It is 8:30PM

[petronia]

There is one item I have not gotten done today, and I really want to leave the office, but if I go home I know I won't work, I'll watch the three episodes of Doctor Who I have saved up.

So

yanno

fuckit XDD;;

MUTEK: wrote a bit on Tumblr regarding the, um, the lighting effects. Will probably post music at some point? The last couple of days/nights seemed to feature a lot of James Holden, including a Piknic set I only caught the tail end of, which is a pity because I have historically failed to experience Holden in any state resembling sober. XD;; I remember I enjoyed myself, and can sort of abstractly reconstruct why, but not to bring up anything dude actually, yanno, played. Also idk I guess I expected Border Community shiz to come across as sorta cheesy, now? I wasn't following his body of work? But it wasn't the same old. Dude had a 3-5AM on the fourth consecutive night slot this round, for starters, and it felt like he was pulling every trick out of the bag to keep the crowd moving - always one trippy track away from a collective sinking into open-mouthed stupor. So there were no trippy tracks, exceptionally given that I classify Holden along one axis simply as "pastoral English psychedelia" (as Superpitcher is "moody German romanticism"). Then the Piknic set was all twinkly pretty microhouse bits... Frankly it turns out Piknic is a more appropriate setting for James Holden, since in person he is a baby deer. Speaking of English pastoral. I mean, my theory is that teh fanz are creepy about Hawtin because he's blond and kind of a wanker unattainable behind his deck and stroboscopic cage of LEDs (and the pure adrenalin of the music doesn't come with pointers as to how it's meant to be channeled, if that makes sense). Holden is dark-haired and doe-eyed looks incredibly related to Ed Grizzly Bear Droste and displays shy dorky hipster body language, so when he plays outdoors hipster girls weave crowns of wildflowers and laurel leaves for him to wear. I mean like I saw this actually happen. Dude was on the tiny second stage on the tiny green riverbank, basically a lemonade stand, and when the set ended people didn't drift off or even protest, they just stood around smiling at him with dreamy goodwill. One fandude gave him a perfectly ripe strawberry from his picnic basket, then ran away.

Yeah I guess this is what I won't write about on Tumblr, bawling, the fawn-like qualities of techno DJs OTZ|||

I think twinkly microhouse may be making a comeback, actually?!? For the first time in ever I attended Sunday Nocturne and Marc Akufen played as Horror Inc., this has never happened. First Akufen-related set I've wholeheartedly enjoyed from beginning to end. (Oh God please let it make a comeback, it's been a full decade amirite) Other than that I managed to accidentally catch two Gold Panda sets in as many weeks, since he played both Primavera and MUTEK. XD; They were very different, and I still haven't heard the album, so.

EDIT -- Here are some things I have learnt in the past hour:

1) Dominik "Forest Ranger" Eulberg has another album out and WILL BE PLAYING PIKNIC ON JUNE 19. OMG need to buy new headphones, did I mention my Audio-Technicas died in Barcelona, am on baseless earbuds courtesy of Continental Airlines :'(

2) There will be a spinoff Piknic series this year... IN BARCELONA. They are holding it on Montjuïc. Bawling I really should have... taken my whole three weeks in one go...

Comments

[canis-m.livejournal.com]

in person he is a baby deer

One fandude gave him a perfectly ripe strawberry from his picnic basket, then ran away.

Please tell me there is an SSBB story to come out of this

[petronia.livejournal.com]

LOL INORITE I was sitting there with my alcoholic smoothie, going "OK now at least I have material to work from if I have to do another DJ Ran drabble".

Cis once told me she tried to write an SSBB about techno DJs and there was, like, no source of conflict. I know exactly what she means; I would've done one ages ago if otherwise. XD; Obviously some of these dudes party wildly and so forth, but in the context in which one encounters them, they always seem like pleasant, mildly introverted, European vegetarians.

I actually checked, afterward, since it's been years since I've thought much about James Holden, and he is older than me XD;; he came across as approx 22. I've been trying to get hold of one of his recent sets to see if he's having a consistent resurgence of sparklies (since he started off in trance originally), but only found stuff from this time last year, containing a not inconsiderable percentage of chillwave/indie. XD;;

Q: have I pondered this way too much? A: WHAT DO YOU THINK

[petronia.livejournal.com]

The other thing is that techno DJs come in duos, pretty much constantly, but they are all like the Pet Shop Boys: longstanding, no visible interpersonal conflict, weirdly unslashable. XD; Like, with guitar bands intra-member is often A Thing, in fact it being A Thing is more the rule than the exception, but not with synthpop/techno duos. Over the years I have given this conundrum the full weight of my thought process and come to the conclusion that - if you'll credit it - it's because in guitar bands different members play different instruments, which magically guarantees an assortment of archetypes. There are many kinds of singers, but you'll always have A Singer and A Guitarist, etc. and thus a readymade pattern of relationship dynamics/tension. DJ duos are essentially in alignment, like four-hand piano, which is a very sibling/moirail (as the Homestuck kids say) format. Forex I thought the Wighnomy Brothers were actual brothers for the longest time, and I suspect they called themselves that anyway because ppl mistook them. XD; It doesn't fully explain the PSB, who have widely divergent personalities and even tastes, but I have never met anyone who felt impelled to slash them.

[canis-m.livejournal.com]

Hahaha you say "have to" like it's some kind of chore! when in fact you could indeed improve my quality of life by approx. 200% by sending Ran and Gingetsu to Piknic.

RE: no source of conflict, this is where one falls back on tried & true ridic BL/romance tropes, clearly. The hunter is too forward and the startled deer flees in manner of etc. Or someone drops the strawberry on the equipment and SPARKS FLY, LITERALLY lawl idk.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Could be a good candidate for an Ono Natsume nothing-much-happens slice-of-life story, tbh. XD; I mean they all look like Ono Natsume dudes, to begin.

Oh, man, I was sitting in SAT like, I want to take this course! (There is an actual course.) So I can create CLAMP-themed video projections to sad techno music, dying forever

[cis.livejournal.com]

when he plays outdoors hipster girls weave crowns of wildflowers and laurel leaves for him to wear

good thing you didn't stick around till the end, they were probably going to build an altar out of mistletoe and alder and then worshipfully sacrifice him upon it.

in re the rumoured return of twinkly microhouse, have you heard the new todd terje?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQx5EAfirhc

basically it is like if Lawrence did balearic?

[petronia.livejournal.com]

They could have just reused the lemonade stand!

Yeah toward the end it was getting too obv that I was watching the ppl hanging about watching Holden pack up his mixer, waiting for further hilarities. XD (Speaking of which, the two DeepChordEchoSpace dudes were the fastest packers I have ever witnessed in action. One wheeled carry-on apiece came out and I was like, "Rly? You're doing this onstage?" but in 5 minutes flat they had all their equipment back in their luggage. Probably in a taxi to the airport before the curtain went up on Hawtin.)

Had not heard! This is good. Saw Lindstrom play live for 45min at Primavera, mostly stuff I didn't recognize, but nothing like this.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Also my boss just asked for my blog addy, so good thing I didn't post my further adventures in DJ ogling over on the other side. XD;;

Whereas I have not pondered it long but am f-full of helpfulness

[canis-m.livejournal.com]

What you say re: types makes total sense, HOWEVER:

1. There is such a thing as too much verisimilitude in f4f m/m

2. If DJ/DJ is siblingish as a rule doesn't that just make the slash more delightfully taboo ahaha "No, I--I love you but we can't, DJ duos just aren't like that ////"

3. If DJ/DJ is really insurmountable, do not DJs esp. when wearing their producer hats also collaborate with lots of ppl who are not fellow DJs, I mean come on. Vocalist/DJ? acoustic instrumentalist/DJ? lighting effects dude/DJ?? Or, since this is BL after all: club owner/DJ? bouncer/DJ? CRIME BOSS/DJ lol <--would this not be the perfect storm of moe for you. Or perhaps crime boss's strapping lieutenant/DJ. Like, they're doing a deal at The Club and usually Strapping Lieutenant doesn't pay much attention to the music but somehow tonight it's different and he glances over to the DJ booth and sees this beautiful doe-eyed NEED I GO ON. Obv Strapping Lieutenant is conflicted because he wants to get with DJ but DJ resides in a pure sphere of music & wildflowers & laurel crowns and Strapping Lieutenant hates the thought of dragging him down to the criminal underworld by association. If you want to collaborate on this you've got my number.

Or, sure, slice-of-life in which nothing much happens is always good. XDD

Re: Whereas I have not pondered it long but am f-full of helpfulness

[petronia.livejournal.com]

XDDDDDD Thank you for this whole comment, it has brightened up my day considerably.

You know weirdly enough they are different [...BL?] spheres in my mind too! I am the corniest raver ever, and as far as I'm concerned MUTEK/Piknic is a "safe space" (in the scale of things, probably sitting somewhere below the likes of Ravelry, but above Media Fandom As A Whole. Piknic has gotten way less white over the years, which is nice and prolly reflects careful programming). I get all aggrieved if nightclubs turn out to be skeevy when I'm there to dance, and I secretly think afterhours should start at, like, 2PM.

I suspect if I were to do this it would look like a considerably less corporate version of Up In The Air. XD;

Meanwhile my sister was like, "Because rock guitarists swivel their hips around when they play!" and I was like, "...You think techno DJs don't swivel their hips?"

[credoimprobus]

I would just like to say that this + above threads = DYING FOREVER. XD <3

All part of the service ma'am

[canis-m.livejournal.com]

they are different [...BL?] spheres in my mind too

Of course they are! That's the beauty of it! It's a crossover. An unholy fusion. Like demon/angel romance lawl speaking of CLAMP. I guess my version would be like...not Up in The Air but Eastern Promises, dying, w/ winsome DJ subbed for midwife played by Naomi Watts. In which case Strapping Lieutenant must be an undercover agent!! EVEN BETTER.

Corniest ever, hah, I got five dolla sez I could exceed you in corniness if we ever went clubbing together. I will now cherish this secret dream.