On a Monday in June, I loaded myself and a couple friends into
my van and went on a pilgrimage to the desert near Bishop, way
out East on I395.
When we arrived the sound system hadn't started up yet, so we
set up camp and I helped park cars for a while. The music
that night was fairly interesting techno.
The next day, John Kelley played house. He played some of the
cheeziest house tracks I've ever heard -- but somehow, it all
worked. And I began to form a theory (more on that later.)
Wednesday came, and we drove home, stopping for a wonderful
calm early-evening nap in Yosemite. From the hot desert to
the cool woods in three or four hours! I love California.
Thursday I slept.
Friday morning I woke up energized and refreshed, threw some
clean clothes into my van (I love having a van), bought a
ticket, and drove up to Camp & Sons for the Vibrant campout.
Friday night, there was a lot of progressive trance. It kept
moving and flowing, never getting boring, tugging at the
emotional centers of the mind.
And then came Saturday. To make what would've been the longest
part of this story short, I overdid my intake a bit. But then
I went out and danced. And it was house. But such house!
Every now and then, one of the DJ's would play something from
the cheezier end of house -- diva vocals, some deep sonorous
voice talking about how great house music is, that kind of
thing. I'd double over in laughter and walk up to the wall
to watch everyone. I literally FELT my heart chakra open, and
finally understood what some folks mean when they say house
is all about the heart.
And by morning, my theory was complete. House is very context
specific. Sometimes it works, sometimes it's just there
because house is easy -- but when it works really well, it's
entirely because of the context.
John Kelley knew EXACTLY what would work in the mid-morning
in the desert, playing to a crowd mostly made up of LA hippies.
Phil Lockwood and the other Vibrant DJ's knew what would work
in the middle of the night at Camp & Sons, playing to a mix of
clubbers, biancatrolls, and adventurous underground types.
It's all context.
Oh, and, speaking of asbestos suits: hard techno is contextual
too. Especially the minimal stuff.
