Electro is not music

I have just had my teeth ripped out. Even though I can't talk I can still think bad thoughts and prepare an assault on my current musical gripes: that's right, the crosshairs are being drawn on 'electro' and 'mashup'. This is not a new thing, I am not flipping out, it has been an ongoing dislike since mid last year. The breaks moon seems to have left our southern skies, only to be replaced by generic, bland electro and 'look at me I am zany' mashup scenes.

Last Friday I had the joy of seeing FreQ Nasty in action at the Chinese Laundry in Sydney. Now FreQ Nasty is a name that I have heard often over the years, could tell you that he was responsible for 'Boomin Back Atcha' but if you a) asked me to sing it or b) asked for more information I would be at a loss. Despite this his persona is legendary as someone that predates the 2001 era Plump DJs breaks phenomenon. They were right, he was great. In fact the entire evening was fantastic. I have been to the Chinese Laundry a bunch of times and have come to accept its standard quality music as normal. Thanks FreQ for once again proving what a good DJ can do.

To start with he was a nice guy. Cheerful, upbeat, gracious, seemed happy to be out making the night. Next up: he didn’t charge an extortionate amount for the cover, he played for the same amount that any other locals were payed. Third: great choice in music, something essential but somehow lacking in the Djs I have seen of late. While most DJ sets come across as the best of Gorillaz this one was everything from old skool Prodigy (no good, start the dance and voodoo people), to AC/DC (Thunderstruck), RATM (Killing in the name of), Mogwai (Freak), a touch of Drummatic’s (Feelin’ Kind a Strange), Bloc Party and (of course) – Gorillaz (Feel Good Inc). The difference was that the current set standards seemed like passing moments, as opposed to desperate attempts to keep the floor moving. So you get the point – the night was great.

Now to the argument I am putting forward – Electro is a terribly boring genre played by Djs attempting to dictate fashion rather than provide a good night out. Don’t get me wrong, I will happily listen to electro at home but by god: if I am out for a good night then it is simply a poor music choice. Djs must know this? It is their job, they do it several times a week. They must notice when they clear the floors with their poor selections. Saturday night also saw us out at a club (Gibbo’s birthday meant a big weekend). Now Saturday was an entirely different affair: killjoy music abounded. Think squelch, squelch, blip, filtered blip, drop the drums, bring em back in WOOT WOOT, yeah!! I guess there is not much you can do when you are working with poor source material. Gorillaz – Dare, Gorillaz - Dirty Harry, Gorillaz – Feel Good Inc made for lazy track selections. Add Mylo – Muscle car and Scenario Rocks - schitzo dancer to the mix and yeah… same.

Now onto Mashup. To put it simply Maddox once said: ‘just because you have an iPod doesn’t mean you are eclectic, it means you are lazy’. Same goes: I am not impressed if you play White Stripes and… wait for it… James Brown: WHOA – slow down DJ I can’t keep up with all your zany chopping and changing. Screw it I am not going to begin on Mashup – as a genre it is a novelty, fun but lacks the consistency needed if you are going to spend a decent length of time on the dance floor. The problem is that you can take it or leave it with each song. Every 2 minutes you have to make a fundamental decision as to whether you wish to keep going.

For the moment I am quite happy to settle for good old breaks. That’s my two cents. Bring back FreQ Nasty and the Plump Djs.