after listenning to another bunch of old sets I've came to a conclusion that djs today aren't brave or fearless anymore, there is no experimentation and improvisation, everything is super slick and polished, playing it safe, as if the crowds forgot what it means to trust the dj and vice versa

I know this is an old grudge and the topic has been beaten to death, but it is true, you will never hear a mix of prog trance, prog house, breaks, dnb, techno, goa trance, [URL="http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/djdb.php?id=1405"]leftfield[/URL], etc. in one set anymore.

to mind come such sets like [URL="http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/djdb.php?id=4"]Nick Warren[/URL]'s essential mix from 2001, which was his most eclectic mix I've ever heard from him

then Oakenfold at Oslo, starting with dnb and moving onto prog house, prog trance, techno and finishing it off with goa, f^*king unbeliveable what they were doing back then

now give me an example of somebody who has guts to go that far today and make it work

Re: Eclecticism no more

james zabiela continues to be very diverse in his sets. even today. so does danny howells. i'd say the same for other veteran DJs as well.

as far as DJs new to the scene.... well i'm kind of out of the loop so not much for me to contribute. I will say that with all the automation injected into DJ'ing these days, i'd be shocked if there weren't plenty out there with diverse/eclectic sounds.

Re: Eclecticism no more

yeah I agree on Zabiela's part, he was always trying to bring something extra to his sets, but Danny has always been purely house dj, maybe you have some specific sets on your mind?

Re: Eclecticism no more

Nick Warrn's 2001 Essential Mix 'eclectic' ?

Re: Eclecticism no more

^ well yeah, Lizard, if you compare it to what he's been doing lately it is and both of his Reykjavik and Shanghai mixes as well

Re: Eclecticism no more

danny is mainly house, but I've heard some pretty far out sounds from marvin gaye to nirvana played in some of his sets. he has some pretty random music thrown in at times.

Re: Eclecticism no more

[QUOTE=yerg;1156947]

I know this is an old grudge and the topic has been beaten to death, but it is true, you will never hear a mix of prog trance, prog house, breaks, dnb, techno, goa trance, [URL="http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/djdb.php?id=1405"]leftfield[/URL], etc. in one set anymore.[/QUOTE]

True but I don't know if it's indicative of the DJs, or some of those genres are simply dying or people don't produce as much of them anymore. I have hardly heard any breaks or goa for eg. DnB is probably still alive somewhere. Prog house, well it's not the same prog house as before, that's for sure. But's kinda inherent in 'progressive.'

Re: Eclecticism no more

the genres are dying, and yes especially breaks, there is still some goa around but it's a small scene, but really the point I'm trying to make is that djs don't want to push things forward anymore, no matter how prog sounds today or what new genres emerge or not, it is more due to the oversaturation of the market with new producers, leading to unbelievable amounts of tasteless unprofessional music and ultimately the competition which reflects in the fear of losing crowds, that are especially critical today

I want the djs to introduce me to some new and brave forms, but because of the fear of losing crowds they play it safe, and there you have it that the creative side of djing is gone exactly because of the crowds who simply don't trust their djs, play it safe and everybody's happy or else, so i think its the competition really and the fear that follows

I hope I'm not too confusing :|

Re: Eclecticism no more

[QUOTE=yerg;1156947] now give me an example of somebody who has guts to go that far today and make it work[/QUOTE]

Laurent Garnier

Re: Eclecticism no more

danny em 2002 is

Re: Eclecticism no more

no surprise that I agree 100% with the sentiment expressed here.... so many dj's just doing what they think they are supposed to do vs taking risks. I find it extremely unoriginal, boring and mundane personally. No risks being taken, just the same shit for however long. lame. That the dj's who do take risks and do have more eclectic styles are the ones I follow closely.

Re: Eclecticism no more

[QUOTE=Michael^Heaven;1157016]Laurent Garnier[/QUOTE]

bingo! he is really great when it comes to merging all sorts of material and always been

Re: Eclecticism no more

[QUOTE=floridaorange;1157025] the dj's who do take risks and do have more eclectic styles are the ones I follow closely.[/QUOTE]

please, give me names!!!!! :runningman:

Re: Eclecticism no more

Hmmm I think it's very debatable, I suppose hence this thread :lol:

We had another similar thread arguing the eclecticism of Digweed.

People like Garnier, Josh Wink, Zabiela, I think they're still pretty eclectic. But the flow of the set is usually sacrificed for eclecticism.

Lee Burridge is always eclectic like Howells but they lean on the housier side. Craig Richards is eclectic too. As is DJ Three.

Warren is eclectic, that's pretty evident in his Soundgarden mixes. But he doesn't throw different genre tracks together, they're separated into chill and club sounds.

But you will find that DJs do not make 'eclecticism' their trademarks, they will not be playing 'eclecticism' in every single set.

I don't believe a DJ should be eclectic for the sake of eclecticism. I want to hear progression and programming in a set, not just variety.

Re: Eclecticism no more

^ all good points, a good set is a good set no matter what the dj chooses to play

I have noticed that shorter sets win from being straight-up but when you go into 3-4 hours and more the change of tone is a must imo in order to reset the feeling, and the longer the set the more eclectic it should be,what you don't hear too often these days, or do you?

so, yeah, I agree that eclecticism for the sake of eclecticism is not the way to go, but it has its practical reasons and it should

Re: Eclecticism no more

When I used to go to parties, DJs tend to loosen up in the morning, that's when you hear the variety, and like you said, after a few hours of dancing it's a breath of fresh air to hear a different beat.

DJs like Digweed when they play longer sets, they seem to oscillate very close to their sound, and by the morning, he would throw in old classics. That's how they shake things up.

Digweed is not an eclectic DJ as people would conventionally define eclecticism (genre mashups) but within the genre of progressive he does vary it up. He might start out ambient or housey, getting into a deeper groove, going dark, go really really hard, switch it up with a different bassline, drop in a lighter, faster beat with a nice trancey breakdown, go into old school. I don't find that 'straight' or boring, just the way he varies his set without resorting to jarring genre changes.

I think a lot of the prog DJs do that. And people like Cattaneo, his podcast every week has a different sound to it. I would simply trust to the DJ to mix up their sounds as they see fit.

Re: Eclecticism no more

there aren't that many djs like Digweed, isn't it? even without being eclectic he isn't boring, however not always, but it really depends on the situation so I understand that not every single set of his is mindblowing, the same goes to Sasha, Cattaneo and the rest of the bunch....

many djs I've heard trying to be eclectic today were unsuccesfull to say the least, and I think many highly profiled djs don't go the eclectic route because, i guess, in the current state of the scene this attitude is sort of considered unprofessional, so they do it at the afterparties or on other occasions when the eye of the media is not present, so people won't tweet something like "how dared he put that track in the middle of a house set?" or something like that

so, I just hope that the scene will relax a bit and eclecticism will return in a big way again, that would simply be a dream come true

Re: Eclecticism no more

There are a good few dj's that vary their sound in their sets these days. It may not be to everyone's taste or anything like the old style genres mentioned previously in this thread but not every dj plays the same sound for 3 hours.

The scene is just so much different and diverse than it was 15 years ago.

Re: Eclecticism no more

[QUOTE=feather;1157052]Digweed is not an eclectic DJ as people would conventionally define eclecticism (genre mashups) but within the genre of progressive he does vary it up. He might start out ambient or housey, getting into a deeper groove, going dark, go really really hard, switch it up with a different bassline, drop in a lighter, faster beat with a nice trancey breakdown, go into old school. I don't find that 'straight' or boring, just the way he varies his set without resorting to jarring genre changes[/QUOTE]

Great description of a great night out ;)

Re: Eclecticism no more

[QUOTE=yerg;1157028]please, give me names!!!!! :runningman:[/QUOTE]

yerg - it depends on what im in the mood for... i listen to a bit of everything, but lately I listen to music that helps pass the time while I am editing photos, or perhaps some background music for when I am at the park with my 2 yr old.

so this may not be your cup of tea, but give a few of these mixes a spin -

[url="https://soundcloud.com/getthesound2/sets/get-the-tape"]https://soundcloud.com/getthesound2/sets/get-the-tape[/url]

Re: Eclecticism no more

^ so u sit with headphones with your kid playing in the park?

Re: Eclecticism no more

^ yeah it's bit light-headed for my taste, but thanks for sharing

Re: Eclecticism no more

[QUOTE=floridaorange;1157025]no surprise that I agree 100% with the sentiment expressed here.... so many dj's just doing what they think they are supposed to do vs taking risks. I find it extremely unoriginal, boring and mundane personally. No risks being taken, just the same shit for however long. lame. That the dj's who do take risks and do have more eclectic styles are the ones I follow closely.[/QUOTE]

People who go to clubs can often have differences in taste from those who don't..

What may bore you when you're on the swings in the park may have sounded fantastic over a big system at the time

For the guy who hasn't set foot in a club for 10 years to make such a comment on what djs are playing I find absurd.

Re: Eclecticism no more

[QUOTE=floridaorange;1157184]

[URL]https://soundcloud.com/getthesound2/sets/get-the-tape[/URL][/QUOTE]

Fuck me, what's this ? LOL

Re: Eclecticism no more

[QUOTE=trick12;1157185]^ so u sit with headphones with your kid playing in the park?[/QUOTE]

no, plays on my phone (speaker), quietly.

Re: Eclecticism no more

[QUOTE=audrey_w;1157187]People who go to clubs can often have differences in taste from those who don't..

What may bore you when you're on the swings in the park may have sounded fantastic over a big system at the time

For the guy who hasn't set foot in a club for 10 years to make such a comment on what djs are playing I find absurd.[/QUOTE]

Fair enough.

Re: Eclecticism no more

[QUOTE=audrey_w;1157192]Fuck me, what's this ? LOL[/QUOTE]

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/ILKvaSs.gif[/IMG]

Re: Eclecticism no more

[QUOTE=audrey_w;1157192]Fuck me, what's this ? LOL[/QUOTE]

It is dreadful - in fairness :lol:

Re: Eclecticism no more

sometimes i'm in the mood for electronic junk food I guess. I don't care if anyone else likes it though. in fairness ;). i don't really take EDM or House or any of it very seriously anymore. I used to, but now, if I dig it, then it's as simple as that.

Re: Eclecticism no more

[QUOTE=floridaorange;1157207]sometimes i'm in the mood for electronic junk food I guess. I don't care if anyone else likes it though. [/QUOTE]

Would explain all the requests for recommendations for friends ;)

Re: Eclecticism no more

wot?

Re: Eclecticism no more

Nobody is considering the time. A normal set How long it lasts? 3-4-5 hours ? Its not to much time to be eclectic. A dj can play a couples of tracks of breaks or ambient or whatever but just one or two and He has to break the line of the set to put those tracks, the known djs play what the people want to hear from them, you dont go to see digweed expecting to hear one hour of break beat. this is different with the long sets when the dj can do whatever he wants because they has all the time of the world to create the atmosphere and Im talking about the clubs, Not of radio shows.

And yes, The djs not take too many risks.

Re: Eclecticism no more

5 hours, not enough time to be eclectic? You're havin' a laugh! How long do you need?

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as far as I know 90 min. is the amount of time an average human can concentrate on 1 thing at a time, but today I think with young people it's even shorter, but I'm not sure, so a dj can play that much of one thing and not lose the attention of the crowd, but then he needs to change the pace, to freshen things up, this is where a different vibe would do the job

I can see that a dj could use the same style for this sort of approach just playing tracks recorded in a different key, but if the mixing is based on key matching it won't work very well, right? so a different style but in the same key would be a perfect solution imo

and then judging by the crowd you can switch back to building up again for another 90 min when you see that they're ready

however, I remember Sasha saying in an interview that when they played together with Digweed on a Delta Tour John would ignore the key matching and Sasha even said that "I would never play that track with this, but I guess that's what made us special" so it depends

Re: Eclecticism no more

[QUOTE=yerg;1157276]

however, I remember Sasha saying in an interview that when they played together with Digweed on a Delta Tour John would ignore the key matching and Sasha even said that "I would never play that track with this, but I guess that's what made us special" so it depends[/QUOTE]

I would hardly call any of the Delta Heavy sets eclectic.

Re: Eclecticism no more

95% of DJ's never play eclectic, and I don't see why they should. It's not about not taking risks. Most have built a career on a certain sound, yes it may progress over time, but most would not mash up one genre with another. Most DJ's have been pigeonholed for a reason, they play a specific type of music. If you want eclecticism you would be better off listening to people like Cut La Roc, David Holmes or even Fatboy Slim. Tenaglia used to be a good example 15 years ago, Garnier a bit. But you will be lucky to find it in a live set.

Re: Eclecticism no more

[QUOTE=♫♫♫♫♫♫;1157280]I would hardly call any of the Delta Heavy sets eclectic.[/QUOTE]

I would either, my point was about mixing in key in that particular part of my post and not about eclecticism

I know what you mean about Fatboyslim and others, but I refer to djs that play progressive and darker sort of music, and not funky and choppie, sample based etc. I just say that when prog djs diversify their sets it is so much more fun, but I have absolutely nothing against pure prog sets built up in the right way

Re: Eclecticism no more

[QUOTE=feather;1157039]Hmmm I think it's very debatable, I suppose hence this thread :lol:

We had another similar thread arguing the eclecticism of Digweed.

People like Garnier, Josh Wink, Zabiela, I think they're still pretty eclectic. But the flow of the set is usually sacrificed for eclecticism.

Lee Burridge is always eclectic like Howells but they lean on the housier side. Craig Richards is eclectic too. As is DJ Three.

Warren is eclectic, that's pretty evident in his Soundgarden mixes. But he doesn't throw different genre tracks together, they're separated into chill and club sounds.

But you will find that DJs do not make 'eclecticism' their trademarks, they will not be playing 'eclecticism' in every single set.

I don't believe a DJ should be eclectic for the sake of eclecticism. I want to hear progression and programming in a set, not just variety.[/QUOTE] Hear, hear !!

Re: Eclecticism no more

[QUOTE=yerg;1157283] I refer to djs that play progressive and darker sort of music, and not funky and choppie, sample based etc. I just say that when prog djs diversify their sets it is so much more fun, but I have absolutely nothing against pure prog sets built up in the right way[/QUOTE]

You have classed them as prog DJ's but then say you want them to be more diverse. But then it has to be dark and progressive? Then it's not eclectic.

Re: Eclecticism no more

^ yeah it's matter of interpretation, if you read my first post in this thread you will see exactly to what sort of eclecticism, which is quite a huge term, I refer to