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Thread: What is underground music nowadays?

  1. #1
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    What is underground music nowadays?

    I see promoters throw this word into every party they do in my city. Often it's for a house music party or trance music party etc. I can't help to think, can these genres still be recognized as underground? To me Carl Cox and Tiesto are both part of mainstream culture nowadays. These guys play for stadium sized audiences!

    I think back in the days underground meant more than just the fact that it wasn't played on mainstream radio or that it was music with a very small audience. Underground was also a physical thing as in the availability of the music. If a record was pressed in 300 copies, then that was it. Not only that, you'd have to know about that little special shop where you could find such a record. Nowadays, all
    music is equally available with no limits. You'll find your latest pop hit and that remixed grime track side by side on iTunes.

    Can the word underground even be used still when talking of music? With Facebook everyone and their grandma know where and when to go to your "secret" underground party. Everyone has all the same tracks you do within minutes of attending your party with a little help from Shazam.

    As a dj, there's no barriers either it seems, I can just show up anywhere with a USB stick and a sync button ready to rock. In the underground scene there doesn't seem to be any rights of passage anymore.

    So what does the word underground mean to you, is it still a word that means anything in the music scene? And if so what does it mean?

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    Regardless to it having a mainstream acknowledgement i'd say it was still underground music if one can't play it in an average town bar, cities are always different. As for the radio, plenty of stuff not on the radio, sounds like stuff on the radio, not underground. If it would sound out of place on the radio, underground.

    For me a lot of underground music is throw away music. Individually 1 song isn't supposed to stand out. Each song combined providing the song of the evening, making a great evening. If one track stands out, it draws a focus to it, now the next song needs to too. That's why in a commercial set, playing that 1 underground track sounds totally out of place and ruins the effect it would of had if played in a proper underground set.

    Of course that would be underground dance, mixing DJ's. Many underground scenes would be totally different.

  3. #3
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    Commercial... each song is more important
    Underground... the flow of sound is more important

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    Hi monkeystyle, to me it means 'Subterranian' as from the Beat Generation, or Rare Groove from the 80's Jazz Funk & Soul scene but I know it's been misappropriated by commercial rubbish.

  5. #5
    Yeah I think with the arrival of digital downloads and so forth, the concept of underground house and techno has got somewhat blurred. It did indeed have a lot to do with vinyl and availability of, back in the day.

    mitchiemasha's answer is an interesting one.

    Also, similar to that, we used to think of it as kind of "anonymous" music - mainly a bit more instrumental without so many hooks and formulaic structures and stuff.

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    most of it mean boring generally these days, its almost like to be underground you are not allowed to play a track with vocals in it.. there are a lot of formulaic DJs around these days, nobody is that interesting music wise. I like Solardo and a few of their releases but listening to their sets i get about half an hour in and have to turn off, only so many dubby beats with acid noises you can listen to
    Quote Originally Posted by Sigma View Post
    It's only because features like auto-sync have opened the doors for a bunch of lazy cunts to buy some gear and think they're a DJ a week later that we go round and round in circles with this same topic.

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    Sounds like a bunch of marketing tactics to me. Limited releases, exclusive circulation, and using keywords to grab attention are all tricks of the marketing trade.

  8. #8
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    For me underground is not so much the music as you say, but getting away from the glitterati crowd with more money than experience listening to music. You would be shocked at the number of headline or at least former headline dj's I have heard at little bitty dive bars that hold a max of 50 people. Maybe I'm lucky but I imagine every city to some degree has a few individuals that do not care about losing money and do not promote their party at all and just invite their close friends and family.

    There was a club called Club LO here in stl. This bar could not have been more than 500 sq.ft. not kidding. In one summer I saw Aphrodite, Total Science, Goldie(YES GOLDIE), Danny tha wild child etc. all for $10, sometimes free if I showed up late. There was also Pink Brains parties that were incredibly small and lots of heavy hitters of house, $5. Boogie Knights had "jive" events which were usually little dive bars and dj's like Richie Hawtin, John Aquaviva, Terry Mullan, Frankie Bones $5-10. These were all just one headliner at each party but still dirt cheap.

    It would be really difficult imo. to classify music as underground but vibe would be easy. I also think you have to be a spectator more than a dj.

  9. #9
    I think underground is a subjective idea. Sure you can play all the top beatport 100 and hit banger after banger, but where is the fun in that. Or the skill. A DJ is supposed to create a mood, a journey.

    If your this is your idea of good EDM, you're missing out on a lot of great tracks. In most of my mixes, I hardly play any vocals. When I do, it is for a purpose and it stands out. I hat the tracks today that utilize vocals as their main component. That to me is commercial.

    You can still be underground today. It's true most major name DJs sellout arenas, but in my opinion it is because they produced a track and got known as a DJ for it. If you check I bet almost all the songs have lyrics. People say they get sick of just beats and such, but I feel the opposite.

    You can create a mix with almost no vocals and still make a great mix. For me there is a line between commercial DJs who play big venues, don't mess with the tracks and Hold their hands up like they are a god. I can't stand that. THAT is commercial.

    I'm not sure how to quantify underground, but I know it doesn't happen in a stadium.

  10. #10
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    I still feel there's plenty of underground music out there, although the internet has undoubtedly opened this up a lot more than before.

    You mention that in this day an age you can just walk in to a club and Shazam every track - now this isn't strictly true. at a lot of 'underground' parties, DJs will be playing unreleased tracks by themselves or by producers in their circle, works-in-progress, unauthorised edits etc.

    I think jibzilla hit it on the head - although the music itself may be more widely available, the underground aspect often comes from hearing it in the right time and place. In London at least there are still plenty of nights in dingy basements and pub back-rooms that play music that wouldn't last 5 minutes on the radio.

    Having said that, I do agree that in the world of house and techno at least, there's a great deal more overlap between the underground and mainstream than there was say 10 years ago.

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