I love dance music. I also like and appreciate live bands, just not as much. One thing that really bugs me is the ignorance some people display when talking about dance music. Two arguments I hear go something like this.
“It all sounds the same”
“The tracks are just repetitive & don’t develop”
Lets look at these arguments in order. The “It all sounds the same to me” argument is the one I despise the most. Yodeling all sounds the same to me, but I understand why it sounds the same. The reason is because I have not spent hour upon hour listening to all the yodeling out there. If I did I would begin to pick up on the subtle differences between yodeler A & Yodeler B (I don’t know any yodelers) and discover different sounds that are common in each. If I played Metallica and Guns & Roses to my grandma she wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. It would all sound the same to her.
The truth is there are as many variations of dance music as there are rock music it’s just you haven’t listened to it enough to discover the subtleties of each style.
The tracks are just repetitive and don’t develop. Utter nonsense. If the track didn’t develop it would quickly get boring. One thing that makes a good dance track is how well it develops and keeps the listener interested/dancing. I remember my mother using this argument once. To prove a point I played a dance track and pointed out everything that changed throughout the track. The added samples 8 bars in, the addition of a hi-hat 16 bars in, the change in rhythm on the drums 24 bars in, more samples 32 bars in, sub bass added 40 bars in etc etc. The track was in fact changing & developing constantly. I then played her latest Robbie Williams CD. I have nothing against the adorable ‘Robbie’ it was just to hand. I asked her to play the CD but ignore the vocals. Just listen to the music. When you do this you find the tracks develops in a similar way to the dance music CD. Keyboard stabs were added 16 bars in, the drum rhythm got more complex 32 bars in, instead of samples a gospel choir came in 16 bars later.
“Samples don’t compare to a gospel choir” I heard her shout.
“No but they serve the same purpose in developing the song and drawing the listener further in” I said. The truth is the tracks do develop and if you are dancing to the music these subtle changes become more obvious and meaningful.
Another major factor to consider with dance music is that each track is designed to be enjoyed within a collection of other songs. Rock ballads take you on a roller-coaster ride of ups and downs and squeeze it all in to a five minute song. That’s great but dance music just hasn’t developed to be like that. Within an hours DJ set a good DJ will take you on a journey with highs, lows, different rhythms & styles in just the same way a good rock bands set may do. The amount of dance music tracks that are written with as many highs and lows as Guns & Roses ‘Paradise City’ are few and far between.
If you’re a rock music fan and feel you don’t have patience to be taken on a ‘journey’ similar to that in dance music, take a look at the journey you are taken on when you watch a rock band. The first song is usually a huge hit single with high energy. The second song is usually similar and the third song is usually a really slow tempo song or ballad to bring everyone back down to earth. The fourth song is the tricky bit. This is where bands put the ‘funky’ number they have. Its not high energy like the first two numbers (It couldn’t be) but it gives people something to move to. I’ve picked apart so many DJ and band sets and noticed that good ones usually follow the same formula. The rest of the set could then go anywhere but the development is comparable throughout.
I’m not saying you should get in to dance music. Like what you like, that’s fine with me. Just appreciate that other people enjoy music that is different to your tastes. They can appreciate certain aspects of a style that you cannot. I try not to discredit anyone’s taste in music as I know from experience that the music I used to hate suddenly becomes something that I love and when it does I don’t want the ‘I told you so’ brigade on my back.
Also Check out the gig I did last weekend… Heavy!
