commendation for outstanding service to human race: resident advisor

i told vahid he named it 'outstanding commendation to the human race' before linking him to the article

It's quite fashionable to have a pop at RA these days

It's all going off on Twitter now, they've donated five hundred dollars towards George Floyd/Minnesota while it's claimed they turned over a profit of nearly five million last year

It's hard to imagine they're so successful! But what do I know...the site is clearly a loss leader, I guess all those festivals/events are lucrative?

yeah it's been blowing my mind, I'm not sure I believe it tbh but at the same time they pretty much have a dominance in ticket sales for dance events don't they

i'm guessing that ticketing agencies and festival organisers alike are having a particularly rough time financially at the moment - zero income and a shit load of refunds to make. but they do need to address this current situation and explain themselves

here's their tweet btw if anyone wants to read it. it is a pitiful amount:

Hey Ilana, we've donated $500 (split evenly between the George Floyd Memorial Fund and the Minnesota Freedom Fund). pic.twitter.com/4axPLCKurh

— Resident Advisor (@residentadvisor) May 29, 2020

they put out a statement today about these issues:

https://www.residentadvisor.net/news/72775

Have they abandoned running new reviews (or a new podcast)?

https://www.residentadvisor.net/news/72840

Mix Of The Day: Reverend Dollars

:D

Yessssssssssss

Ha way to go Rev!

the dj tennis podcast/mix is totally hitting the spot for me.
not really a mix to be honest, just a 70 minute ambient house sonic collage of his own material/field recordings.
the last section dives into a glorious krautrock groove.

Yeah that one's good and I usually find DJ Tennis pretty dull.

Kush Jones this week though is right up there.

Fuck yeah, Rev!

hell yeah

This week's Clark Price mix is so good

Yes! He has a bunch of other great mixes on his Soundcloud, too.

Yep I love it. Coil into Black Dog into Anthony Shake Shakir is just woah.

Sick

Sick mix

Maybe some day i can throw down at a honcho campout again :(.

Lol double sick

I suppose people have already seen this?

http://itsrosh.nfshost.com/letter/

I’ve got more thoughts, but in brief: yes, this is the type of thing I want to read more of

another panel @ Unsound got distributed by RA via their podcast series but this one was not, and went hard on some similar issues:
http://truantsblog.com/2020/unsound-2019-complicity-accountability-agency-counterculture/

I was in the audience for most of it and was just locked in

I think RA actually solicited a year-end piece from DeForrest Brown Jr. that he ended up self-publishing because they decided not to run it

had not seen but looks like timely and valuable scholarship, thanks

One of the things I liked most about it was its specificity - who didn't get covered, which structures contributed to their exclusion, etc. It was clear but very dense. vs say the Quietus piece recently which was fine as far as it went, but did we need much more than "why are these rich white house producers getting so much attention"

yeah i do wonder with its uk focus how much sense it will make to me ... would be interested to see someone to do this for like, los angeles and the us scene in general, though our electronic music press and scene are much more marginal

That R.O.S.H. letter is incredible. I'm sorry i missed it until now - how long has it been online?

so much i agree with but also so much eye opening food for thought, and hopefully food for change.

the single RA writer singled out is the one I, admittedly, have spotted the most at events I’ve been at. I think it’s odd he’d have even been assigned to cover some of those events/scenes due to locale (NA vs UK/Europe/etc)

not sure how long it's been online, just saw it today, but since I'm in California assumed it had made the rounds already.

this article is just so good

the single RA writer singled out is the one I, admittedly, have spotted the most at events I’ve been at. I think it’s odd he’d have even been assigned to cover some of those events/scenes due to locale (NA vs UK/Europe/etc)

Where were these, America or Europe? What events, curious!

RA has always seemed to have a particular blind spot for black British dance music, I always assumed that was the readership talking. They were more likely to offer a mix to someone with a successful techno night in Ljubljana than they were to someone like Supa D or or Ill Blu or Marcus Nasty. They would however quite happily run one by someone like Oneman or BokBok or Jam City or any other white producer using those scenes as a jump-off point. Terror Danjah did get a mix (and a great one), probably due to being on Hyberdub, but it was an outlier and I remember the comments box being a disaster zone.

The quote from Kode9 in particularly really encapsulates the problem with viewing black British dance music through the prism of labels like Hyperdub, in its own way that privileges artists with a particular aesthetic. Black artists who made music that was dark and bassy or moody and aggro were much more likely to get access to those publicity networks because they were much more likely to get onto those labels in the first place than artists whose music was joyful, celebratory, gleefully silly let alone anything that was soulful or smooth.

xp saer, mutek festival in montreal and an inga copeland show in brooklyn are the two I remember

it's easier to hit the targets of coverage of music of Black origin when you run barely any articles

RA has always seemed to have a particular blind spot for black British dance music, I always assumed that was the readership talking. They were more likely to offer a mix to someone with a successful techno night in Ljubljana than they were to someone like Supa D or or Ill Blu or Marcus Nasty. They would however quite happily run one by someone like Oneman or BokBok or Jam City or any other white producer using those scenes as a jump-off point. Terror Danjah did get a mix (and a great one), probably due to being on Hyberdub, but it was an outlier and I remember the comments box being a disaster zone.

The quote from Kode9 in particularly really encapsulates the problem with viewing black British dance music through the prism of labels like Hyperdub, in its own way that privileges artists with a particular aesthetic. Black artists who made music that was dark and bassy or moody and aggro were much more likely to get access to those publicity networks because they were much more likely to get onto those labels in the first place than artists whose music was joyful, celebratory, gleefully silly let alone anything that was soulful or smooth.

― Matt DC, Tuesday, 14 July 2020 11:43 (twelve hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Yep absolutely. But this is not an issue limited to RA.

One only has to visit the uk funky, jackin' house or deep tech threads on ILX to see a variety of positions taken consistent with what is called out in the article:

1. What is this music which sounds like a desecration of of the more refined dance music I prefer? Vomit emoji.

2. I refuse to engage fully with this music unless and until it begins to be distributed and disseminated through the media channels I prefer and feel comfortable with.

3. I object to this music being discussed as if it comprises a concrete "scene".

4. I like this music! Especially (insert name of mostly-unrelated artist with a release on Hyperdub or similar).

5. This music is not sustainable on its own but I don't mind it when it's mixed in with broader strains of house, techno or post-dubstep.

yeah but it’s still ok not to like things

there's not liking things and then there's dismissing the possibility that a scene could have any aesthetic validity or worth based on zero or thirty seconds' worth of evidence and a determined-belief that there can never be anything new under the sun that the listener does not alreayd know about.

good list, Tim. I’m guilty of at least a couple of those sentiments on occasion

yeah I tried funky house verrrry briefly and then noped out ... I should give it another go.

in retrospect kind of telling that the uk funky thread is even titled in reaction to "skeptics"

wait never mind...has it always been titled "sceptics"? this is like a berenstain bears thing

DJ Perception on the podcast is both great to listen to and a great indication of where the new approach could take them. But then they're wheeling out a Boy In Da Corner revisit, an album that there really can't be much more left to say anything about.

Holy shit, DJ Holographic!

I played the first 10mins or so this afternoon and was like no way, this cannot be listened to without a drink in yr hand. Incredible sweep from early evening 80s Detroit R&B and into full on Floorplan gospel techno madness before the hour mark.

Great mix

agree

This mix is banging.

Seems lots of people are upset about RA getting £750K

Ministry Of Sound: £975,468
Columbo: £900,000
Motion: £884,796
Resident Advisor: £750,000
Electric Brixton: £623,00
Corsica Studios: £407,764
Village Underground: £398,000
Chibuku/Circus: £365,000
Warehouse Project: £343,000
Gorilla: £255,500 https://t.co/swLPDQn0ed

— Will Pritchard (@wf_pritchard) October 12, 2020