Or then, maybe not. After barely coming to terms with the new electronic dance music genres such as skweee and nu-rave (OK, the latter was a bit of a joke), lately I've encountered the expression "blog house" every now and then, so here are some pointers to you fellow old pHarts who don't have a clue, either... But somehow I again get the feeling as The Who would have put it -- "Meet the new sound, same as the old sound"?
Klaxons, supposedly "Nu Rave" -- so how come I am not holding my breath...?
From Wikipedia:
New Rave (also spelt Neu Rave and Nu Rave), is a developing style of music fusing elements of electronic dance music and rock. It has similarities with US-led style Dance-punk. Music publication NME are largely responsible for popularising the term.
Nu-Rave can also refer to the resurgent breakbeat hardcore scene.
It can also be applied to a burgeoning fashion style, wherein 'rave' elements such as neon clothing, glow sticks, and baggy t-shirts teamed with leggings are re-appropriated.
Electronic dance music/rock crossovers are nothing new in itself: there are such examples in the early 90s indie heroes as Primal Scream (especially their Screamadelica of 1991), EMF and their hit 'Unbelievable', Pop Will Eat Itself, Jesus Jones... but does anyone remember Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine any more...? For the uninitiated (and someone who remembers the original Rave) the word combination (and personal fantasy concept) Nu Rave in itself just sounds great -- that silly but enchanting charm of acts like Altern-8 and early (pre-guitar) Prodigy updated for the new millennium and with new super sounds, perhaps? The return of warehouse parties in a totally fresh, smart and turbo-charged new generation version? -- but if this is just another cynical redressing for tinny-sounding NME indie guitar bands, then there's no reason to hold your breath. Maybe the problem with Nu Rave is that there is just not enough Rave in it.
Well, at least the Klaxons seem to have some decent reading habits: namechecking William S. Burroughs' Interzone and Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow in their songs. Perhaps they would just desperately need a Kompleksi remix [grin]...
The Synthetik Skandinavian Funk, or Skweee music, obviously origins from Scandinavia -- less obvious is that it was created by a man called Frans Carlqvist, who is also known as Pavan. He's the founder of the small independent label Flogsta Danshall that focuses on this type of music. Recently a new Skweee-label popped up in Finland, called Harmönia. The time was right to let Pavan explain.
For those that haven't heard the music, explain what Skweee is!
Skweee is instrumental, pretty primtive electronic music influenced by the rhythms of R'n'B, dancehall and funk. It usually consists of a 'dirty' sound, vibes that make you think of early electro, techno and c-64 music. When you hear it, you know what Skweee is.
For those that have heard it, but yet don't understand. Please, help them out.
Well, the tempo is pretty low around 90-110 bpm. Sometimes it contains parts of Arabic music. A lot of square waves and kind of lo-fi. Apart from a couple of Skweee-remixes that've been made, most Skweee is released on 7" vinyl."
