Some people gracefully paint genre as a method of explaining a 'sound'. A civil and social way of creating bulk bin classifications of differing music styles. A shared dialogue that makes us rich in stylistic appreciation.
Like the cheshire cat, the problem with this process is that its highly suspicious, extremely subjective and completely dependant on perspective. One persons hardcore is another persons ambience. Trust me all you have to do is listen to the silence between the beats to change the story for the speech.
In this hype eats hype world, genre becomes a pinup picture, a corny magic trick, a packet of KY lube. Really just a little something for the memory, a distraction while the big PR tries to shove the square peg into the round hole.
Dj's change genre like shoes, getting a new pair every six months as the old ones go out of fashion. Nobody plays disco anymore, but I'll bet you can smell the funk if the breeze is right. Still, if its about degrees of separation then my mate Kevin says "I'm only happy when I'm dancing".
So lets stop lingering around, genre has nothing to do with the 'sound'. Its the air brush cover shot, its the emperors new clothes, its the promise that diamonds are forever. Its the delicate shell that holds it all together.
Ah, the sweet sweet problem of this thin veneer called genre. Maybe dance music should just be called candy. It comes in a flash wrapper, tastes sweet on the first bite, the energy last for a while and then its all over, leaving you looking for more. Keep dancing!
