Dance Dance Dance

Dance music is often deliberately fleeting. Much of it is created to capitalize on whatever sound is in fashion at that particular time, and there isn’t a great deal of thought put into how it will be viewed by future listeners. You could say that’s true of many genres and perhaps even music in general, but dance music is particularly susceptible to the influence of The Now. Not only that, but it’s made for a dance floor, and the dance floor is definitely a transitory place. My friend (who happened to be a DJ as well) once said that a dance floor was a musical orgy where the conscious self disappeared and everyone was made equal. That’s either really brilliant or totally ridiculous, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say it is closer to the former (though there’s probably a healthy dollop of the latter, too).

I was an avid club fan in my early twenties. You wouldn’t have thought it, if you’d known me at the time. I loved music, sure, but dancing anywhere that I could be seen was not in my nature. That changed, however, when several of my friends started going out and dragging me along. After I loosened up a bit (no doubt helped along with a liberal intake of inexpensive libations), I realized that a dance floor could be an incredibly liberating place where you simply let the music tell your body what to do.

Let’s face it – everyone looks silly when they dance. Even the best-looking dame, if removed from the dance club setting, would probably appear to be suffering from some kind of seizure. I won’t even get into the fellas, who for the most part just stand in place and shift their torso from side to side. Sometimes snapping is involved, but only if the person in question has really indulged.

Point being, to really enjoy a dance party you have to be willing to look stupid. Otherwise, you’ll spend the entire time looking around at everyone else and trying to figure out if anyone is watching you. Seeing that everyone else looks equally absurd will NOT help you feel comfortable as one might think, but instead will make you even more self-conscious (“God, I don’t look as stupid as him, do I?”). To really enjoy dancing you just have to close your eyes and go where the music takes you.

In my not-so-humble opinion (let’s face it, I write a blog and it requires a certain level of ego to expect anyone cares what I have to say), making dance music is a similar proposition. You can’t be too self-conscious and you can’t be afraid of looking ridiculous. You simply have to throw yourself out there and see what happens. Of course, you can also take a lack of awareness too far, and you end up like the guy that takes his pants off and does the snap dance on a speaker stack (think Har Mar Superstar for the musical equivalent).

That’s my strange way of introducing this week’s remix tunes, in case you wondered:

Empire of the Sun – We Are The People (Golden Filter Remix)
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This is actually the first Golden Filter remix I’m not too sure about. Not because it’s badly produced or any technical issues, but rather because it’s the first of their remixes that doesn’t make the original shine any brighter. And honestly, if you’re going to take a band like EOTS – who perfectly encapsulate everything wonderful about pop music from 1960-1985 – and remix them, then you need to be sure you’re going to blow some minds (especially after that outstanding Polly Scattergood mix).

das racist – Combination Pizza Hut & Taco Bell
Remember when I mentioned that a lack of self-awareness sometimes goes too far? Das Racist is definitely riding the fine line, but I’m not sure just yet if this is ‘Gay Bar’ genius or ‘My Pussy/My Penis’ folly. At this very moment, I’m laughing pretty hard.

Fredo Vialo – The Turn (Fink Remix)
I know it seems daft to talk about a remix without having heard the original, but I honestly have no idea what Fredo Viola’s ‘The Turn’ sounds like. And this remix is certainly not for a dancefloor. That being said, I really like it as a stand alone song.

Linus Loves – Prom Night [Burns Remix]

This was another track I played last weekend at The Faint/Ladytron shindig, and it went over well. An absolute 1:00 am dacefloor smasher!

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Avenue – Can You Feel it (Soda Boys Remix)
This one is a throwback to 1983. Sounds sort of like The Jacksons backing Hall & Oates. Or something.

Transformer – Cinema Car [Tenth Dan + Riskot
This is another prime time banger. I believe the promo email called it ‘twisted disco’, and that sounds perfectly applicable to me!

Tags: avenue, burns, das racist, empire of the sun, fredo viola, linus loves, Remix, the golden filter, transformer