Doclector said:
That is horrifying. Worse is, this wub wub stuff is popular. Really popular. That means that the clubs and bars I previously found bad are now becoming unbearable.
Basically, if you like good music, socialising is becoming harder.
I guess I wonder why NOW, of all times, did dubstep (and why dubstep?) gain such mass appeal. It's been widely available and accessible since around 2000, but no one I know has heard of it until last year. It's just frustrating to an old, jaded (and hipsterish) raver like myself that suddenly every bro-dude now sees themselves as a DJ, electronic music scholar and some kind of dubstep connoisseur because they've been listening to "that new dubstep stuff that Skirllex totally invented last year."
And the kicker is I don't even LIKE the majority of dubstep. I was never much of a fan of dub, wobble (as we called it in Toronto) or UK Garage and this just jams them all together. I'll admit I enjoy what chase and status have done in the genre around 2008, which is sort of their own take on it, but most people who "love dubstep more than anything" have no idea who chase and status are and it INFURIATES me.
I realize it's snide of me to feel this way, but try to understand where I'm coming from. Imagine you're a metal head. You've been a metal head for 10-15 years. Suddenly, for some reason, Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy inexplicably makes it's way into popular culture and becomes a super huge sensation. Honestly, you preferred Physical Graffiti but whatever.
You go into a club and they're playing Led Zeppelin! Just songs of Houses of the Holy of course. Well, that's cool. A girl comes up to you saying that she's a HUGE fan of Led Zeppelin! "Awesome!", you think. You ask her if she likes their Physical Graffiti album. She quizically looks at you, wondering what the hell you're talking about. "What's that?" she asks. "Did they make another album recently? Wow!". Realization dawns on you: she thinks the band is new, and not only that, but they only have one album.
You look around the room and a sullen, dour expression seeps over your face "They all think that...". You head over to the bar, ready to numb your mind for the coming hours. "At least
I still like the music playing." You think as you take a generous helping of beer from your over priced, plastic cup.
Suddenly, two dude-bro types walk up beside you. Tanned skin, banned glasses, and a tight pink shirt with a popped collar. They're in stark contrast to yourself. Long 80s rock hair, proudly sporting your leather Iron Maiden jacket (your favourite metal band), ripped jeans and chains. Seeing you glancing at them, one comes over, half intoxicated to strike up what you're sure will be a compelling conversation. You resign yourself to the fact that this is going to happen, and decide to get it over with.
"Dude" he proclaims, "Why are you dressed like that?". "Well, I thought I'd dress the part. This is a rock club after all, isn't it?". The dude-bro musters the power of the few working synapses in his brain; "Wha? What you talkin' bout, dude? That's not how rockers dress. We all dress like this, we're total rockers you know. We love Led Zeppelin, so trust us; we know what we're talking about." You gland around the room once again, downing your beer as if it will physically stop the string of expletives you want to spew from coming out of your mouth.
Wanting to avoid confrontation, you just aim to get this over with. "Sorry" you say, as genuinely as you can act, "This must just be the way Iron Maiden fans dress." pointing to the back of your jacket.
"Whoa dude, that's a cool logo!" The dude-bro proclaims. "I've never heard of this Iron Maiden band before, are they like Led Zeppelin?" Not having time to explain the intricacies of metal sub-genres and 70 year history of metal and rock you just say "Not quite, they're a different kind of Metal but they drew inspiration from Led Zeppelin." Hoping this satiates his curiosity, you cringe at the next comment "Dude, if they don't sound like Led Zeppelin then they can't be metal!". "I guess you're right" you say, secretly wishing the club was engulfed in flames taking every living soul with it. You turn back to the bartender and order one last drink before you saunter home and weep.
This is what liking electronic music is like now.