring clothes.
anthem trance? dude, waving your arms over your head while screaming and rising upon your toes does not count as dancing. and you have to wear skanky clothes.
house? okay, so here's where the new thoughts and analysis come into text. houseis the one other big genre for which people actually dress fun and dance together. this is great, in theory. now sf doesn't happen to have shown me a particularly astounding house scene yet. BUT. i recognize that this may have a lot to do withmy lack of effort. upon returning from my most recent excursion to new york, i had some revelations and theories to ponder. i had spent two long nights out having a great time and doing a lot of dancing, but with no breaks. this was impressive. so i guess that's more evidence that i like the 4/4. and then... i was terribly intrigued to figure out why those nice new yorkers are all so good and friendly. is there any underlying theme explaining why all these new people are just so darn great? could it be...HOUSE???
right, so that might be taking it a bit too far.
but regardless, i came to the conclusion that if i wanted to stay happily settled in san francisco, i would need to find some more people to be just as excited about. so I OFFICIALLY RESOLVED TO START BRANCHING OUT.
and i have. i have gone to two house parties in the last three weeks. and guess what? i danced LOTS and had a fanTAStic time at both of them. it's not about to become my favorite genre for moving my body, but then that's not the point. the point is that i'm having a lovely time :)
