Where You (Might) Learn to Dance
Posts tagged techno
Rave Time!
Aug 27th
It’s been a while since we’ve had a “The Good, The bad & The Utterly Random” post here. It’s long overdue. So here’s a special Rave edition to make up for lost time.
OK, so this guy might not be raving technically, but it’s hard to find good individual ravers, and many videos of raves are too dark, too blurry or just plain bad. Besides, this is just too epic to keep to myself and the guy deserves exposure.
This next video shows just why you need girls to throw a good party.
I’d say more about this all-male rave, but after typing “all-male rave” I feel a little uncomfortable with this topic.
Now you might say I copped out again for this post’s bad video selection, since those guys were clearly doing it for laughs. Fortunately, I came prepared with another video, one that shows just how they get down in the World of Warcraft.
Normally, I wouldn’t recommend learning to rave from a dwarf, even if he is level 80, but look at these nerds go!
And now for the Utterly Random.
What just happened?
Caution: Melbourne Shuffling
Jul 21st
For this week’s edition of “The Good, the Bad, and the Utterly Random,” we’ll look at videos focusing on the Melbourne Shuffle. What’s the Melbourne Shuffle you ask? Well, I’ll have an article about it up later, but for now you should know that when it’s done right, it looks like this:
This dancer’s name is Slim and she has a few more videos of her dancing up on YouTube. Take a look here to see more of her.
As you can see, when properly executed, the Shuffle results in a lot of fluid glides that send you in various directions. Just make sure you’re in a clear space when you shuffle.
Originally, that was going to be the “Bad,” but as you saw, his dancing wasn’t really that bad. That said, there’s plenty of similar videos of people shuffling and falling. Some dance (much) better than others, but they all end up flat on their butts.
Finally, the utterly random.
Cartoons Shuffling.
And no, these aren’t the only two out there in the world.
Techno Remixes (of Everything)
Jul 15th
Think of a song right now. Go ahead. Did you think of one? Good. Guess what?
It has a techno remix.
Go ahead, look it up. You’ll see it’s true. Every song ever made has a techno remix. It’s just how the world works. Depending on how you feel about techno, this either fills you with joy or strikes fear into your heart. Maybe you find it funny. I know I do.
Remixes are an important part of techno. It gives DJs and producers the chance to take classics or modern hits and turn them into something new. It’s not at all uncommon for a song to have multiple remixes either. Because of the prevalence of remixes in techno music, it seemed fitting to review them occasional in a special kind of article. So to introduce How to Dance Techno’s newest segment, the Remix Roundup, we’ll take a look at some of the more surprising and random techno remixes out there.
First up is a remix to a song we all heard growing up.
I’m not sure who the mad genius responsible for this is, but if I ever met him, I would first ask him “Why?”, and then probably congratulate his good work. That’s the effect some remixes can have on me. Many seem unnecessary, but you have to admire the talent and hard work that goes into them.
Some songs definitely appear harder to remix than others, or at least it seems difficult for a potential remix to match up to the original. Of course, many remixes aren’t made in an attempt to overshadow the original. Many are made out of love for the original. After all, I’m certain no one would remix John Williams’ “Duel of the Fates” actively trying to top it.
Whether you think the remix is better or not, the fact was that the original inspired the remix, and that the remix was done more as a tribute and not as a challenge to the original. If there’s any challenge, it’s a personal one for the producer to make a good remix.
That said, many remixes, as random as they can be, are quite impressive. Who knew that anyone could do this with the Duck Tales theme song?
The fact is, remixes show us all the potential songs have. Of course there are many that don’t stack up to the original, but they still show us the versatility of these songs. They keep old songs alive and put them in a new, more electronic and digitally produced light.
On future editions of Remix Roundup, we will look at various remixes of a song, what they succeed in doing, and what they fail at doing. So make sure to visit regularly or follow How to Dance Techno on Twitter to catch the next one. For now, I leave you with probably the best remix on this post.
The Good, the Bad, and the Utterly Random
Jul 3rd
Well, it’s time for the first official post of The Good, the bad, and the Utterly Random on How to Dance Techno.
First the good. You may recognize the first half of this video. Yes, it’s the same footage found in my first post on this site. This is a compilation video of Spoke. He’s a French dancer, and arguably the best Tecktonick (also called Milky Way or Electro Dance) dancer around. He’s really something to watch, although I’m not too big on the music chosen for this compilation.
Next is the bad. I’m not exactly sure how to describe this video. All I can say is that there’s mesmerizing about it.
I wasn’t even sure if he was dancing to techno until I heard the sample and synth. Even if it wasn’t, this is a video all should see.
And now the utterly random.
Yes, this is (hopefully) intended to be funny, but with names like “Chernobyl Child” and “Ping Pong,” how can you deny it’s randomness?
Nostalgic Review: Endtroducing…
Jun 30th
This is the first in what will be a series of reviews and reflections of works that were long before How to Dance Techno’s time. For the first “nostalgic review,” let’s take a look back at DJ Shadow’s Endtroducing…
Now some of you who are familiar with this album may think I’m stretching my already loose use of the word “techno,” as this album is often considered a hip-hop classic. But this is an album that truly blurred genres and was a great feat for electronic music. DJ Shadow pushed sampling and electronic music production to it’s limits and made something captivating, epic and undeniably impressive.
First, you should probably know I’m a huge fan of sampling. I think it’s a shame that Kanye West seems to be the only mainstream producer who can afford it, but it’s still a common art form in hip-hop, techno, dance and other forms of electronica. While hip-hop classics like the Beastie Boys’ Paul’s Boutique and Public Enemy’s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back were vital to establishing sampling as a true and respectable art, neither one reached the level of innovation, uniqueness and experimentation that DJ Shadow manages on this album.
All 13 tracks on Endtroducing… are made up entirely of samples. Layers and layers of samples, to be exact. Just take a look at what is implied to be a partial list of the samples used on this album. Even if this music doesn’t appeal to your personal taste, it’s hard not to be impressed by the amount of hard work, cleverness and hours of crate-digging (sample searching) that went into this album.
The intro itself is a splice of various samples, including portions of a Notorious B.I.G. skit and a Stanley Clarke sample. It’s only appropriate for a collage of samples to introduce an album of samples, after all.
The first track, “Building Steam with a Grain of Salt,” features a haunting piano riff looped while snippets of an interview with drummer George Marsh are dispersed over the song. The song becomes more haunting when a sample of a chorus chanting is brought into the mix, and DJ Shadow plays with completely restructuring the drum loop near the middle of the song, creating an artificial drum solo out of the sample we hear for most of the song. It’s a strong opening for the album to say the least.
The next track, “The Number Song,” is a much busier and hectic track featuring many different soul and funk samples to create a track with an old-school hip-hop flair, though it still retains the experimental and even trance-like elements found throughout the album.
A few songs on the album have a trance-like feel to them, seeming to invite you to close your eyes and let your mind wander. For example, look at “What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 4)” and, probably the album’s most popular song, “Midnight In a Perfect World.”
While this album is very captivating and the sample-layering is impressive to listen to, it does run a little long. It’s about 63 minutes long, which is still ten minutes shorter than many current albums, but it may bore some listeners since it is a completely instrumental album. Some of the songs really don’t need to be five to six minutes long, although as your appreciation of the album grows it does become easier to listen to the longer tracks.
In the end, this album deserves its status as a classic. It’s an impressive work of art and a magnificent achievement for all forms of electronic music. It may not be for everyone, but Endtroducing… is something everyone should hear, if only to be impressed by the result of the hours of crate-digging DJ Shadow did to create this masterpiece.
Song Review: “Acapella”by Kelis
Jun 30th
Here it is: the first review of How to Dance Techno! Which song gets the honor of being the first reviewed on this site? It’s “Acapella”, the lead single from Kelis’s upcoming (in the U.S. at least) album, Flesh Tone. The track is produced by David Guetta (who produced Akon’s recent hit “Sexy Bitch”) and marks Kelis’s transition from hip-hop and R&B music to dance and electronica.
Some may be skeptical about this offering from Kelis, but there’s a reason her album has been enjoying success in Europe.
This song is infectious. As soon as you hear it you want to dance. The production from Guetta is smooth but manages a strong, pulsing beat that instantly gets your head bobbing, if not your entire body moving. It’s inviting and immersive, even if it isn’t a particularly unique beat. It effectively drives the song forward but doesn’t overpower Kelis’s vocals.
Kelis’s vocals sound absolutely perfect over the beat. Her smooth, emotional singing channels the disco queens of the past (Pitchfork media compares her performance to Donna Summers,and it is quite reminiscent of “I Feel Love”). The lyrics are actually quite well-written and serve as an emotional tribute to her newborn son. Some may be surprised to hear the woman famous for “Milkshake” perform such a mature song, but it truly reflects her change and development as an artist.
If you’re not into techno (but if you weren’t why would you be here? Probably the dancing videos, right?), the song won’t be the one that converts you. Likewise, if you prefer you’re music darker, experimental, or more on the obscure side, this probably won’t appeal to you either. This is still a pretty standard dance/pop song designed for the clubs, though one done very well. So if you don’t usually like lighter pop music, this isn’t your track. For the rest of us, this will be the song that keeps us dancing all summer.
Welcome to How to Dance Techno!
Jun 28th
Welcome to How to Dance Techno.
Techno, dance, trance, and many other forms of electronic music are popular worldwide and can be heard in clubs everywhere. It’s fun music to dance to, but not everyone knows what they should do when the music starts. Here, at How to Dance Techno, we will scour the web looking for the best and worst ways people can dance to Techno.
Here, you’ll find the good:
The bad:
And the utterly random:
Honestly, that may be the best “Techno Viking” remix on the web, but if you can make a better one, send it in!
Of course, actual tutorial videos will be posted here as well. And eventually everything will be better organized, so you don’t have to dig through a page of funny videos for an instructional one.
And this won’t be just be some video aggregate site, either. We’ll have Techno news, album and song reviews, information on local shows, and much more. So make sure to keep an eye on the site and watch it grow.