Perception is not always reality. No matter how often skeptics like to talk about the death of electronic music, Los Angeles’ scene is thriving. In less than 72 hours, in three different contexts, I heard successful young professionals, all with viable careers in some form of the media or education, independently go out of their way to explain that even though they worked to support themselves, “electronic music is my life.”
It’s not difficult to understand why. If you wanted, you could have seen Felix the Housecat at the Avalon or Dubfire, one half of Deep Dish, at the Vanguard on Saturday night. And from the size of the lines, thousands did. Or you could spend Saturday with friends, listening to 1970s records while talking about house music, and then, while the rest of the city tuned into the Academy Awards, Sunday on the roof of the Standard, watching Darren Emerson, he who was Underworld’s spark so many years ago, chain smoke and spin for less than 100 people at the always excellent Traffic pool party. Then,
on Monday night, you could have dropped into the Roxy where Peanut Butter Wolf just nailed a set celebrating BPM’s new issue.
The best thing about these parties besides the chance to see big DJs for small change in a dance floor no bigger than your apartment? Unlike the chilly reception celebrity venues in LA like to serve up, these parties reveal how warm the electronic community really is. Everyone knows someone and no one is really left standing in the corner for long. Like Obama, who virtually everyone at these clubs is talking about, there is a real sense that exciting things are ahead.
One of those things is Friday night’s eagerly awaited Cobblestone Jazz performance at King King, for which we can thank the boys at Compression. And the other is Miami’s WMC. Many people who sat out last year’s (always a mistake) are back in the fold this year. That may explain why so many people are starting on their diets and cutting back on their nightlife. It is, after all, just 30 days before everyone starts making their way to LAX, cramming the red-eye flight en route to spring break for adults.
Here in Europe, electronic music is very very popular. There are always new incredible artist coming each year (try J.U.S.T.I.C.E. for this year), or confirmed artists give us awesome new music (think Daft Punk Alive or the Art of self-remix and wait for the new album from The Prodigy).
Particularly here in small Belgium, where pioneers of the genre started 30 years ago (Front 242, ...), we have events and party almost everyday and tens in the weekend. Tens of specialized and world renown clubs (the Fuse in Brussels,...), some of the biggest events ( I love Techno festival or the 10 days of Techno in Gent). Even all the summer festivals now play electronic music as major act and not only in separate tent like in the past. This without counting all the amazing underground scene with events everywhere, anywhere, in all kinds of electronica possible.
This to say that I never feel the electronic music so alive! But eventually my opinion is distorted as I'm also an electronic musician... ;-)
IceSixxx ;-)