great music this year

schnoidl · Post by **schnoidl** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 8:09 pm

I was quite pleasantly surprised at the overall quality of music this year. some of the best I heard was at LOTUS, where they had a rugged minimal variety of breaks (normally one of my least favorite genres, so endlessly inane) that just kept kicking our asses way out on the playa. Image Node had a guy doing a laptop set one night (Friday?) that was some of the best dance music I've ever heard, so sleek, so full of nuance, and he looked SOOO not the part. Image Node was actually great every time i went by.

of course playa-god Lorin had to be there to pump out his lowest-common-denominator crap for the masses, ewww, and I had the gross misfortune to wait with the art car during part of Paul Oakenfold's unfathomably cheesy kindergarten music set (please dude, never ever DJ again, for real), and I heard a handful of cheesyfuckingtrance boneheads dropping their diet koolaid bullshit, all of that was to be expected.

but this year for the first time all that was waayyyyy in the minority, and chunky tribal techno was fairly common. I even heard some ragga dancehall up at 9.30, what a treat!

well done y'all!!!

cornelius · Post by **cornelius** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 10:31 pm

I cannot agree. We were camped in the sound ghetto and had 6 systems all around us playing shit times shit all night every night. AAAAAHHHHHHH! I never thought the burbs could be so LOUD. But we showed 'em, our wall of sound had Wing "singing" while the E-tards tried to sleep in the daylight. mwah ha ha ha!

(thumpa thumpa thumpa thumpa thumpa thumpa thumpa thumpa)

"Say, do you have that record where the girl sings 'Ah ooo ohh ohh' or that other one where the girl sings 'ooo ooo baaaybee'?"

schnoidl · Post by **schnoidl** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 10:46 pm

oh well. that's why when anyone asks "so how was Burning Man this year?" I always say 'well, I can tell you how MY year was, but you might hear 30,000 very different stories if you ask everyone else'...

did you get any actual enjoyment out of blasting your daytime stuff beyond pissing off your neighbors?

cornelius · Post by **cornelius** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 11:01 pm

Oh yeah. We played Cash for three days straight and got tons of folks to stop in and say hi. They loved that fact that we weren't playing Thumpa Thumpa. A few Americans but mostly Japanese, German, Irish loved Ol' Black. He's universal.

Our sound-bot, D-6, created a massive space soundscape from the future that we played on Wednesday night to go along with our Video Feedback Wall.

All in all this was my best year besides '96 and '01.

schnoidl · Post by **schnoidl** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 11:13 pm

sounds great. i'm all for variety out there, just kind of prefer that quality be part of the package. no bad genres/styles, just lots and lots of bad records in most of them, especially techno. I appreciate when somebody takes the trouble to dig out the good stuff.

I wish bluegrass rave camp would come back; i loved their mixing banjo picking with techno back in '01. i got glared at for mixing Kinks with dark ambient this year, nyaaah.

but it's all relative. my girlfriend would probably go nuts if she found a karaoke camp with hair metal bands.

passport · Post by **passport** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 12:35 am

I agree with the comments about Lotus. I am no expert, but that was just amazing

ubu · Post by **ubu** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 10:35 am

I heard that johnny cash somewhere sometime.

Our first night we rolled in very late and did not want to go straight to our art camp as we thought it might be noisy on the esplenade and I wanted some sleep. We set up a tent in a quiet place on the outside perimeter. got into the tent, warmed up my honey's popsicle toes, and was about to drift off to blissful blackout, when not one but two sound systems started dueling at full bore. my whole body was shaking with the sound, no mere earplugs would do any good.
I felt like Dave Koresh at Waco. My mental screen filled with fantasies of destroying sound systems, pulling plugs, jamming generators. I pulled tent and moved on....oh well, no sleep the first night. Ha.

Man, I hate that Thump, Thump crap.

Who needs drugs when you have sleep deprivation to make you go wacko?

HughMungus · Post by **HughMungus** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 10:51 am

cornelius wrote:But we showed 'em, our wall of sound had Wing "singing" while the E-tards tried to sleep in the daylight. mwah ha ha ha!

I guess talking to your neighbors would have been too difficult, eh?

Zona_the_stona · Post by **Zona_the_stona** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 10:56 am

the bluegrass band at 8:15 & ego across from our camp (i forget the name of their group.. they were from Athens Georgia) was a very plesant suprise.

bgirl · Post by **bgirl** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 11:40 am

I 've said it before and I'll say it again,have a rave camp 3 or so miles from theme camp central.This was done in 96,and in my opinion was a great idea.

stuart · Post by **stuart** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 11:54 am

the more things same
the more they stay the change

HughMungus · Post by **HughMungus** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 12:06 pm

bgirl wrote:I 've said it before and I'll say it again,have a rave camp 3 or so miles from theme camp central.This was done in 96,and in my opinion was a great idea.

Also, there should be "diminishing sound zones" where the inner ring/outer spokes are the loudest (based on db measurements) and the outer rings are quieter TO BE ENFORCED so that people can camp somewhere and know what they're getting into. Yes, I love to go dance and be loud, but, I also want me and my campmates to be able to sleep. Some people are more tolerant of noise so this would let the tolerant people be near the noise and the not-so-tolerant people be away from it. the other bonus is that if you ARE tolerant of noise you get to camp nearer to the action vs. having to camp farther out while the less-tolerant are wishing they weren't in so close.

akatom · Post by **akatom** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 2:26 pm

schnoidl wrote:I was quite pleasantly surprised at the overall quality of music this year. some of the best I heard was at LOTUS, where they had a rugged minimal variety of breaks...

The set I fell in with--and (lessons learned #15) spent too much time falling in love with, narrowing my experience--walked out on Oakenfold and wandered over to Lotus in that excutiatingly slow way that people on drugs are want to wander. It was worth it!

I also found a little shack on 10:00 blasting very nice house into the dark night. Next year I'll be on the prowl for jazz, blues, and other non-thumpic sounds. Next year I'll do everything on my todo list, which start as a blank sheet of paper and grow all week as I add Done Items.

Whoops, I'm drifting. In summary: Lotus was a reliably great place to dance. Breaks like that turn me on.

bgirl · Post by **bgirl** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 2:27 pm

DallasPlaya wrote: Yes, I love to go dance and be loud, but, I also want me and my campmates to be able to sleep.

Mmnnmmmmm,sleep is good...... A word of advice: bring earplugs and earmuffs or headphones to put over top of the earplugs.You will sleep for hours.

Wavemage · Post by **Wavemage** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 10:42 pm

I thought the music was a lot worse than last year.

I loved House of Lotus, and Hookadome. Sometimes that camp Cirque Berzerk (or was it the one right next to it, at 2:00 & Esplanade) had good stuff, but not always. The rest of the places seemed to not quite reach the level of 'good stuff'.

But then my entire experience this year was waaaay worse than the previous two years (and several of my campmates, too). Lots of depressed days. UP & DOWN. Weird energy on the playa this time. Maybe New Orleans had something to do with it, even though we hadn't heard the news yet?

Also waaaay too many people wandering around without lights on, and bad attitudes. My buddy ran SMACk into somebody, and I felt bad for 2 seconds then felt angry for 30 seconds then disgusted after that. Ultimately, if you wander around without lights you will get hit, and I will laugh at yer sorry ass as if you deserved it (which you probably do).

Cosworth Magellan · Post by **Cosworth Magellan** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 3:38 am

Lotus was excellent, but jesus - when did Burning Man become the world's largest breakbeat festival? It's about all I heard this year, even from the art cars.

Steel Kitty · Post by **Steel Kitty** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 8:42 am

[quote="bgirl"]I 've said it before and I'll say it again,have a rave camp 3 or so miles from theme camp central.This was done in 96,and in my opinion was a great idea.[/quote]

yeah, the idea is good B-girl, the problem is people getting home from a distant camp like that. In 96 a few people were killed after getting run over by a car leaving the camp.

ZaphodBurner · Post by **ZaphodBurner** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 11:24 am

I had no problems with music at all. My taste and performance ranges from industrial metal and heavy rock to zydeco, and I don't listen to techno, house, industrial etc at home. ('Cept The Mutaytor, whatever they call their sound)

Didn't appreciate the repeating 20-song hiphop comp from the camp next to us, but I believe they had selection problems and played what they had.

One of my favorite things to do is wander onto the playa and find the nodes where the pulse and thump of the camps converge into a single, unique musical moment that cannot be duplicated. Our virgin campers, classic rock types, report a whole new appreciation for techno, but said it saturated their palette a little.

Never made it into Hookahdome because of the lines, but the music kicked ass...possibly my favorite this year along with Soul in the Machine.

-c

DancesWithElves · Post by **DancesWithElves** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 11:31 am

ZaphodBurner - I LOVE that musical convergence. It is one of the essences of Burning Man for me. On Wednesday night my friend and I were drifting off to sleep and cracking up at what we were hearing - the layers of sound coming from camps within earshot, always interacting and intermixing with the passing sounds from nearby art cars, people, etc. I think of the Hindi chant we heard on top of some serrious funk, with something pounding away in the background, etc.

The Bass · Post by **The Bass** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 1:16 pm

akatom wrote: I also found a little shack on 10:00 blasting very nice house into the dark night.

Green Gorilla Lounge, perhaps? Those guys kept it righteously funky all week - i kept running over for a quick fix of house.

More Next House Year!!!

The Bass · Post by **The Bass** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 1:18 pm

mmph doubleposted, sorry... no one mentioned Deep End yet, they came correct a lotta the time...

horseradish · Post by **horseradish** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 1:52 pm

Fortunately Burning Man is about a lot more than the music. I did hear some good music, but I know from previous years not to go expecting much more than a lot of stupid techno.

As someone from England I have to say that a lot of the sound systems at Burning Man play a lot of dated rave music the likes of which hasn't been heard on British shores for about ten years. That's not to say there was nothing that caught my ear - but some of the more "famous" sound systems are playing what most Europeans would think was quite passé electronica.

Still, each to his or her own.

As a matter of interest, did anyone find a sound system at night with an eclectic mix of disco, pop, funk, electro etc? I found a lot of great places with a good mix of music by day, but by night I mainly kept bumping into techno sound systems.

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 4:21 pm

My 1950s hit parade was so well recieved I'm builting a new system at this very time. You may have heard some as I was passing by. Some people came out of there camps to dance in the streets. Others invited me to stay awhile at there camp and share music. Still others would ride or walk along side of me and enjoy. One guy with a trupet sat in ad played Misty. That was great. Great interactive way to go. All my good stuff had broken down. So I was left with a $20 bike and a thrown togeather sound system. Thank you and God bless to all I met in my travels.

heath · Post by **heath** » Sat Sep 10, 2005 2:36 am

As one of the guys that plays music at Hookahdome, it's good to read that people are digging the music. We had an excellent lineup this year with more DJs that really get the vibe we're trying to produce. I'll point the musical director at this thread. He'll be pleased to see it as well.

I spent some time walking around, listening to music, and looking for stuff that sounded right to me. There wasn't much good to be heard around 10 and 2. I did stumble upon a live act, somewhere around 2:30 in the wee hours of the morning that was pretty good. Kinda sounded like house, but I had nothing left and my legs wouldn't cooperate, so I had to move on.

DVD · Post by **DVD** » Sat Sep 10, 2005 10:57 am

DallasPlaya wrote:
cornelius wrote:But we showed 'em, our wall of sound had Wing "singing" while the E-tards tried to sleep in the daylight. mwah ha ha ha!
I guess talking to your neighbors would have been too difficult, eh?

Have *you* ever tried to talk to your neighbors? It is too difficult. They are always drinking- always- 7am they are up with the rooster noise and begin drinking and do not stop until they fall over at 3am the following day. They run the water slide until someonebreaks their ankle. They put up a billion candle power strobe light that runs until the last one dies from liver failure. On top of that they own the Shark Car and tell you, drunkenly(so drunkenly you get e full on drunk from just smelling them), that they are going to ressurect the Shark this year and buzz the Temple where they hope to be arrested. That's a hell of a mental burden to assume. Do you tell the rangers or do you begin drinking with them and join the triumphant return?!!

How on Earth do you expet me to talk to these people? They are all drunk and insane.

We played Team America every single day. Very loud. Fuck yeah.

Major Roosevelt · Post by **Major Roosevelt** » Sat Sep 10, 2005 5:00 pm

horseradish wrote:As a matter of interest, did anyone find a sound system at night with an eclectic mix of disco, pop, funk, electro etc? I found a lot of great places with a good mix of music by day, but by night I mainly kept bumping into techno sound systems.

Club Verböten - the fantastik founder's (who says he likes and would rather play the same techno everyone else is playing) gift to us is musical theme nights...Beatles....New Wave (Old Wave)...Glam Rock....even a Kraftwerk evening...

They were at the 3:00 piazza this year.

Great tent for dancing, excellent bar and really, really friendly people.

Nice alternative (no pun intended).

Somehow ve vill figure out a way to assimilate them into Kamp Apokiliptika in 2006!

Bully!!

ScoutBurner · Post by **ScoutBurner** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 4:45 pm

Yes, I have to agree that Oakenfold was a cheese-fest. But the guy who came on after him ROCKED my world! I had such a great time! It was one of those great playa moments where everything just seemed right with the world.

Anyone know who he was? I looked at his name, but quickly forgot it! Imagine that?!

xo,
Scout

jup3tr · Post by **jup3tr** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 3:44 pm

HELIOS JIVE WAS THE 2 MAN MUSICAL ENSAMBLE THAT PLAYED THE FLOWER, BEST BURNER FRIENDLY MUSIC, ALONG WITH THE GREAT CHOICE OF MUSIC THROUGHOUT THE WEEK.

spritemcb · Post by **spritemcb** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 5:39 pm

#1. Definetly "Soul in the Machine" amazing visuals too (even while drug free!)
#2. Lotus
#3. Gooferman-especially if you like to smile while dancing!

soupman · Post by **soupman** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 10:26 am

I definitely thought the music was great this year... in fact the best DJ sets I heard were from people I had NEVER heard of before... And I thought the 10 o'clock side kicked the 2 o'clock side's ASS as far as talent, artistic decoration and overall vibe. As much big-name talent as Opulent Temple had I just thought it had no real atmosphere or character; same with the others in that area... the Lotus/Cirque corner was just fire and brimstone! Also the House Club over by the 10 o'clock Portapotties (Green Gorilla?) had me SO excited to hear Chicago/Deep House out there at night!!!! (made me wish I had brought my records...

)

Deep End- Oh man what can I say? We were camped about 2 blocks away from the place... what a fantastic day vibe!

Didn't see Lorin because my friends blow so much smoke up his ass that I thought he would never live up to all the hype that precedes him... I hate it when that happens. I'll have the chance to see him at Xingolati though and decide for myself.

Soul in the Machine... visually I guess they were stimulating but I just didn't think they had the musical element to compliment it, like they were concentrating too hard making people notice the visual aspect so they wouldn't realize the music sounded like it was from 1996... overall an interesting show though.

A quick note on sound systems and camp placement... usually your placer will do a good job of putting you in an area that is further away from large soundsystems if you request it in advance... we made it clear to placement that we didn't want to be up against any loud camps and although we were in the vicinity of some more music-centric camps, overall we had a pleasant noise level and it was never difficult to sleep with a pair of earplugs at most.

Although Operation Camp was putting out some HORRIBLE 80's and 90's music at times.

Oh and my best musical experience was one of the first mornings in center camp, where this guy had a cello, sampler and a few effects processors. He would start out plucking a bass line, loop it, come up with another harmony and by the end of the song it would be a 7 or 8 part composition... just amazing.

great music this year

great music this year

Lotus

Re: great music this year

Exactly!!!!

Lotus and breakbeat.

The playa mix - unique and constant

Re: great music this year

Re: great music this year

Neighbors

DJ after Oakenfold

FLOWER CAR MUSIC WAS THE SHIT!

best music