New Rave on BIGSTEREO

New Rave

9 October 2006 :: posted by Travis :: add to favs

Excuse my diatribe but…

Yeah. It was pretty much decided, the moment that NME first uttered the phrase, that New Rave pretty much sucked. Not the music mind you. Klaxons are a breath of fresh air, and The Sunshine Underground have been making great Electro-Rock for a few years now. It’s the name. New Rave stinks. It feels gross… like barf. Or… like the first time you heard the word Electroclash flutter out of someone’s mouth.

We’ve all pretty much broken down what New Rave is — it’s 2006’s version of Electro-Rock. Someone decided around early 2005 that Electro-Rock was played out. Not cool anymore. Much in the same way that in late 2001 someone decided Electroclash was played out. The problem was that bands didn’t listen. They kept making music. Not just music, but damn good music. Good music, but last year’s music. What to do?! NME stepped up to the plate and said, “Hey guys, even though it sounds just like Electro-Rock it is not Electro-Rock. It’s New Rave or Nu Rave or Neu Rave. Duh!”

Guys, we are in a total rut. There is a disgusting pattern going on:

Step 1: Create genre. Combine two unlikely pre-existing genres (ie Disco Punk) or make something old New (ie Nu Wave).

Step 2: Hype, hype, hype. Find a bunch of bands that didn’t quite make the cut under Step 1 during the last cycle, and throw the new label on them.

Step 3: Have all the bands in this “new” genre remix each other. This step is very important. Cross promotion leads to Step 4…

Step 4: Declare that the genre is dead. Over. Fin. Tired. Last Year.

Electroclash, Nu Wave, Electro House, Disco Punk, Electro Rock, New Rave, Whatever. Sure there are some subtle differences. Maybe. But can we please just admit it is all the same?

I propose a challenge: Don’t decide it is over until the kids stop making the music. It’s not up to some tight wad at some glossy magazine or major label to decide it’s over because he has to push his product. It is up to the musicians to decide when it is over. It is over when Peaches sits down and creates a country album. When bands like Klaxons stop appearing out of thin air… then it’s over. It is over when we decide to stop buying all these damn records.

This is getting gross. We are at as much fault as NME. Are we such a consumer society that we cannot like a genre for more than a year? We have to throw it out and buy whatever “new” music is being crammed down our throats? Are we total suckers? Arg… pipe dream, but are there too many bands? Too many genres? Too much music?

83 Comments:

sam,

to be fair… i used NME as a bit of a scapegoat. this thread wasn’t meant to be NME bashing session. or anything of that sort.

the point isn’t that bands are getting picked up by mainstream media and given silly labels. it doesn’t matter if genres are created so that the media can feel comfortable reporting/critiquing/reviewing music. that is fine. that’s great!

BUT there is a huge problem when genres are created and bands are picked up by media for the sole purpose of tearing them down the next month so that the media outlet can make more money. it’s starving artists.

a magazine’s bottom line is to make money off of advertising. they do that by increasing circulation. their interest isn’t promoting good music or bands… their primary interest is making money. and (in the uk especially) they’ve found what sells is building bands up fast and them destroying them a month later. it sells magazines which sells advertisement.

this doesn’t help artists’ careers. it makes them a commodity with a shelf life of only a couple months.

it would be nice (haha) is NME or Q or MTV or whoever actually embraced music and instead laid the groundwork for lasting careers, but that’s not the business they’re in.

AND i totally applaud NME for keeping this new rave thing going for 6 months. i dare them to keep it going for another 12. doubtful.

i love all the “new rave” bands. totally. but i loved them before they were call new rave. and i’ll still love them after. most people are sheep though and will just quickly jump on the next bandwagon. i’m just asking people to be a little more conscious (or cautious?) before jumping on the next bandwagon.

and sam… i think we’re agreeing more than we’re disagreeing. it’s all just terribly silly.

Travis
March 6th, 2007 at 12.30 pm

travis,

if you hadn’t noticed, every dand has a so called “shelf-life”, it just that some bands happen to have a moderatly larger one than others, the biggest bands in the world are/were only “huge” for a few years (ie. the rolling stones, the beatles etc). agreed, these bands WERE big in their day, but after about 4/5 years, big bands simply run their course, thats just how it goes.

bands will always strive to last as long as they possibley can, but in reality it never happens, bands come out and appeal to the current generation, but as that generation grows up, the bands get less and less popular. in the 1990’s, oasis were without a doubt one on the biggest bands going (in the UK at least), but, although they are still producing albums and making realitivly good music, they are no where near as big as they were back then.

the point im trying to make is that music comes and goes, and although its sometimes sad, thats just how it is. id love to see “new rave” be around in three years time, but i very much doubt it will. or if it is, it most likely wont be called “new rave” any more, the media will have come up with a new name for it, and we’ll all be sat here moaning about this all over again!!

maybe we are agreeing rather than disagreeing, but i still stand on the fact that music, and GOOD music at that, is always going to be labeled and critisized by whoever was on the last bandwagon, because they haven’t yet hopped over to the new one.

music is music and genres are genres, whether people like it or not.

just sam to be honest
March 6th, 2007 at 4.40 pm

of course every band has a shelf life… but look at the shelf life of a band 20 or 30 years ago vs. now and it’s a totally different story. i’d argue that this generation doesn’t have any stones, beatles, etc. bands are discarded before they can ever reach that point. and honestly this is in part due to an over saturation of good music. there are a lot more bands now competing for your attention on a national and international level than there were ten years ago.

i don’t have a problem with fads or genres or bands coming and going. that’s pop culture. you can’t fight that. the difference is it is okay as long as culture is naturally dictating what is coming and going rather than one or two media sources who are driven by a bottom line.

the issue is not shelf life or too many genres but rather media outlets building up bands and genres just to rip them down the next day so that they can make an extra buck. it doesn’t do the artist or consumer any good…

Travis
March 6th, 2007 at 7.36 pm

well isn’t that something that can’t really be fought against? if corperations such as the media are around to say whats “in” and what’s not, then they’re always going to shit all oever the little guy (ie. you or me).

i think we’re always going to come to a crossroads at the end of the day, we both want the good bands to stick around for longer than a few months, and so we should, but i think we’ve both realised that thats not going to happen to easily with the media pulling bands up and ripping them down as we’ve discussed. agreed?

i have to admit, you make a good some really good points.

just sam to be honest
March 7th, 2007 at 8.30 am

just get the fuckin glow sticks out and lets pill our faces off!!!

RAAAAVVVVEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ACID MAN
March 7th, 2007 at 9.09 am

new rave sucks dude!!

but MCR and Hawthorne Heights totally RAWK my SAWKS!!

xoxoxox

xloserxcorex
March 7th, 2007 at 9.12 am

u r all a bunch of pussies!!

listen 2 sum REAL music tht will make ur ears bleed!!

SLAYER!!!!!

disemboweled corpse!!
March 7th, 2007 at 9.14 am

i think ur a fricken homo who really cares i love the music too but w/e!!!!!! GOOOOOODODDDDODODODODODODO!!! UGH! LOSERS…….BLAH!

Beefy Bertha
March 13th, 2007 at 10.48 am

new rave? what a joke, a genre invented by indie bitches who want to dance and have a fucking party but are to pussy to like any for of electronic music.

what a joke, how are the klaxons “rave”? they are like every other shitty indie band around.

rave/dance music is electronic, we need computers to keep the beat in time not a drummer struggling to keep up.

haggo
March 15th, 2007 at 12.00 am

im THE new rave kid

iv liked klaxons since before they existed
and i own a glowstick shop

i only wear clothes from charity shops or that iv made myself

i have repeatetive strain disorder in my wrists from ravin too hard!!

and my face is yellow like a smiley!!

BOW TO ME!!

I SHOP IN OXFAM
March 19th, 2007 at 6.11 am

Can you listen “new rave”? http://www.ctxmusic.com.ar

san
March 25th, 2007 at 4.37 pm

I love new rave. I also love indie music, Drum N Bass, Dance, Metal, Punk, Rap etc. I think I find new rave so appealing, simply because it gives me a chance to experience what people experienced back in the days of the prodigy when rave was exciting and new, but this time its safer, its more friendly, and its a fusion of so many different kinds of music, a larger audience can enjoy the music. I know NME hyped it up a lot, But I wish you guys would stop slating new trends and crazes, and just accept them, instead of moaning like a bunch of old grannies, about everything still being popular, because everyone knows that all kinds of music will always be popular with some people, but at the moment, new rave is in. Pretty soon it will be something else. But just enjoy new rave while its here, because these things never last forever. And who knows what crap you will be stuck with next. Still I suppose at least it will give you miserable barstards something to moan about wont it!!!

JimBloxxx
April 4th, 2007 at 9.44 am

Humm new rave i have no bother of it and i am an old time raver but all i can say is i hate NME they are bunch of up ass twats tbh i am a wide range music person from thrash metal to House. but all i can say is there are too many music mags out there for my likeing lol x

Dj BB
April 10th, 2007 at 2.30 pm

about the comment from jimbloxx, new rave isnt safer i have amate who fekin loves new rave and hes a proper pill head and sais there are so much drugs involved in it lol

Dj BB
April 10th, 2007 at 2.32 pm

now..that “new rave” arrive in indonesia……
i dont care about the roots or anything else
i like klaxons, shit disco,new young pony club..
they make us so bright..

araji
April 14th, 2007 at 12.52 am

its all electro

Anonymous
April 14th, 2007 at 12.47 pm

i luv rok especialy mcr famous last words and gd sharlut keep ur hands of my girl lostprophets greenday etc. and rave is just songs that have been stolen fast forwarded and put dj boonie or sum crap in front its a hel load of dam squeeky shit

Jaffaz 2K7
April 17th, 2007 at 2.09 pm

nu rave is the gayest thing since un sliced bread.

klaxon
April 23rd, 2007 at 7.11 am

Hello, Your site is great. Regards, Valintino Guxxi

Anonymous
April 24th, 2007 at 12.44 pm

Thank You

Alex
April 25th, 2007 at 9.53 am

Yeah i get what you mean with all the different genres being basically the sane thing but c’mon u cant blame the ppl at NME for giving the Klaxons, CSS, New Young Pony Club and ShitDisco their own genre. There bloody damn good n deserve it! xXx’s

Caiti
April 27th, 2007 at 3.48 pm

THANK YOU
its just that our freakin generation cannot wait to classify itslef it sucks same with the name “indie” i mean shit ppl hippies werent called hippies till all the movement was over same with flappers. any hoo what is the deal with all the names being all about makin sumthin old new that is wrongggg like you said its all the same and ive thought about this and i think that what has been goin on with music is also goin on with architecture and the style that manya rchitects today use wich is deconstructivism. so i really think thats what it should be called: decon. whutev. its like our generation is so desperate to classify itself i dont understand why. just be

lulu centurion
May 23rd, 2007 at 12.01 am

Anonymous Says:

April 14th, 2007 at 12.47 pm
its all electro

— yeah i agreed it man! electro proper keyboard things.. both side of it from everything, so what the hell is ‘NU RAVE’?

Aizul A
May 26th, 2007 at 9.12 am

This is freaking brilliant. You nailed it on the head. Consumerism at its finest.

DJ Haute
May 30th, 2007 at 4.54 pm

Who actually gives a shit… i mean “New Rave” good music crazy new style nough said do u hav 2 dig into it so deeply jus leave it as it is. Get into it as much as u like and if u dnt, then dnt get involved. ppl jus find it hard 2 accept new things indie and all of that was classified once it doesnt make it new it jus means sum1 gave it a name and a direct following. NME didnt invent “new rave” they jus gave it a fuckin name.

Mike
June 1st, 2007 at 11.19 am

whatever….. It’s a electro shit.

Aizul A
June 10th, 2007 at 6.57 am

hi,
if you’re interested, we just opened a website about electro pop new rave clothing fashion and so on.

http://nurave.blogspot.com

poprave
July 10th, 2007 at 7.12 am

Just came back to this through google.

I’m still so with you. It was valid when you wrote it, it’s valid now, it will be valid in a year.

Slay the hypebeast when the hypebeast tries to slay the music.

bumpsdick missingtoof
September 13th, 2007 at 6.09 pm

What an amazing article.

My problems with New-Rave:
-It’s not new.
-In no way does it sound like “rave” music (Having a bass drum play at 4/4 with a high-hat on the offbeat doesn’t make it rave-y either).
-It’s Indie, and everyone knows Indie is the new Emo.
-It’s fashion consists of all the annoying shit you ignore and avoid at The Goodwill.
-Despite what age or gender you are, you know the large majority of New-Rave’s audience are snotty 14 year old girls, don’t even deny it…

In general new-rave is like eating a pound of sugar.

Russ
November 16th, 2007 at 4.51 pm

klaxons,hadouken,sunshine undergound,rapture…..its all just indie lad rock music which is a bit upbeat.dont get me wrong i like the bands but its just another excuse of a name for people to jump on the bandwagon.lets just call it indie music u can dance to,go back to as early as 89 when stoneroses and happy mondays were around, that was indie music which had a dance feel to it, so i guess you could blame the ‘new rave’ thing on the ‘madchester’ scene lol so my point is new rave is a load off cock an balls.you wanna get pilled up and listen to proper RAVE listen to prodigy,chemical brothers and old groove armada stuff

its all music
January 1st, 2008 at 1.10 pm

The only difference from Electroclash and New Rave is that the first was registered as a label and the scond not -yet.

I wish I could make some friends understand that this labeling bands/songsmusic the way people made after Klaxons’ joke, etc. is -at least- ridiculous.