As the year draws to a close, Defected’s Ben Lovett looks back on some of the more significant happenings of 2012.
In the first of a two-part feature, here he looks at the rise and rise of EDM across the pond, the successes of Miami WMC and Sonar, the many failings of BLOC and some personal highlights from the Defected camp…
If there were curious dancefloor rumblings from America’s mainstream last year then this there were full-on bombastic hits – 2012 marked the official birth of EDM (Electronic Dance Music) in the States and didn’t every reveller in town know it?
Urban-pop megastars such as Usher (dropping Diplo-produced Climax in April) and Rihanna (pushing dance and dubstep-fuelled material from sixth album Talk That Talk, including Calvin Harris-concoted banger We Found Love) ditched smooth R&B backbeats – so long the toast of America – for club-derived 4-4, building firmly on the foundations of earlier, pioneering collaborations between David Guetta and the Black Eyed Peas. In recent weeks, Rihanna has released a seventh album, Unapologetic, again dominated by EDM. The States’ newfound fascination with dance is going nowhere.
Shadowy yet iconic Brit DJ-producer Andrew Weatherall was more than philosophical back in May: “Underground music scenes have long fed the mainstream ones and that interesting relationship helps keep the underground moving. It’s taken the [American] mainstream 10 or 15 years to properly catch-up with underground electronic music and whilst most of it isn’t to my taste, it has created a positive halo effect on what the entire electronic community does. There’s a better understanding.”
This autumn, Leftroom Records’ ubiquitous founder Matt Tolfrey was keen to put the rise of EDM into perspective. “It’s ballsy to think that America is only just discovering electronic music” he commented. “I love the States; I wouldn’t keep coming back if the underground wasn’t also expanding.”
Indeed, forward-thinking US house labels such as Claude VonStroke’s Dirtybird, LA-based Culprit and Big Apple boon Wolf + Lamb have all been busy in 2012 releasing innovative underground takes on well-worn house ‘n’ tech formats – VonStroke’s own lick Le Fantome, Justin Martin’s debut album Ghettos & Gardens, Jozif’s The Lady B EP (leftfield funk meets jagged soul-dance) and Deniz Kurtel’s July long-player The Way We Live, for example. The latter is a telling representation of Wolf + Lamb’s studio output as a whole; output darkly balancing hip-hop, house, soul and tech, with electro, bass and gothic flourish, and stylishly refreshing house’s original, lighter hands-in-the-air mantra.
At the same time, the vintage sounds of Chicago (house), New York (house), New Jersey (garage) and Detroit (techno) – the American cities, remember, in which electronic dance music was first created nearly 30 years ago- are hugely back in favour. 2012 has seen industry talk of a melodic, soulful, song-led ‘retro house’ revival reach fever pitch, largely directed at new material (and prominent DJ spots) from the likes of Frankie Knuckles and Eric Kupper (working together as Director’s Cut), dub-garage hero MK, and fellow vets Murk, Cajmere, Chez Damier and Todd Edwards.
Knuckles recently released mix album Tales From Beyond The Tone Arm on the Shapeshifters’ Nocturnal Groove label, featuring a number of new Director’s Cut workouts, to warm feedback. Elsewhere, Defected worked alongside Saunderson on a tip-top In The House compilation, with suitably-titled Miami dons Murk on a new instalment of its illustrious discographic series House Masters and Chicago legend Damier on the punchy re-release of his 1992 single Can You Feel It. The label also maintained momentum with MK, who had helmed a House Masters release at the tail-end of 2011. Several of Defected’s global events this year featured spots from MK, as well as MURK and the like. The strength of Defected’s relationship with these elder statesmen proved instrumental in terms of renewing interest in classic, swinging house.
March was, of course, all about the Miami Winter Music Conference, and last year’s controversial split from the Ultra Music Festival was, truly, a thing of the past. Both events, two of the biggest on the global clubbing calendar, overlapped beautifully; the WMC extending to 10 days for the first time ever. There were multiple Miami highlights, not least Jamie Jones’ Hot Creations party (featuring MK in a sizzling guest spot), Circo Loco’s pool party (DJ Sneak, Seth Troxler and Art Department) and the Giant Throbbing Electric Pickle bash (presenting Soul Clap, Wolf + Lamb, Solomun and Deetron). Miami reflected just how varied the dance scene has become, everything from old-school jack to future-tech confidently catered for.
Reputable electronic gathering Sonar also diversified this summer in the interests of crowd retention. The Barcelona festival added a shiny new mainstream edge to its typically spiky, disruptive programme, organisers focussed on technology and computer experimentation as before but providing greater-than-ever commitment to a huge musical programme mixing top tier acts Fatboy Slim, New Order and Friendly Fires with maverick young guns Nina Kraviz and Maya Jane Coles. Sonar’s dramatically evolved ‘fringe’ itinerary took things further, deliciously dirty Poles Catz ‘N Dogz rocking WIP Barcelona at the Wolf Club, Visionquest clashing colourfully with Life and Death (think Benoit & Sergio, Tale Of Us...) at Esferic Bcn and Kerri Chandler facing off Chez Damier at Be Cool. Nevertheless the wilder party spirit didn’t undermine the main event; Sonar’s overall agenda, both ‘on’ and ‘off’ festival, remained bold, unflinchingly creative, and largely in tune with organisers’ original mid-Nineties goals.
Sonar has adapted because of the harsh economic climate still permeating much of the international festival circuit. 2012 was the year festivals, in general, worked hard to stay relevant and provide maximum value for admission price. It has been a struggle for many organisers this year, the omens bad in January when Festival Republic MD Melvin Benn cancelled major August draw Big Chill. Benn blamed the Olympics, calendar clashes and busy artist schedules but the music industry remains suspicious of other factors. Certainly Benn’s reference to ‘risk’ in a press statement suggested that if scheduling was the main issue then the strength of his own operation wasn’t so much in the current swirling recessionary headwinds that he could afford to promote as freely as before.
This summer, both the company behind the influential Bloc Festival and the London Pleasure Gardens, where it was due to take place, entered administration. The Gardens, a new multi-million pound arts venue also lining up events with Cocoon and Mulletover, hit trouble in June owing to poor visitor numbers. There were concerns about safety and management failings. According to Bloc’s founders those failings caused the crowd surge issues on its opening Friday night in July which quickly prompted its cancellation. Such was the size and relative fragility of the founders’ operation that there was no way to avoid bankruptcy in the current climate.
The cancellation sent huge ripples throughout clubland. The UK and European festival landscape has ballooned over the past five years but Bloc’s dramatic collapse reminded others of the necessity to nail creativity and organisation if they are to survive. Hence music interests have continued to meld, with interesting results, at events like Reading and Leeds and ‘boutique’ weekenders such as Bestival. These developments have also been inspired by everything from the boom of download culture to an increasingly open-minded Ibiza.
And what of the White Isle? Much like Miami and Sonar it offered familiar (and favourite) routines alongside new and exciting content. The gentrification of Ibiza has continued apace – jet-setting playboys at lavish resort Ushuaia, ageing ravers demanding upmarket hotels, slick Michelin restaurants – but its soundtrack has broadened and taken things to the next sonic level.
Defected had a scorching Ibiza season, its long-standing residency at Pacha presenting everyone from MK and Dennis Ferrer to Bob Sinclar and effortlessly funky man-of-the-moment Solomun to rapturous dancefloors; not to mention orchestrating a scintillating live showcase from Kevin Saunderson’s Inner City. The ‘good life’ indeed; it was going to be Defected’s longest, more varied season yet.
Solomun also staged his own new residency at Sankeys Ibiza, Diynamic Neon Nights, its success summed up perfectly by a roof raising closing party (early September) which saw him smash exclusive Solomun remixes, Daft Punk and even Montell Jordan. And there were other massively impactful new residencies - chief among them Jamie Jones Hot Creations shebang Paradise at DC-10 and Richie Hawtin’s ambitious saki ‘n’ tech fest ENTER at Space. Not to mention plenty of cool live action – Henrik Schwarz and Benoit & Sergio at Amnesia, for Cocoon, and at the other end of the scale, the likes of Ed Sheerhan, Plan B and Example at Ibiza Rocks. There should also be a line or two on Rocktronic, Ibiza’s bold new festival fusing rock and dance like never before what with Sting and Lenny Kravitz on the same epic line-up as Luciano and White Isle talisman DJ Alfredo. Incredible....
Defected releases by Pirupa (Party Non Stop, a re-packaging of Desolat’s loopy, booty-shaking tech-house rocket) and Flashmob (deep delight Need In Me, played memorably by Kerri Chandler at Circo Loco, DC-10) quickly earned summer anthem status and, adding icing on the cake, label boss Simon Dunmore scooped a Lifetime Achievement Award at the prestigious International Music Summit (IMS) held as always in Dalt Villa, Ibiza Town. The gong cemented a sweet summer for Defected and would, in turn, crown a sweet year, but you’ll have to wait until next week to hear about that, and the year’s other memorable clubland moments, in the second part of our comprehensive 2012 round-up. Hold tight....
Defected presents Most Rated 2013 is out now
Defected In The House hits Electric Brixton, London with Dennis Ferrer, Deetron, Noir, Copyright, Simon Dunmore and Sam Divine. Full event info and tickets here.
