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Andy Dittrich ENGL-1102 October 15th, 2013 Assignment #2: Narrative Research Paper [Draft] (Run for Your Life - The Neon Zombie Party People are Coming and They Have Disco)

Introduction: Disclaimer

In your portfolio, annotate your second draft of assignment two by answering the following questions: If you were to write this paper again, what would you do differently? Think in specific terms, like planning, development of topic, collecting sources, etc. What could I (the teacher) have done differently to help you prepare this assignment? Think in terms of specific activities, exercises, or class work that I could do in order to help you understand the assignment more, address the assignment more appropriately, etc.

I really wasnt looking forward to this. If I had known that this assignment scheme worked in succession I would have picked something I was legitimately invested and interested in like a music scene I actually enjoy or a minute-by-minute analysis of the progression of paint drying on a vertical plane. But here we are! Its not even a matter of my general distaste of nightlife club culture as much as my indifference to it. Its there for the people that enjoy it and it doesnt bother me. Even after visiting one of these nightclubs and having a less enjoyable time than I expected (much to the surprise of these low expectations), I felt about the same. It doesnt really matter to me that I dont belong in this figured world because I never really wanted to be anyway. Its not for me, and Im fine with that. But here we arewell here I am writing this to the best of my focus, wielding the remaining flickers of curiosity/morbid fascination/what have you in towand here you are reading this. If this ever comes across as somewhat cynical, dont mistake this as bitterness or my general attitude. Im a happy guy, I like rock n roll and comedies. If anything, Im looking in through the same windows...even if I may have to focus just a little bit more and prevent myself from letting the streaks and dirt on the glass distract my eyes.

Background: EDM, Electronic Dance Music, is the popular genre of choice for night/club dance scenes. It is the synthesizer/drum machine/sequencer, beat-based music that dominates the culture of these places. Its been getting fairly popular over the past few years. One of the interesting things about the rise of EDM, is that these musicians have gained popularity not by record sales, most of these EDM records chart low or dont, but by their live performances where the audiences have grown larger and larger. Unlike any music genre or scene before it, EDM shows have become the key element to its rise in popularity. Does this say something about their audiences value of their music? Probably. The growth in popularity in EDM as a live event has led to the popularity of all-night Rave parties, where people gather together for till-dawn dancing and partying centered around house music, one of the more popular EDM subgenres. More recently, various EDM-centered music festivals have been started all over the world, functioning like multi-day raves-onschedule. One festival, the Electric Daisy Carnival (not kidding), managed to attract over 300,000 ravers (wish I was kidding) at its 3 day 2012 Las Vegas festival. One of the more dangerous aspects of these events however, is the widespread popularity of the euphoric drug Ecstasy (MDMA), known in rave circles as Molly. Its popularity in raves is due to its psychedelic effects that apparently work well with the lasers and lightshows popular at these events. Some people even combine Ecstasy with LSD because they couldnt fit their head in the microwave but wanted the same results.

Now lets not kid ourselves, drugs have always been an element of music culture. The Delta Blues ran on alcohol, heroin ruined, among other things, Bebop, the hippies had acid, the 70s ran on cocaine and Nixon hatred, the punks had speed and heroin, weed is the only reason jam bands exist, and the fact that both Keith Richards and Iggy Pop are both still alive and functioning is still my go-to definition of what a miracle is. EDM happens to run on ecstasy, so it merges into these trends indifferently. However, its also important to remember that if anyone tells you that you need to be on a certain chemical in order to properly enjoy music of any kind Walk Away Run Leave It Ditch It - This is your conscience calling, reminding you that those alarm bells sounding off between your ears are ringing for a reason. This is bullshit. No music requires anything other than commitment, the connection that you make with the music you relate to and feel. If you need anything else to facilitate that connection, its not you, its them. Think of it this way; if you could only tolerate being around your significant other when you are drunk, how long do you think this relationship will last? Place your bets now and let the spiral begin. The key lesson to drug culture is that will we have to acknowledge that drugs have given us some of our greatest records (including some of my favorite records), they are unsustainable. They always lead to the crash, the burnout, the implosion, and even the demise. Its never a matter of if; its only a grim waiting game. Several EDM festivals, including the aforementioned Epileptic Dandelion Carapace, have had several ecstasy-related deaths during their festivals. It should (should) lead to more awareness of how rampant the drug is in the scene and how the casual reference to the drug in the music might be sending off the wrong idea to EDMs audienceright? Unless the EDM scene is like a second coming of the hippie culture of 1967-69, which would mean that the whole

scene would just loiter through the years and eventually burn itself out, which could be the case. Every generation has that of course, the group of people that just want to phase out of the real world and believe they can just rave and rave and rave and see how far that stretches and how far they can take it. Of course it doesnt change the fact that no matter how long you close your eyes, and no matter how long you squint them shut, reality is waiting right outside in obsessive fervor. But of course, nobody said it did.

Literature Review, Pt. 1: Sound vs. Music: The Preferred Distractions of Ladytron & Sister Midnight It is probably good to start the literacy narrative with some of the contemporary views on the music at the center of all this. While EDM originally began developing in the mid 1980s, it has fairly recently began to rise in popularity and recognition. Electronic Music even was added to the Grammy awards as of 2005. Then again, U2 has over 20 Grammys and the Rolling Stones have two, so does it really count? Grammy gripes aside, what does this increase in recognition mean for EDM as a respected music genre? Not much actually. See the odd thing about this genre is that its success currently is balanced almost completely on live performances. The sales for EDM records are fairly low for such a popular movement. As Kerri Mason notes in his analysis of EDM stalwarts Swedish House Mafia, despite moving tickets, SHM wasn't selling music at anywhere near a comparable paceThe act's biggest single, "Save the World," has sold 463,000 copies. Small numbers when compared with other acts capable of selling out arenas.1 This coincides with Bob Lefsetz argument in his Variety column on EDM, where he declares

Mason, Kerri, The Dance Dance Revolution Continues, Billboard Vol. 124 (December 22nd, 2012): 38-39

that EDM is burgeoning. It's owned by the young. It's a perfect medium for today, not dependent upon recordings and based on the unstealable [sic] live experience.2This youngster insider, if anyone was wondering, is 60 by the way. Its funny you know, after doing the last review of my music articles I collected for this that I noticed that only one of these articles actually focused on the music aspect of the live event that is EDM, and that one mostly emphasized that EDM music is almost solely designed for giving people a continuous dance experience aka live event. After all, the goal of these shows isnt going to see your favorite DJ twiddle knobs, push buttons, and maybe (if youre lucky) hit a key on a keyboard, its for the dance experience. As Pedro Ferreira notes in his Leonard Music Journal article, he analyzes EDMs use of technically reproduced sound to promote a non-stop dancing experience and that something went wrong somewhere between Stockhausen and the dance floor scene of today.3 Kraftwerk has some deserved blame here somewhere too. Basically, the design of EDM is centered around a collective club/dance experience rather than something designed to be enjoyable on a singular level like the Otis Redding record Im listening to on my headphones while I write this. Of course, EDM certainly has a place there. I wouldnt expect clubbers to rave to Ive Got Dreams to Remember. However, It is important to recognize that the music of this scene less the foundation of the scene but rather dependent on the scene itself. Part 2: Pheasants Revenge Speaking of the scene, I should cover some of the things going on here on a social level. As I noted in my observations at the Phoenix nightclub, the scene is a bit exclusive and cliqueishand that they dont like green (sorry Kermit).

2 3

Lefsetz, Bob, EDM Boogies to its Own Beat, Variety Vol. 320 (July 4th, 2013): 38 Ferreira, Pedro Peixoto, When Sound Meets Movement: Performance in Electronic Dance Music, Leonardo Music Journal Vol. 18 (December 2008): 17-20