Gather ‘round, folk. Let’s get nerdy together.
Wanna delve into the doof, learn the marketing behind the music, the rise of the rave?
Personally, I love that shit. I really love looking at the history and development of subcultures, communities and styles of music – and the history of electronic music is really rich, and really damn interesting. Raves and rave culture are a particularly fascinating area to me, so I went and did a little research..
(I think part of why I like it so much is simply because I find it hilarious and awesome that someone has spent months, if not longer, researching something like this)
So for your dorky reading pleasure, here is a selection of excellent academic articles for you. PS they’re all free, and they’re easy reading. Well worth a skim!
Ever had that late night chat soaking in paranoia and suspicion about society? That chat about the man, man. About conspiracies, about marketing, about how advertising is everywhere and they’re coming for YOU!?
You may well be right.
This awesome paper basically interviews a bunch of club kids and ravers, asking what they like, what they don’t, what they think, how they act – and then analyses that info to streamline products to sell them.
This paper is closer to home and provides a colourful history about the local rave culture.
If you CBF reading it all, click on this one and head straight to page 5 for a seriously interesting look at the number of local newspaper articles talking about drugs and raves between 1988-1997. It’s really insightful – and really makes you think about how much society has changed.
I’ll admit that I only chose this one for the pun-tastic name, but it’s actually really fascinating (if a little convoluted). This one looks at the earliest rave cultures, framing it as a sort of grass-roots, anti-establishment rebellion, like the early punks and hippies – and then compares it to the rave culture of today. Highlights include an analysis of hedonism, crime figures and (obviously) drug abuse.
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