GUEST ILLUSTRATOR: sha un gardner
AND THE BEAT GOES ON...
Remember a time when music wasn't mainstream, but an alte rnative culture? You probably can't. It is a stretch, but in the abs ence of anything properly 'alternative ', the electronic music scene has willingly, happily and rightful ly assumed the title deeds to alternative music in decade one of the 21st century.
"Nothing is more singular abou t this generation than its addi ction to music" - or so said Amer ican philosopher Allan Bloom. We don't think Lady Gaga could put it any better. If it's one thing that unites us more than a gaily coloured flag or disdain for politicians, it's music. Forget your balls, South Afric ans, as a nation, love to boogie. Give us a funky tune and a big, bad baseline and we will see you on the dancefloor, any given nigh t of the week, as we exercise (and exorcise) our addictions.
While commercial 'lekker-beat' dance music still feeds a cert ain (disturbingly large!) portion of the population, something else is stirring in the dank and smok ey underbelly of daytime radio playlists, endless, moronica lly themed 'DJ MIX!' club compilati ons, and tired suburban shopping mall fashion displays. As the old guard of South African electronica was busy chasing royalty cheques or checking into rehab, a whol e new host of upstart DJs, dancers, producers and promoters have left their bedrooms to claim the dancefloors of scene indie electronica as their own.
Know your art from your indie!
Complete with its own dress code (already long bandwagoned by retail fashion chainstores), lingo and leitmotifs, indie electron ica is the nu alternative. So who are the stars of this fresh exciting scene? They are name s known only by the audience , like it was in the fifties and sixt ies. Thanks to the power of mark eting, your mom now knows who Gold fish is... but Funafuji and DJ Sass quatch? Welcome to our first-ever fullon electronic music feature. Not intended to be all-encompass ing, and a first of more to come , we're introducing you to a handpick ed sample of the thumping elec tronic sounds emanating from SA's dancefloors of today.
Nowhere else but in elec tronic music are so man people with such little y terms bandied about actual knowledge as by so many to what any of them actu our Bluffer's Guide to ally mean. Use Electronic Music the nex t time you're caught up vs electronica debate in the electro and sound like an exp ert!
ELE
CTRO: Originally a term used to describe a subgenre of rappers Afrika Bambaataa hip-hop after recorded 'Planet Rock' in the early '80s, using but a drum machine, voco ders and synths. German synth gods Kraftwerk are credited with inspiring the genre. These days, the word has replaced 'techno' as a catch-all phra se for referring to just about any kind of music with electronic elements to it. ELECTRONIC (adjective):
or modify a sound.
Using electric or electronic means to produce
ELECTRONICA: Contemporary electronic music designed but also foreground listen not just for dancing ing and background music for other things (like weird sex). Techno, tranc e, drum 'n bass, downtempo and ambient music are included. ELECTRONICS (noun):
The stuff inside your TV. And your toaster. Involves the flow of elect rons in a vacuum, in gase ous media, and in semiconductors.
ELECTROSEX:
Using an electronic devic e that sends an electronic through the sex organ so current as to eventually result in orgasm.
DRILL 'N BASS: One of the drum 'n bass relatives wher been chopped up, rearrange e the beats have d, pitched to absurd level s and then often still tweaked. Often also refer red to as 'breakcore' by scenesters trying to appear like they know more than they do. ELECTRO-TRASH: The kids that hang out at electro parti aren't really into it for es whom you know the music but for the image . EMOTRONIC: Just when you thoug ht it could get no, um, sadd electronic! (Not to be confu er: Emo goes sed with synthpunk.) GLITCH: A digital error effec t (like playing a badly scra used to enhance and defin tched CD), cleverly e a musical genre. Considere d to be an offshoot of ambient. HOUSE: Repetitively boring danc e music with a 4/4 basic millions the world over. structure. Loved by
ELE
INDIE: This term means many things to many people. It's before it becomes massively what something is popular, after which it is just pop. Can also mean 'independent', i.e. not signe d to a record company. Can apply to all genres music including hip-hop, of electro, jazz, rock, punk , metal, thrash, reggae, funk, etc. baile
ELECTRIFY (verb), -fied, -fyin
TRANCE: Psychedelic trance. A form of trance music that from Goa trance in the early developed 1990s. Generally created at a fast tempo, in the range of 140-150 bpm. Best enjoyed on an outdoor danc efloor, on a head full of psychedelic drugs, surro unded by hippies.
FIDGET:
SYNTHPUNK: A musical genre which employs synthesise aggressive yet usually minim rs played in an alist manner.
ELECTROSLUTS:
Females with loose mora ls and low self-esteem who gravitate toward the elect ro scene.
CTRICIAN (noun): A person who installs, operates, maint repairs electric devices ains or or electrical wiring. (Migh t know nothing about electronic music.) g: 1. to charge with or apply electricity to 2. to excite greatly; thrill A style of house music that relies heavily on broken squelches and distorted beats, samples.
DRUM 'N BASS:
A type of rave music with an offshoot of the mid-9 rave scene, the music is 0s UK characterised by manic breakbeats (typically 160190 beats per minute), over heavy bass, predatory sub-b occasional infra-basslines asslines and the . Commonly abbreviated as D&B or DnB. DUBSTEP: Bass-heavy dancefloo r music with deep roots in dub reggae, 'n bass, breakbeat, gara drum ge, and a style of UK hip-h op known as grime.
PSY
TECHNO: A dance music genre born in Detroit, USA of three (Derrick May, Juan Atkin young black men s, Kevin Saunderson) in the late 1980s. Kraftwerk hailed as the inspiration are with other music genres being added (such as funk, electro, and electric jazz) along the way. Commonly confused with descriptors such as electronic music and dance music. TRASH-ELECTRO: An offshoot of the acid techno genr is placed on totally dispo e where the emphasis sable and low-grade quali ty beats with very little substance. (Okay, we just made this one up. And that is just the point. Who knows what any of it reall y means and more so: who cares? As long as you know you enjoy it, you can call it whatever you like.. .) Word.