I was chatting to one of my bosses the other day and found out that he knows a fair few people in the music scene. The guy from Roots Manuva for one, and Lincoln Barrett aka High Contrast.

Now I’ll be honest, I’d never heard of High Contrast, but it seems this guy is pretty big in the Drum’n'Bass scene and has remixed some top-line artists’ work, as well has having three albums of his own and a big following.

I figured I’d check it out, and sure enough, the music is really good. It’s Drum’n'Bass, electronica, chill-out … a really great mix of styles which has had me going back to the MySpace page several times this evening and will probably have me buying up his latest album (if not all three) in short order.

Clicky the link above, or try it here to take a listen.

Clare mentioned something in a reply to a previous post that really got me annoyed. Not at her, but at the vast number of what I like to piously call ‘Musical Idiots’.

Pendulum, a Drum’n'Bass/Electronica/Rock (I guess) band are performing at Glade as well as a whole host of other festivals this summer. Glade is pretty much billed as an Electronic dance music festival first and foremost, so I’d say that Pendulum is a pretty good fit, especially given the sneak peak of their new album ‘In Silico‘.

Apparently, some people are saying that Pendulum is ‘too commercial’ for Glade.
Let’s just examine that in more detail. First, a little history.

Pendulum started out as producers, before hitting the scene with ‘Hold Your Colour‘, an album that was critically acclaimed and did what a lot of bands try and fail to do – bring a totally new, interesting take on a standard music genre or – in this case – fuse some together and create a sound that can only really be described by using the band’s name. Think of Prodigy, who have hits spanning so many genre variations that you can’t possibly pigeonhole them other than under the broad ‘Electronic’ umbrella.

The album, deservedly, did very well. They are now about to release their second album ‘In Silico‘ and, by the sound of what I’ve heard, they are again trying to morph genres – taking what they made with ‘Hold Your Colour’ and bringing in a more rocky element, this time a bit heavier on the home-grown vocals. I was dubious at first, but I now can’t wait for the release.

Now, about Pendulum being ‘too commercial’.

Well, as far as I can see, they took a bit of a risk and a gamble with their first album. They took all the good elements of drum’n'bass and gave it their own injection of their vision of what music should be. It was a huge success.

They’ve now taken that sound and again thrown a whole bunch of new ideas at it, citing influences from all over the musical spectrum.

Nowhere along these lines did they ever ’sell out’; i.e. start creating a more mainstream sound for general consumption, start neutering the music to be more ‘poppy’ or anything like that.

So what are these people trying to say? Pendulum are too commercial … what, successful? Oh christ, cancel the bookings now. God forbid that we should promote a successful band that produces good music. If you ask me, what these people want is a festival that only showcases the little guy. The weird and wonderful music that a handful of people like but is a bit too off-the-wall for a larger scale audience.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with that. Everyone has got to start somewhere, and experimentation with sound is one of the things that I love the most about electronic music.

But why the fuck should we penalise those bands or individuals that DID make it big? Their music is JUST as individual and innovative as the guy playing to twenty people in the corner with a name that has the letter Q in it seven times. So what if they’ve had the money and opportunity to polish it and refine it in a studio? All that means is people enjoy it and, in the case of Pendulum, a LOT of people enjoy it.

Yeah, we all know that huge corporations can be a little evil, but if a band is good enough, the labels will never TRY to mess with the music, because it’s good enough already. And if a label DOES have to mess with the music … maybe they were never that good in the first place. Saying that a band shouldn’t be included for being good enough is ridiculous, frankly.

This is the thing that bothers me about music. A lot of people take it far too seriously. Instead of just enjoying it for what it is, they start catagorising individuals and bands into moronic groups so that they can pretend to be part of some sad little society that nobody really cares about.

Here’s an imaginary conversation.

“Oh, I only listen to independant music.”
“So as soon as your favourite band gets signed up and goes on tour, you won’t listen to them again?”
“That’ll never happen, they’ve got too much integrity.”

*Six months goes by*

“I can’t believe they sold out. What a bunch of losers.”
“Sold out? You mean … signed up to bring their music to the masses, introduce a new sound to the world and make a living? Got the opportunity to expand their sound and explore new avenues? God forbid.”
“But they’re part of the corporate machine! THEY SOLD THEIR SOULS! Plus now normal people like them too, I can’t possibly continue my support!”
“You’re just a bit of a wanker really, aren’t you? Get a job for fuck’s sake.”

Like I said. Makes me annoyed.