Illich Mujica - THE BASTARDIZATION OF E.D.M.
We tend to think of popular culture as decades-long storms that dump on and define a generation, but artistic movements are more like slow tidal waves that crash onto shore then retreat, returning to sea to build power again. So like any movement enjoying the poisons of its own success, there has been no shortage of thinkpieces lately on the status of dance music, and what feels like is the inevitable "over-grounding" of the underground. But in a recent article titled "The Bastardization of E.D.M." Brooklyn-based Illich Mujica goes for the jugular:
EDM is a bastardization of its own origins, and what’s worse, is that it goes beyond the boundaries of a genre of music. It is a lifestyle, and a (musically) shitty one at that. If EDM was a module that could be plugged into different industries and professions, it would be the Fox News of journalism; the Four-Loko of party beverages.
I wholeheartedly agree; but Mujica goes on to clarify how most of us came to the underground in the first place, and offers a tangible solution:
At this stage in the growth of Dance Music, it is no longer worth salvaging the acronym of E.D.M. we once knew and loved, which describes a genre of top-notch, refined electronic dance music. It is too subjective of a line to walk anyways, and the big corporations are the experts at that type of packaging. Let them have it.
It is not even fair to scoff at people who use EDM in their vocabulary. There is a whole generation of teenagers and young adults who are growing up with EDM embedded in their musical and cultural traits, and it’s all they know. There is no turning back. So let’s take a deep breath and a P.L.U.R. approach to it.
Instead, when someone uses the word EDM, don’t be a dick about it, but take the opportunity to explain what it is that you listen to and how that is different--and better--than EDM in any possible way. [Note from Alden: I went through my EDM phase, but was lucky enough to get an education from several sympathetic people. I’m proof you can gently lead someone into better music choices.] Education and sharing of the special musical beauties and secrets of the underground is what always has been magical about it for the rest of us, the non-EDM’ers. If we can spread that magic faster than the speed of corporate commodification, then we might not have to worry or wonder about where that underground magic went wrong.
We're all here because we love music, and we can get territorial about what is "good" or "bad," but it's important to first listen, then share. In fact, I remember at my first Ultra two random girls grabbed me from the back of what I think was a Tiesto mainstage and said, "Hey, if you like this come check out Booka Shade." Now I'm in Brooklyn, attending groovy live sets such as Illich's featured here.
