Dancecult: Journal of Electronic Dance Music Culture

15/03/2024

Rave-The-Planet-Initiative erfolgreich! Die „Technokultur in Berlin“ ist seit dem 13.03.2024 offiziell Immaterielles Kulturerbe der UNESCO.

20/02/2024

Detroit Techno’s Dance with Death

By Gavin Mueller

As automation ravaged Detroit, black musicians created a new sound that merged human and machine. With it came a vision for working-class self-organization in the Motor City.

As automation ravaged Detroit, black musicians created a new sound that merged human and machine. With it came a vision for working-class self-organization in the Motor City.

01/12/2023

Rave New World on Dancecult's new issue and Michelle Lhooq's article on No Way Back.

Sacred transmissions from a heavy acid zone

23/11/2023

Dancecult Issue 15(1) now live

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Psychedelica and Electronica

Guest Edited by Trace Reddell and Graham St John
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>> Contents

Guest Editor’s Introduction to “Psychedelica and Electronica”
- Trace Reddell and Graham St John

> Feature Articles

Other Kinds of Mind There: Echologies of Psychedelic Sonic Substance
- Trace Reddell

Timbre and the ‘Zone of Entanglement’ in Electronic Dance Music: Re-Thinking Musico-Social Ontologies with the Mycelial Turn
- Maria Perevedentseva

The Voice of the Apocalypse: Terence McKenna as Raving Medium
- Graham St John

Nightlife Studies: Past, Present and Future
- Jordi Nofre and Manuel Garcia-Ruiz

> From the Floor

From Spontinuity to Dream Seeds: My Journey with Light Shows from the Sixties to the Present
- C. Scott Taylor

Kaos, Kilowatt and Ketamine: A Cultural History of the Free Tekno Movement
- Giorgia Gaia

Detroit Ecstasy: Ruminations on Raving, “Movement” and Place
- Rebekah Farrugia

No Way Back
- Michelle Lhook

Dancing through Transformational Music Festivals in Western Canada: Tales from the Forest Floor
- Kelci Mohr

> Conversation

Beyond the Brain: Happening at East Edge
- Paul Chambers

> Reviews

Raving (McKenzie Wark)
- Kim Feser

Spectacle, Fashion and the Dancing Experience in Britain, 1960–1990 (Jon Stratton)
- Tara Hill

This Track Contains Politics: The Culture of Sampling in Experimental Electronica (Hannes Liechti)
- Moses Iten

Berghain, Techno und die Körperfabrik: Ethnographie eines Stammpublikums (Guillaume Robin)
- Anja Schwanhäußer

Ears as Portals: Alternative Realities of Musical Infrastructures (A CTM Festival 2023 Review)
- Luigi Monteanni

13/10/2023

The Preliminary Programme has been announced for DC23, the in-person Dancecult conference at the University of Huddersfield, 19-20 Oct.
https://dancecult-research.net/dc23-schedule/

Registration - for the both the conference in Huddersfield, and the afterparty in Sheffield (20 Oct) - closes 18 October.
https://www.store.hud.ac.uk/conferences-and-events/school-of-arts-humanities/conference

09/09/2023

Old School.

Far North Queensland’s Simon Zaicz went from tour-managing rock bands Australian Crawl and Split Enz to become one of Australia’s oldest trance DJs (Psymon, OM River) on the festival circuit.

Simon Zaicz went from tour-managing rock bands like Split Enz and Australian Crawl to become Pa to a legion of bush doofers.

07/08/2023

In response to an economic recession and a political crisis, Yangon’s underground scene provides a space for escapism for the city’s youth.

04/08/2023

It’s no longer rare for artists who get big on TikTok to channel that virality into the mainstream music industry. What’s still rare, though, are non-artists who make parodies of a niche genre of music that then, against all odds, become surprise hits before they’re even released.

This is what happened when, on July 28, comedian Kyle Gordon and singer-influencer Audrey Trullinger released a video clip called “Every European Dance Song in the 1990s.” It’s gone so viral on TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram that the original Spotify release date for the full song, dubbed “Planet of the Bass,” was moved up a week from August 22 to August 15, and premiered live at a club in Brooklyn.

As of press time, the video had 5 million views on TikTok and nearly 90 million views on Twitter, striking a chord with millennials with a fondness for a highly specific period in pop culture. We can’t stop listening to it. Read more: https://trib.al/yIKei3k

📷 Kyle Gordon/TikTok

06/07/2023

Registration is now open for DC23, a Dancecult conference to be held at the University of Huddersfield, UK, 19-20 October 2023.

For all registration details and related information about the conference, see: https://dancecult-research.net/dc23-info/.

To receive updates about DC23, please be sure to subscribe for updates at the base of the page linked above.

See you in Southern Yorkshire!

09/05/2023

‘Liverpool is a Little Kyiv’: cities unite on livestream for Rave UKraine events

Simultaneous dance events held as part of Eurovision build-up, with ticket proceeds to help people in war-torn Ukrainian cities

29/04/2023

MIAMI—A crowded nightclub reportedly erupted into contemplation Friday after an avant-garde DJ really got the entire dance floor thinking. “When that crazy-ass meditative soundscape dropped, everybody on the floor just started ruminating like wild,” said nightclub patron Lydia Wallace, adding ...

26/04/2023

10,000 people took to the streets on Saturday to fight back against new legislation passed by Italy’s coalition government, headed by far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni

23/03/2023

https://dancecult-research.net/dc23/
Please note, the DC23 submissions deadline is extended to 10 April 2023.

23/02/2023

CFP: Spaces of Dancing

Special edition of Dancecult: Journal of Electronic Dance Music Culture

Edited by Ben Assiter

http://dj.dancecult.net/

With the dance floor at its core, space is of critical importance to electronic music and dance culture (EMDC). The dance floor is a unique social space, produced through sound, bodies, and an array of sensory and spatial technologies. The spaces of EMDC—including nightclubs and informal, repurposed venues—shape its development and historical imaginary as much as the DJs and producers of the music. EMDC is also closely entangled within wider dynamics of urban (and rural) space, in which conflicts over noise, disorder, and cultural value mediate the production of nightlife scenes.

This special issue of Dancecult seeks to explore the diverse relations between space and EMDC. The moment for this research is opportune: when COVID-19 led to the closure of nightclubs and music venues worldwide, dance music communities were forced to renegotiate their relationships to space. Virtual spaces emerged, using digital technology to replicate and transform the co-present intimacies of the dancefloor. With the events economy on hold, venues had to reinvent themselves, and find ways to communicate their public value for government support schemes. Prior to the pandemic, questions around EMDC and space had already entered public and academic discourse. In the 2000s and 2010s, many urban nightlife scenes experienced a series of spatialised pressures, in part contributing toward the emergence of new modes of night time governance, including the introduction of night mayors. Within dance music communities, conversations took place around access and the production of safe(r) spaces, invigorating debates around dance music’s historical and ongoing significance for marginalised groups, which complicate the fragile utopianism of the dance floor.

Existing research has tended to focus on specific spatial issues in EMDC, but there have been few attempts to combine a diversity of approaches, which conceive of space at multiple, overlapping scales. This issue seeks to encourage dialogue between researchers of EMDC; urban planners and architects; as well as EMDC practitioners and those involved in the organisation of spaces and events.



// SUGGESTED THEMES //

- The social space of the dance floor

- Dance music and spatial technologies (e.g. sound, lighting, drugs)

- Sound systems, acoustics, and space

- Safe(r) spaces

- Space and accessibility

- Nightclub architecture and design

- Histories of spaces and venues

- Spaces and marginalised communities

- Venues during and after COVID-19

- Shifts from physical to digital/virtual space

- Ephemeral and temporary spaces

- Club culture and urban politics

- EMDC and night time governance

- Nightlife spaces, organising, and activism

- Gentrification with and against urban nightlife

- Electronic music scenes and cities

- Nightlife and urban heritage

- EMDC and rural environments



// SUBMISSIONS //

Feature Articles will be peer-reviewed and are 6000–9000 words in length (including endnotes, captions and bibliography). For policies, see: https://dj.dancecult.net/index.php/dancecult/section-policies

From the Floor (FTF) articles. The issue will include a themed From the Floor Section hosting imaginative submissions reviewed by the guest editor. As Dancecult policy stipulates: FTF submissions include field reports, mini-ethnographies, photo-essays and interviews. Pieces for this section should be between 750-2500 words in length. Rather than written in the style of an article with formal analysis and many citations, FTF pieces are more conversational or blog-like in style, and may consist of experimental and creative reportage styles across the field of electronic dance music. They may include substantive multimedia components and for this special issue on space, creative visual and sonic explorations of the theme are encouraged. We welcome FTF submissions in accordance with the schedule below

Articles must adhere to all style and formatting rules stipulated in the Dancecult Style Guide (DSG). Download it here:
https://dancecult-research.net/Dancecult-Styleguide.pdf

Multimedia Submissions: Dancecult encourages authors to complement their written work with audio and visual material. See the DSG for style and formatting requirements.

// DATES AND DEADLINES //

This special edition is proposed for publication in Dancecult in November 2024.
If interested, send a 250-word abstract (along with a one hundred word maximum author biography) to the editor by 15 April 2023. Please send abstracts for feature article and From the Floor submissions to Ben Assiter: [email protected]

If your abstract is accepted, the deadline for submission of a full article draft to the guest editor for comments is 15 October 2023. If the full draft article is accepted, the deadline for online submission of your full article to Dancecult (for blind peer-review) is 1 March 2024.

Please send enquiries and expressions of interest to Ben Assiter: [email protected]



Editor biography

Ben Assiter is a PhD student and Associate Lecturer in the music department at Goldsmiths, University of London. His research focuses on London’s electronic dance music scenes and spaces, exploring their relationship to contested notions of the night time as cultural territory, economic category, and site of urban governance. He has published articles in Annals of Leisure Research, Riffs, and Dancecult – to which he has also contributed as an Associate Editor. Ben is active in London’s electronic dance music scenes as a DJ and producer, and performs internationally as touring drummer with the recording artist James Blake.

[email protected]

Dancecult is a peer-reviewed, open-access e-journal for the study of electronic dance music culture (EDMC)

25/01/2023

DC23 | Dancecult Conference

19-20 October 2023

Call for Proposals. DC23: After the Pandemic

We are delighted to announce the call for proposals for DC23, a Dancecult conference to be held at the University of Huddersfield, UK, 19-20 October 2023. As the first in-person Dancecult conference, DC23 will host participants in the broad interdisciplinary community of research around electronic dance musics and cultures who will converge, share and celebrate their ongoing research efforts. The conference is an opportunity for graduate students and senior researchers alike to share insights on electronic music, dance industries and events in the post-pandemic world.

The pandemic has had a major impact on dance cultures worldwide. Researchers will address the short and longer term implications of the pandemic on artists, organisations and venues that have been compelled to modify, restructure and transform. Critical attention to the role of digital and social media technologies in this new era will be welcomed.

As a gathering of an international network of dance music, club and festivals nerds, DC23 will be a nexus for intellectual exchange and debate on the aesthetics, scenes and technologies of electronic dance music, including its histories, cultures and movements, from agithouse to psynoise.

DC23 is a two-day in-person conference. Some presentations – e.g. keynotes – will be live streamed.

Afterparty. Who was it that said: “If I can’t dance, it’s not my conference”? The conference will be followed by an afterparty in the region (featuring guest DJs and live performers).

Keynotes
Prof Alice O'Grady
Prof Trace Reddell

Registration Fees:

Early Bird Opening 1 May (by 1 June 2023)
Full: £100
Concession: £25

General Registration Fees (by 1 July 2023)
Full: £120
Full Concession: £40

Key Dates and Submission Details

Deadline for abstract submissions: 13 March 2023
Notification of acceptance: 1 May 2023
Deadline for Early Bird registration: 1 June 2023
Deadline for General registration: 1 July 2023

Submissions on any aspect of dance music and culture (from any discipline) will be considered, including but not restricted to proposals for individual papers and panels on research related to the following areas.

Pandemic Era Dance, Music and Culture: What’s new? What works? What needs to change?
New school vibes: clubs, festivals and event-cultures.
Generation differences in EDMCs.
Debates on intersectionality.
New forms of nostalgia rising online and offline.
The histories and herstories of dance.
Industry perspectives on technological developments.
Performance, virtual performance and DiY events.
Scenes, movements, artists and genres in the post-pandemic world.

Alongside scholarly discourse, we are keen to provide a platform for sharing the experiences and opinions of venue owners, festival organisers, producers and DJs and other industry representatives.

All proposals will be peer-reviewed after submission. Please submit proposals no later than 13 March 2023. Applicants will be notified of acceptance by 1 May 2023. Submissions for papers should include a 300-word abstract that states the paper’s goals, summarizes the context and argument and includes a brief conclusion. A 100 word maximum biography should be included. Presenters will have 20 minutes (including 5 mins for questions). Panel discussions, consisting of a moderated conversation with 3-5 participants, require a single 300 word abstract and a list of panel members, and should designate one person as the panel chair. Include 5 keywords to identify the theme of your proposal.

DC23 will coincide with the launch of the 20th issue of Dancecult: Journal of Electronic Dance Music Culture, and will be an opportunity to mark its 15th year.

Submit your proposals here:
https://staffordshire.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6LmClOX7Nv7DRpY

DC23 is enabled by the Dancecult Research Network and the University's Huddersfield’s Department of Music and Design Arts. It is partnered with Dancecult: Journal of Electronic Dance Music Culture.

About Dancecult.
Dancecult is a peer-reviewed, open-access e-journal for the study of electronic dance music culture (EDMC). A platform for interdisciplinary scholarship on the shifting terrain of EDMCs worldwide, the journal houses research exploring the sites, technologies, sounds and cultures of electronic music in historical and contemporary perspectives. Playing host to studies of emergent forms of electronic music production, performance, distribution, and reception, and as a medium through which the cultural politics of dance is critically investigated, Dancecult is the forum for research on EDMCs. For more information visit Dancecult.

About the Dancecult Research Network (DRN)
The DRN is an interdisciplinary network of academics, scholars and students researching all aspects of electronic dance music culture. As an educational and research network, the DRN facilitates information exchange, resource sharing and collaboration among international researchers of the genres, identifications, aesthetics, technologies and other manifestations of EDMC. Visit DRN.

The DC23 organising committee consists of: Graham St John (chair), Dave Payling (events chair), Rupert Till, Botond Vitos, Anita Jóri.

DC23 is organised with the support of the University of Huddersfield’s Department of Music and Design Arts.

https://dancecult-research.net/dc23/

31/12/2022

27/12/2022

26/12/2022

26/12/2022

22/12/2022

Dancing brings joy and has huge health benefits, but would-be older clubbers like me too often meet suspicion and derision, says Phil Hilton

24/11/2022

Velocity Press' recent Q&A with Dancecult editors.

Dancecult is a radical open access academic journal publishing works on electronic dance music. We spoke to the team about the newest issue.

14/11/2022

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Dancecult: Journal of Electronic Dance Music Culture
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Issue 14(1)

http://dj.dancecult.net

Contents

> Feature Articles

Exploring Personal Spectres in Electronic Music
- Gareth Whitehead

Technique, Experience and the Social Function of Techno Music: A Comparative Analysis of Theodor Adorno and Robert Fink
- Luciano Pascual

Moments of Connection As Means of Survival: A Study of Q***r Identity, Freedom and Community in UK Raves During the Covid-19 Pandemic
- Daisy Avis-Ward

> Transposition

Digital Cumbia: Tradition and Postmodernity
- Israel Márquez

> From the Floor

Smokescreen Free Party Sound System
- Andy Riley

Outlook Festival: A Celebration of Sound System Culture
- Ivan Mouraviev

8-Bit Music on Twitch: How the Chiptune Scene Thrived During the Pandemic
- Kirsten Hermes

Plugging the Creative Drain: A Glimpse Into Electronic Music Migration in Northern Ireland
- Ciara Power

Plague Raver Reflections: What Happened in the Pandemic Stays in the Pandemic
- Richard Anderson

The Power to Name and Other Dilemmas Presented by Brazilian Funk Subgenres
- Liv Sovik and Brian D’Aquino

> Reviews

Do You Remember House? Chicago’s Q***r of Colour Undergrounds (Micah E. Salkind) &
Fabulous: The Rise of the Beautiful Eccentric (Maddison Moore)
- Jacob Mallinson Bird

The Boy from Medellín (Dir. Matthew Heineman)
- Ana María Díaz Pinto & Juan Diego Díaz

Explosions in the Mind: Composing Psychedelic Sounds and Visualisations (Jonathan Weinel)
- Dave Payling

The Discourse Community of Electronic Dance Music (Anita Jóri)
- Andrew Whelan

Dancefloor-Driven Literature: The Rave Scene in Fiction (Simon A. Morrison)
- Toby Young

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DANCECULT 14(1)
http://dj.dancecult.net
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24/10/2022

WE WENT TO AN ACID HOUSE RAVE IN 1989 — THROUGH THE MAGIC OF VR

In Pursuit of Repetitive Beats gives us a dizzying, intimate look into Coventry's raving hey-day

In Pursuit of Repetitive Beats gives us a dizzying, intimate look into Coventry's raving hey-day