Ever since Agyness Deyn and her clan stumbled onto the scene, all those indie kids who used to love bands like the Arctic Monkeys are now piggy backing on the latest trend that is Rave music.
The Prodigy Started The Original Rave
I know that the cocaine snorting habits and skinny fit jeans are a staple stereotype of the Indie community, but ever since Rave and nu-Rave became the ‘cool’ thing to listen to, the skinnies have gone neon and the massive hair accessories have come into play.
Rave music itself hasn’t always been about parading around in the latest Topshop fashions and dressing like your mum though, it actually used to be a musical subculture with various different branches of music lending itself to a profitable clubbing industry.
The History Bit…
The various forms of electronic dance music are slowly being marred with indie rock beats, but back in the ‘good old days’ where music was dedicated to inducing high energy levels including some forms of trance music, that features samples, loops and synthesizers.
However, the less intense forms were more like chill out music that was often played in so-called ’chillout rooms’ where you could relax from all the shapes you’d just been pulling and have a gentle comedown.
Rave music found popularity as the acid house phenomenon lost speed and was and initially considered as a combination of fast breakbeat and more hardcore forms of techno music, with the early 1990 forefathers being Nebula 2, Acen, Altern-8, The Prodigy, Utah Saints and The Shamen who found their music being played at all night raves such as Fantazia, Raindance and Universe.
As Oasis and Blur started to bring their Brit Pop to the scene, the music ‘lovers’ quickly dismissed their love for rave and started swaggering like Liam Gallagher left right and centre, so by the early 2000’s the term rave found itself generically applied to any one of a number of different styles of music that might be played at a rave.
The various different genres of rave music include Acid House, Breakbeat Hardcore, Goa Trance, Drum and Bass, Jungle and Techno, and had led to the success of many a DJ over time.
You can also find yourself a nice little rave in the North East of the UK, with a club night called The New Monkey, who bring local MC’s to perform rave music in Sunderland, Gateshead, Redcar, Newcastle, Middlesbrough and Stockton.
Nu-Rave
If you were born after 1975 you probably only know rave in the form it seems to be in today, which has aptly been dubbed as Nu-Rave… I wonder what bright spark came up with that?
Today it applies to a number of different musical styles which fuse electronica, rock and indie to techno, hip house, electro and break beat. What’s more, we can thank the indie bible, NME, for the who shebang too, as they championed it during 2006 and 2007... Thus making it the genre of choice for their dedicated followers.
Despite the fact that I have never read NME in my life, I am aware that their favourite bands, Klaxons, Trash Fashion, New Young Pony Club, Hadouken!, Late of the Pier, Test Icicles, Bono Must Die and the wonderfully named SHITDISCO are generally accepted as the main exponents of the genre, and they do their upmost to come across with a ‘I don’t care what you think’ attitude… which, to be honest, seems like a blasé front to make them look cool.
What’s more, I have been informed that the NME even branded traditional 1990’s ravers; “twats with baggy trousers,” which begs the question, why they are so keen to jump on this Nu-Rave bandwagon. Oh right, yes, I almost forgot… it’s because it’s cool.
You must remember though, that despite the ‘look’ of a NU-Rave fan being very haphazard and mismatched, it does take them hours to get ready for a night out, because apparently looking like you got dress in Oxfam, in the dark, takes a lot of work.
Glowsticks, neon and fluorescent lights dominate the scene, with any Saturday shoppers walking past Bay Trading needing to invest in some dark sunglasses to cope with the vile clothes - that look as though they were coloured in with highlighter pens - blaring through the window.
That said, many people consider New Rave to be defined more by the image and aesthetic of its bands and supporters, than by the actual music itself, Trash Fashion lead singer, Jet Storm has been described as the scenes very own pin up.
Nevertheless, the usage of electronic instruments, a musical fusion of rock and dance styles, and a particular anarchic, trashy energy are certainly key elements… if you’re into that kind of thing.
Find out how rave music has inspired fashion here
FemaleFirst - Ruth Harrison
Tagged in The Prodigy