Listening Station: Going Back to the Old Skool
As much fun as the new French disco-rawk has been–not least for the way it’s set off right-thinking purist-dance music cognoscenti–it’s hardly new. What it reminds us of, frankly, is synth-riffy early-’90s rave–the kind of music that set right-thinking purist-dance music cognoscenti of a decade and a half ago into a similar froth. DJ Seduction’s “Hardcore Heaven” is the archetype of this second-wave-of-rave sound: pummeling breakbeats, blipping keyboards, bombastic synth-strings misplaying a bar or so of a Wagner fanfare. DJ Krome & Mr. Time’s “The Slammer,” meanwhile, is that basic sound, simultaneously matured and turned utterly juvenile: the track is sonically and compositionally more sophisticated than Seduction’s, but it’s made from ingredients (sped-up vocals, gurgling keyboards) that scream kiddie-korn. If the new French sound goes this direction, we will be so happy it should be illegal.
DJ Seduction – Hardcore Heaven [MP3, link expired]
DJ Krome & Mr. Time – The Slammer [MP3, link expired]
