More and more, video games are becoming a great source for people to be exposed to new music. For games like EA Sport’s “FIFA 22“, high-energy dance music is a great accompaniment to the gamer experience. The dual soundtrack has been released and features a wide variety of music from all over the world.
Even though electronic dance music was born from BIPOC and LGBTQI+ communities, the current incarnation of dance music in North America is overwhelmingly white and male. This lack of diversity in dance music is no more present than on festival lineups across the United States. With the pandemic shutting down the live music industry, some members of the dance music community wondered if promoters would take this time to discover new artists and emerge from the ashes with diverse, innovative lineup offerings. As you dust off your dance shoes, let’s see how diversity on 2021 music festivals is tracking. Will 2021 welcome a shift in the festival rotation from previous years?
Moving past the one-year COVID-19 anniversary and the dance music industry is seeing initial first beats of what could look like a return to a ânew normal.â Social media timelines are starting to resemble a faint past as festival and club show announcements flood our feeds. What normalcy looks like for live events is still hazy, but a resurgence of electronic music artists posting about upcoming shows would tell otherwise. Could the worst have passed or will the dance music community experience a COVID-19 Groundhog Day? Read more
Whether he’s on the court or on the stage Shaquille O’Neal feels his most comfortable in front of an adoring crowd.
There are certain people who we expect to love electronic music. Electronic musicians, producers, people who are figures in the club and festival circuit, and maybe a couple of the more forthcoming celebrities. However, there are some people that come as a bit of a surprise. These are the celebrities who you really wouldn’t expect to love electronic music quite as much as they do.
Who could live in a house like this? It turns out, a disc spinning sensation and part-time hobbit.
You might know him best as the little man with the hairy feet, Frodo Baggins, or perhaps you know him from his forays into production. Either way, Elijah Wood has been a mover and shaker in Hollywood for some time now. His starring role as Frodo Baggins is undoubtedly where he reached the peak of his fame, but it was around this time that he decided to pursue his interest in music a little further. He’s starred in several music videos for big-name stars such as The Cranberries and The Beastie Boys, but his electronic obsession began somewhere else. With his longtime friend and collaborator Zach Cowie, he formed the DJ duo Wooden Wisdom and they have successfully toured around the world, spinning at numerous events and festivals. Spurred on by this success Wood even started up his own record label, Simian Records, with whom a couple of bands have released albums.
There seems to be a consensus amongst poker players that electronic music is the best genre to listen to whilst playing. One of the masters of the game, Lex Veldhuis, put together an entire playlist of Deephouse and Techno. You can see how easy it would be to sink into the zone listening to that one. Veldhuis is a surprising candidate not because you wouldn’t expect him to love electronic music, but rather because he loves it to such a level that it’s a wonder he has time for anything else, let alone a glittering poker career. He’s broken numerous poker records, been inducted into the hall of fame, streams super regularly on Twitch, and still finds time to put together incredible playlists. For any electronic music fans that claim they don’t have the time to discover new music, take a leaf out of Veldhuis’ book, or just follow him on Spotify.
So for someone who needs to relax and focus before a huge game, it’s been proven that techno is the least effective genre. However, it seems that Shaquille O’Neal is so cool, calm, and collected in his approach that he just doesn’t care. O’Neal loves techno music and it never got in the way of making him a four-time National Basketball Association champ! He’s such a fan of electronic music that he completed a huge tour as DJ Diesel which he called the Summer of Shaq. Of course, the other place to catch him is right in with the crowd at any of the big electronic festivals. At 7 feet tall he wouldn’t have a problem seeing the stage from all the way at the back, but you can guarantee that he’ll be right down at the front tearing things up with the hardcore fans.
Idris Elba
Whilst Idris Elba is best known for his acting career, playing roles as varied as the esteemed Nelson Mandela and Stringer Bell in The Wire, he is also no stranger to the music industry. He’s appeared in a ton of music videos for acts such as Fat Joe, Giggs, and Angie Stone and even turned his hand to rapping. He showed off his skills in collaboration with none other than Jay Z but also works with lesser-known acts like Noel Fielding’s side project, Loose Tapestries. Elba has a totally unique voice, deep and silky and perfect if you’re after something instantly recognizable. Of course, it isn’t just rapping that Elba has turned his hand to. He is also a seriously good DJ. He’s shared a number of house playlists on Spotify and has performed DJ sets at a couple of
âI’m not arsed about fuckin’ dance music and reggae. Well, reggae’s alright. But there’s too many so-called rock’n’roll bands in England getting away with fuckin’ murder. They should be ashamed of the shit the put out. They need fuckin’ shooting.â
Controversial Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher spoke up against some of the newer genres commanding the music charts these days during an interview with Noisey. Musician and songwriter Gallagher spoke tot he publication ahead of the release of his debut album as a solo artist, so it comes as no surprise that he took the opportunity to do some of his signature bashing criticism, letting readers know that he doesn’t care about dance music as well as a list of other genres and things.
Specifically, Gallagher is peeved off by the way, he things, dance music acts and other bands use the guitar as a gimmick, rather than taking the instrument seriously.
âThey’ve got one foot in the fuckin’ dance world and one foot in the fuckin’ guitar world and they’re just seeing which one fuckin’ bites. They’re there with their fuckin’ keyboards and whistles and shit. If you’re going to do âguitar musicâ you have to put a fuckin’ guitar on a record. Put the fucker in. Stop wearing it like it’s a fuckin’ necklace.â
Looptopia debuted in Taiwan last April 12, 2017. It was a jam-packed two-day debut festival that drew a crowd of 32,000 festival-goers and electronic music fans from Taiwan and the entire Asia region.
The multi-million dollar production boasted three stages where more than 50 acts performed for the debut festival. The festival’s success was no doubt a shining reminder of the growing influence within Asiaâs dance music market, with Looptopia standing as the very first major EDM festival in the region, introducing fans the genre to the type large scale music experience commonplace in America, Europe and beyond.
Tinnitus, the condition that is characterized by ringing or uncontrollable noise disturbance in the ears, could possibly be cured with MDMA. The revelation comes from a scientific study being conducted in New Zealand, which has already completed trials showing promise of proving that the common rave/party drug could be used to cure the troubling hearing condition.
As reported by Stuff, the joint study between the University of Auckland and the University of Otago began two years ago as a result of enough reports from those with tinnitus who had taken ecstasy and felt benefits, urging researches to dig into it further.
So far, the last two years of MDMA studies involved a small number of participants in placebo-controlled trials, where they were given a small dose of MDMA or a placebo and monitored over a four-hour time period. It’s important to not that they were not given enough MDMA to feel high”, yet many reported an easing of tinnitus after just three hours. Reportedly, those who experienced the benefits stated that the same effects maintained for a week or even more. The research conducted thus far was divided into two separate trials, where researchers administered doses of 30 mg or 70 mg of MDMA imported under strict controls and dispensed by pharmacists working as part of the research team.
The leading professor behind the research, University of Auckland professor Grant Searchfield, did note that the operation is moving slow due to the high risks associated with MDMA, “Our goal is to try and find a medication for tinnitus. It can have catastrophic effects. Whether MDMA is it or whether it’s a trial for us to identify what is going on in the brain is still an open question.”
In order for the study to continue, as well as to know which exact next steps are needed, Scientists are reviewing all data and brain imaging from the trials thus far conduced, which could take months. Further funding will also need to be raised in order to progress beyond the current stage of the trials.
Despite officials of other major cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City and Chicago publicly announcing that they will remain sanctuary cities, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez has ordered county jails to comply with federal immigration detention requests in fear of a loss of millions of dollars from federal funding. This is effectively erasing the county’s position as a “sanctuary” for immigrants in the country illegally, a response to an executive order signed Wednesday by President Donald Trump that threatened to cut federal grants for any counties or cities that donât cooperate fully with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
âIn light of the provisions of the Executive Order, I direct you and your staff to honor all immigration detainer requests received from the Department of Homeland Security,â stated Gimenez’s three-paragraph memo address to the interim director of the corrections and rehabilitation department.
While Miami never accepted the label of “sanctuary city,” it has continued to act like one by refusing to indefinitely detain inmates who are in the country illegally and wanted by ICE since 2013. Now, however, the county does not want to lose its federal funding and is changing its stance on the matter, even though Miami-Dade county officials have insisted that their policy was not one dictated by principle but rather simply because the federal government doesn’t reimburse for the expenses.
via Office of the County Mayor
âI want to make sure we donât put in jeopardy the millions of funds we get from the federal government for a $52,000 issue,â said Gimenez. âIt doesnât mean that weâre going to be arresting more people. It doesnât mean that weâre going to be enforcing any immigration laws.â Trump’s response came, of course, via Twitter.
Miami-Dade Mayor drops sanctuary policy. Right decision. Strong! https://t.co/MtPvaDC4jM
â Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 26, 2017
Howard Simon, executive director of the Florida chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, went on record to speak against Gimenez’s move, claiming that it âflies in the face of Miamiâs long history as a city of immigrantsâ and predicting it will âdrive a wedge of distrust between law enforcement and our immigrant community.â
But what does this mean for the dance music community of one of the country’s most vibrant cities, and for the countless thousands who land in Miami for major annual dance music events the likes of Miami Music Week, Winter Music Conference, Ultra Music Festival, iii Points, Art Basel and more?
The cornerstones of dance music are ones of undeniable inclusiveness and pervasive acceptance. A first descendent of disco, house music found its beginnings in Chicago, thanks to the iconic parties that featured the music of pioneers such as Frankie Knuckles, Leonard Remix RRoy, Chip E and of course Farley “Jackmaster” Funk. There is absolutely no doubt that spiritually and aesthetically house music, and by default all dance music that came later, developed in the U.S. out of the need of oppressed people, African Americans, gays and Latinos, to build a community through dance. The same was true later in the UK, when the need of young people dissatisfied with the meaningless materialism of Thatcherâs England to build an alternative community of music gave birth to the Acid House movement there. The aim was to unify people of all races, backgrounds and sexual orientations, not to divide.
And now, a week since Donald Trump has taken the oath of office, we are seeing an America that is as divided as ever, with Miami going against current as the first major city and dance music hub to comply to Trump’s threat with regard to “sanctuary cities”. Miami has long been a city built by immigrants, and immigrants have for decades played a fundamental role in shaping the city’s culture into what it is today. Statistically speaking, Miami-Dade is a county where more than half of the population is foreign born, and it is safe to assume that the same can be said of the dance music community that resides there.
Then there’s the case of the visitors that roll into the city annually for the aforementioned major music events. As things stand now, with Mayor Gimenez unable to find any sort of backbone to stand up to the Trump administration for more than a single day before rolling over, if you’re in the city because you either live there or are in town for a festival, you are no longer offered sanctuary protection. If arrested and wanted by the feds for immigration-related purposes, you will face deportation or long, indefinite stints in detention centers under Trump’s new plan.
More broadly, however, there is no denying that Trump’s executive order and general rhetoric goes against the very fabric of dance music culture. The city’s new policy is hurting the dance music community rather than listening to the people of Miami and to those who come to the city every year to celebrate diversity. In Chicago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel declared: âI want to be clear: Weâre going to stay a sanctuary city. There is no stranger among us. Whether youâre from Poland or Pakistan, whether youâre from Ireland or India or Israel and whether youâre from Mexico or Moldova, where my grandfather came from, you are welcome in Chicago as you pursue the American dream.âÂ
âWeâre going to defend all of our people regardless of where they come from, regardless of their immigration status,â Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York said at a news conference with other city officials. But perhaps no official went as far as Bostonâs mayor, Martin J. Walsh. âTo anyone who feels threatened today, or vulnerable, you are safe in Boston,â Mr. Walsh said at a news conference. âWe will do everything lawful in our powerful to protect you. If necessary, we will use City Hall itself to shelter and protect anyone whoâs targeted unjustly.â
The same cannot be said of Miami now that it has effectively turned its back on the very same immigrant population that had always been considered to be the backbone of the city. It’s perhaps a little too early to predict how the immigrant community in the city will respond, and certainly it’s hard to know how the dance music community that calls Miami home will react to the events transpired just yesterday.
On Saturday January 21st, the day after Trump’s inauguration, millions across the United States and the world took to the streets to participate in the Women’s March, a worldwide protest in support of women’s rights and other causes including immigration reform, health care reform, protection of the natural environment, LGBTQ rights, racial justice, freedom of religion, and workers’ rights. Discwoman, a New York-based platform, collective, and booking agency representing and showcasing cis women, trans women and genderqueer talent in electronic music, took part in the march with a clear message for Trump: the techno community will be fighting against his divisive agenda.
#Discowoman present at the #WomensMarch in Washington D.C. earlier today ????????????â€ïž???????????????????? #techno A photo posted by 6AM (@6amgroup) on
There is arguably nothing more mesmerizing than the breathtaking and complex beauty of nature. We live on a diverse, awe-inspiring and marvelous planet filled with an expanse of fauna, flora and scenery that is second to none. In 2006 we were glued to our televisions when the BBC released the first Planet Earth series, at the time the most expensive nature documentary series every filmed. Fast forward to today and we are tuning in weekly to Planet Earth II, learning more about the vast and expansive nature of the world that surrounds us thanks to never-seen-before high definition footage and the soothing narration of Sir David Attenborough.
As a lover of dance music and nature I have often gotten home from the club, put on a random nature video from YouTube and pressed “play” on my favorite mix. The juxtaposition of the two has always formed a powerful artistic medium for the senses. The experience is now improved ten-fold thanks to Planet Earth’s one-of-a-kind imagery, and specially curated mixes to be played along footage from the show. Benji B put together a Planet Earth II Mix that goes hand-in-hand with drone footage from the series, filled with music from Carl Craig, Flying Lotus, Actress and more. Similarly, David Rodigan compiled a Jungle mix set to phenomenal Planet Earth II footage of the jungles of Costa Rica and Australia.
With the amount of combinations endless, we hope to see more of these artistic collaborations between nature and dance music. We encourage artists from all over the world, no matter how “big” or “small” they may be, to incorporate beautiful electronic soundscapes with nature footage.
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On a week where racial tension, violence and hate divides the United States, music lovers on all four corners of this beautiful country can find solace, refuge and warmth through the musical rendition of their favorite artists.
This has become a weekend where unity matters more than ever. Although we may be afflicted by fear, worry and confusion, there is arguably nothing more unifying, liberating and American than sharing dance floors with people of all walks of life, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity or socio-economic background.
Whether you live in a metropolis the size of New York City, Chicago or Los Angeles, a seemingly sleepy pocket of American suburbia or surrounded by the majestic diverse nature that is so unique to this country, I encourage every member of the electronic music community to turn up the volume and unite under a common umbrella of acceptance, love and solidarity. Visit your local club, go to a show, attend a festival or spend the early hours of Sunday morning in a dark warehouse listening to techno. And if none of those are options, invite friends over and throw your own party – be your own DJ.
Sharing music is sharing love. At a point where almost every tweet, Facebook post and meme seems to divide, perhaps the gift of music can help bring people together.
America, this weekend please go out and dance.
