This Substack has harped a lot on the lack of local dancefloor acceleration in response to a COVID-19-induced lull in proceedings. As noted in the previous entry, it’ll most likely be a persistent topic going forward in 2022 as well. With Omicron becoming less and less of a threat in Europe (provided that no further mutations of the virus will ramp it up again), there will finally be a consistent open playing field for the dormant energies of producers and DJs. Restrictions were just lifted here in Norway (again), and the desire for technoid catharsis immediately made itself known in the various venues of Oslo’s nightlife:
In the wake of this and the blast of pent up energy that was HARDCORE TANO*C’s live stream number 4 (from a Tokyo with some of the strictest COVID restrictions yet), it feels natural to promote previously explored ideas of acceleration via the broad scope of sounds coalescing around 170 BPM. Progress in dance music production (and the subsequent exchange of music production mystique for utility) is frequently cast as an antagonist to reverence and respect for past pioneers. It is also cast as an inevitable path to an assembly line mentality for the latest, capital-compatible palettes of sound making the rounds. None of these are necessarily true. In fact, the changing needs of and intensity of pressure on an urban population make for plenty of fuel for artists to blast their way out of either of these doom-and-gloom scenarios. This new audiovisual project with Dan Svarc, then, will be the second offering of ideas on the path to a new synthesis of rave energy.