This post are for those who got into the scene in the 90’s to early 2000’s. When I got into DJing originally I was drawn to that underground sound, club music didn’t do anything for me. Now that raves are dead for the most part, I am finding that all the music I am hearing now is just the same stuff over and over again. The level of genrefication used to be ridiculous but at least there was a wide range to choose from. Now everything just sounds like the same safe sound over and over again. I’m looking for 2 things. The first is for anyone who can point me to some music that would be the true underground now a says. House, hip-house, tech-house, hardcore, happy hardcore, techno, IDM, DnB, etc. I don’t care really as long as it’s not what you are going to hear in every club you visit. The second thing I’m looking for is for you guys to post your favorite underground songs from back in the day.
Maybe not the most underground tracks but I hope it is enough to get us started.
Bringin’ The Funk - CZR & Ito
Intro > Foundation > MEGA EPIC AWESOME BREAKDOWN > (insert bass drop here) Mediocre main parts > Outro… Rinse and repeat. its really sad. Now i have produced music in the past with a same generic format, but i always try new things.
Man it’s like you have heard before. LOL. Seriously I could handle it a little better if even the vocals or vocal samples had some sort of thought, intent, meaning; but they lack even that.
Great pick with Juno Reactor
I forgot the song that got me traveling down this rabbit hole I call dance music.
And just for good measure, for those of you who may not know My Life with the thrill kill cult.
Interesting enough I went to San Pedro High School in Southern Cali with “Poogie Bear” we both DJ’ed at the same parties.
Here are my sounds from 1999 - 2005
As far as Poogie Bear he is still making tracks. I am suppose to go visit him soon at our home town. Here is his Sound cloud if you want to listen to more of his stuff.
If you want to contact him hit him up at Facebook His name is Victor BTW =)
I feel like the Internet killed the “underground” by creating an easy and cheap distribution system. The consequence has been an explosion of content and a subsequent ultra-fragmentation of genres (and not just in music). But at least we can now all hear what each other is saying.
its the industry, been going on for decades. i have a theory about it.
back when jazz came out it was considered devils music. fast paced blah blah blah. eventually it got big the industry took hold and started cashing in. rock same thing, devils music, damn hippies in the park doing drugs. agian the industry eventually takes hold and cashes in. rap, bad music all about gangsta’s and violence. agian industry comes in and rakes in the cash. electronic music, is gay. techno is gay you listen to techno. all of a sudden the industry takes over. “c’mon everybody lets party in “ibitza””
lol its my own little theory. the underground scene everywhere gets killed when it gets to big and the industry sees dollar signs in their pants.
90’s rave style music (and the modern derivatives) are alive & well in Europe. The free party scene in France, Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands still plays these musical styles. The music is only released on vinyl (or soundcloud downloads or private tracks) so you won’t find it at Beatport or any digital store (Juno gets most of the vinyl but not all and sells out quite quickly). What I play now would have been called hardcore, hard acid, and hard techno back in the day; these days it’s called acidcore, mental tekno, mental acid, or tekno. Toolbox Records in Paris is one of the larger mail order shops and a good place to hit up for samples. There are a few of us floating around in the US that would love to get a scene for this going again, but we seem to be to scattered to actually get something going.
I don’t play them but happy tribe and tribecore are derivatives of happy hardcore and D&B is quite popular as well.
frequencym I got to visit Europe last year and spent a night at a Parisian night club. They definately have their own sound going on there and I like a lot of it. The day’s of Chicago house may be gone but maybe the new dividing lines are set by language and region. I wonder how much underground music is happening in Asia that just doesn’t make it over.
I love this song every time I hear it. It’s one that I think every DJ should know.
I think Nicholas Jaar would be a current underground guy but I think that may be changing quickly. His album is one of the best I have heard in a long time. It’s rather experimental which is where all this started back in the day.
I think you’re right about the arc of the rise and fall of a music genre, and on the overall effect on the music and on the scene.
Here’s the arc
Something “new” emerges > Those who get it get it, those who don’t don’t > Music Industry sees money to be made > Music Industry waters it down enough to appeal to the uncool masses > Uncool masses sop that shit up like gravy > Uncool masses become bored with the watered down version of a type of music they never liked to begin with > Music Industry finds the next “new” thing to hype to the uncool masses > Uncool masses move on to next new thing…
But you forgot the very last part of that arc, the part that happens AFTER the machine has released a scene from it’s clutches
The heads that got it to begin with still get it, continue making and enjoying it unencumbered by the machine and the uncool masses
