The comeback of garage and why the 00s suck.
When I was younger I used to fantasize about what music the future would bring. When EDM was all the world could talk about, and everybody wanted to kiss Martin Garrix’s feet, I wondered what would come after EDM. It seemed as if it was the end of music. And not necessarily because it’s just white noise, but rather because: what comes after the machine?
Music started with some rhythm and a voice. And then all these different instruments were invented, and we made a bunch of those instruments electrical. And all the old people in the 70s hated these electronic guitar sounds, and they wished the Stones had ceased to exist. And then somebody invented synths and all of a sudden KRAFTWERK found its sound and now everyone’s a DJ.
I used to wonder about music’s next step because the evolution of music into dance music is so clear: it goes hand in hand with the evolution of technology. However, we have come to a point where technology doesn’t necessarily evolve physically anymore. The physical change is that your laptop becomes lighter, and your watch is now also a phone. But there won’t be an invention such as the electric guitar coming anytime soon. And we’re not going to make turntables smaller, ‘cause we can’t really lose any more buttons. Electronics are only evolving in their intelligence. AI is progressing, and bitcoin almost took over money for a while. And actual cash almost seems like a myth in some countries. But it seems we have hit our peak when it comes to physical electronic evolution in the music industry. So, what comes after the machine known as a turntable?
It seems as if younger me has gotten some answers. The culture industry seems to evolve in a circular fashion. It’s repeating itself. However, the “nostalgia cycle” seems like an easy answer. History always repeats itself. With cultural objects, it takes roughly twenty years for something to become “cool” again. Within those twenty years the cultural object firstly has to become lame, but most importantly, it has to be forgotten. Once forgotten, it can be remembered, or “refound,” and it can bring a sense of nostalgia. Oasis has reunited, heroin chic has been hot and happening for a while now, and the Sugababes went on tour last year. It’s as if we have been transferred to 2004, which to me feels as if we have collectively skipped cultural eras altogether. Or maybe I missed the comeback of Timberlands, and the gabber uniform? Or the comeback of punk, grunge and old-school hip hop?
I don’t remember us dancing to happy hardcore 10 years ago, but now I do see everyone listening to garage bootlegs while wearing low rise jeans. And I have no issue with garage bootlegs, I have been listening to garage music since the early 2000s (I do have a small issue with low rise jeans, but that’s between me and my fupa). It just feels wrong to skip culturally significant periods, while jumping immediately to one of the most culturally insignificant times of all.
Punk and old-school hip hop were a subculture with a statement. They were cultures which were born out of oppression. They were cultures having branches in many different aspects of society. “Fuck the Police” was a protest song which got the members of N.W.A. arrested, while also getting half of America to wear Timberlands, oversized clothes and become (more) aware of police brutality. Rock against Racism was a cultural and political movement which organised many rallies and benefit concerts, supported by punk bands such as The Clash. These subcultures started as music genres, but grew into proper sub-cultures, with both fashion and political statements.
What were the culturally significant moments of the 00s? Janet Jackson’s nip slip during the Super Bowl? ‘Cause that only shows the intense amount of sexism during the 00s, and the fact that Justin Timberlake is a bitch. Or Britney Spears’ whole career? Again, sexism. Kanye interrupting Taylor at the MTV’s music awards? Sexism. And of course, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, the existence of Netflix, and the introduction of Spotify, which all just portray capitalism at its finest. There was no sub-culture that came into existence as a response to the war in Iraq, or the Arab spring in general (at least in the West). No subculture that goes against the inhumane approach to the refugee “crisis.” No comeback of punk and grunge as a response to the recession of 2008. And yet, we decide to repeat the era of the 00s. Why?As a form of escapism?
Just like the first time around, 00s culture enables us to pretend everything is fine. It allows us to live in complete ignorance, while thinking that we are actually being progressive. During the actual 00s Britney and the Sugababes portrayed this “freedom of the female body” by performing in little to no clothing and “dating around.” However, this begs the question: was there actual freedom of the female body, or were we simply playing into the hand of patriarchy? Because all the women “freeing the female body” were subject to so many rules. Like, they were still incredibly skinny, mostly white, and the moment something was shown that “crossed the line” (like Janet Jackson’s nipple) they were cancelled. And I mean, isn’t Charli XCX and her Brat summer the same thing? Or Sabrina Carpenter and her “famous” changing outro to Nonsense? It’s beautiful women, who fit into the 00s beauty standards, selling themselves as this autonomous (carefree) sex object. While artists who do not have that privilege, such as Adele and Lizzo, aren’t really mentioned much in our current cultural climate. Unless people want to talk about their “crazy” weight loss. There are no signs of actual systemic change. And do women really benefit from this cultural narrative of the (carefree) sex object? It feels to me as if we are still playing into the hand of the patriarchy.
And even if you want to argue the queer rights angle…I hate to break it to you, but we are not necessarily doing better than we were 20 years ago. Yes, more countries have legalised gay marriage, however, far from all of them. And a lot of this legalisation happened in the 00s. Also, look at what we are doing with trans rights at the moment! I don’t necessarily see Troye Sivan calling for action and protest amongst the worldwide population. However, I do see Troye’s hit promoting poppers, and with that, escapism.
Most importantly, by adopting a cultural era with no crumbs of anti-capitalism or anti-colonialism, we are actively maintaining that as the status quo. In other words, we are not even giving the movements fighting for actual change a chance, simply by adopting a culture that does not acknowledge their existence. Think about Hind’s Halls from Macklemore. Although cheesy, it did call for action, or at least acknowledge those who did, in a popular cultural forum. However, after maybe two weeks of popularity, it has almost been removed from existence. Feels as if we should know better. But maybe we are okay with being spoon fed republican information, and we don’t actually care about Elon Musk doing a Nazi salute on national TV.
This lack of overlap in fashion, music and politics nowadays is actually harming the protest movements of our time. Punk and hip hop actually reached worldwide popularity and achieved conversation about serious issues because it was fun, as well as a statement. It was regenerative simply by not just being a political movement. If you needed a moment to recharge before going to the barricades again, there were plenty of ways to do so while still remaining in an activistic environment. Think about the Love Balls in the iT as a response to the AIDS epidemic and the lack of care; Rock Against Racism’s two benefit concerts as a response to the death of a protester protesting the National Front; or the concert where Bob Marley let two political enemies shake hands resulting in him winning the UN’s Peace Medal of the Third World.
This important overlap is slowly coming back. The growing electronic music scene offers benefit events, and the keffiyeh has become some sort of a fashion trend, as well as statement. However, we need to do more. Only small clubs within the electronic scene actually hold benefits, such as the Fundraising4Gaza flea market at Garage Noord half a year ago, or Club Raum’s solidarity for Palestine and Sudan fundraiser in September. Yet, these fundraisers happen too infrequently, and in the meantime, Awakenings is still just making money and ADE paid no attention whatsoever to the ongoing crises.
We need a music genre that ties itself to political statements. And it doesn’t really matter whether it’s an existing genre, or a new one. We need a genre that becomes the new trend. A genre that makes it popular to actually care about politics, and that inspires people to be active and outspoken about topics that are killing our world, while maintaining the fun of culture. And the 00s are not doing it. What they are doing is honouring toxic structures, which we really don’t need to welcome back into our already horrific world.
