A couple of corrections need to be made to my previous post. Firstly, I would never have dug into either Ghost Box or Moon Wiring Club if it weren’t for Loki23’s post on the subject, which even now I’m still getting huge value from in terms of avenues to explore. So credit where it’s due!
Secondly, and this has been bugging me all morning, on the subject of internet-mediated music scenes contrasted against the pre-internet rave scene, I wrote:
We’ve traded magic and mystique for something, but what?
Which is completely embarrassing vacuous crap and should never have made it through my editing, of which there clearly wasn’t enough last night. Without the internet I’m not sure I’d be able to persue my music interests with a tenth as much success as I currently do. In terms of shopping, personal recommendations, getting feedback on my mixes, hearing direct from artists when and where their next releases will be available….it’s incredible. Even though most of the Muswell Hill / Ally Pally set are listening to the sort of insipid singer-songwriter dreck and worthy world music that’s given away free with the Sunday Observer - not so much music as homeopathy - the internet keeps me connected and reassures me that countless thousands of others are as passionate about the music I like as I am. So yes, much romanticism and mystique has been lost - in the nineties, people even went raving without mobile phones, can you imagine? - and I’ll always feel residual nostalgia for that…but as to whether it’s a been worthwhile trade, well duh.