Well Saturday was a busy one! Mark II, one half of ex Altern 8 rave superstars was in town to slap back the old yellow smileys on everyone's dull faces! Although I was born 1992, the same year Altern 8's 'Evapor 8' hit number 3 in the UK charts... I still felt the days of raving out listening to Judge Jules in my brothers Nova creeping back in. It was a great experience to see people letting go and just letting there bodies do the work... like a day release patient on acid dancing to Voodoo Ray. And don't get this mistaken, contrary to popular belief this night was not filled with old codgers trying to re-live the days of their adolescent drug fueled past. No, instead there was a swarm of new faces amongst them trying to create theirs... and from what I saw, without the extensive use of drugs.
I think this brings up a very important point... rave is not dead but its making way for something better. Yes, its nothing like the ecstasy drove days of the late 80s and early 90s and yes, its no swinging 60's either. Instead something has effected our influence on music in a completely different way, just like the cheap guitar or the 808 sampler, the internet has made music more universal than ever and to become a famous producer requires a lot more work and devotion and so the result is some of the best produced music the world will have ever heard... sounds ridiculous, well this is the problem.
Right now our music is like a film soundtrack with no film. In this sense the film relates to the way in which we spend our youthful days whether that is rebelling, shagging or getting smashed. Right now we as a whole, we are neither here nor there, in other words our age can be summed up by simply saying ... 'meh'. If you are like me and you were brought up between the age of the internet and the days where a ball and a cup could keep you interested for days then you'l know that ironically the days of ball and a cup were the times we will remember most! Not just because we were kids but because every song you'l hear on the radio from that time will automatically place you in a moment of nostalgia.. now picture this... 5 years from now you switch on your radio and hear that song you've been listening to for a couple of days on Youtube... do you think you'l be hit with the same nostalgia, dreaming of days when you stared at your facebook home page reading about what some moron had for breakfast. No. But for those who go out every weekend and live life like there is no tomorrow well maybe when they're favorite artist gets a little older and comes back to play some old classics then maybe we'l see the next generation dying to have there moment. Im not saying, sell your belongings, forget your education or job and shag everything that moves. Im just saying have a little pride in your generation and next time you think of saying that old cliche 'music was so much better back then' think of what your doing to yourself. Its fine for people of past generations to say that because THEY WERE THERE! but they didnt make there own memories by conforming to the people before them.
The music is there. The electronic ability of music is hitting its peek, we have more genres than ever, we can't even switch on our computers without escaping the fact you could produce an album full of your own music for almost nothing and call that music whatever the hell you wanted. Hey, you could even name the genre after your dog and within the year you'l have several other artists labeling their music as rexstep. All that is missing is the ability to come away from our computer screens for one day, drop your dancing conscience and lose your shit to some of YOUR generations music. With a little love and revolution there is no stopping us.
Mark Mackenzie
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