Madchester, Rave & New Rave

by Mar de Miguel Bonet

   Part I: Madchester

Madchester was a music scene that developed in Manchester, England, in the late 80s and early 90s. It was a mix of Indie Rock, Psychedelic Rock and Dance. Among the groups in this movement are The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, James, The Charlatans, Inspiral Carpets, 808 State and many others. From these bands I leave here a list of the more important music at that time:

The Stone Roses

Elephant Stone (Oct 1988), Made of Stone (Feb 1989), The Stone Roses (Mar1989), She Bangs the Drums (Jul 1989), Fools Gold/What the World is Waiting For (Nov 1989), One Love (Jun 1990).

Happy Mondays

Wrote for Luck (Oct 1988), Bummed (Nov 1988), WFL (Vince Clarke Remix) (Nov 1989), Madchester Rave On (Nov 1989), Step On (Mar 1990),  Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches (Abr 1990), Kinky Afro (May 1990), Yes Please! (Nov 1992).

Happy Mondays - Step On (1990)

James

Sit Down (Jun 1989), Come Home (re-recording) (Jun 1990), Gold Mother (Jun 1990), Sit Down (re-recording) (Mar 1991).

The Charlatans

Indian Rope (Feb 1990), The Only One I Know (May 1990) , Some Friendly (Oct 1990), Between 10th and 11^th (Mar 1992).

The Charlatans - The Only One I Know (1990)

Inspiral Carpets

Find Out Why (Aug 1989) , Move (Nov 1989), Life (Abr 1990), This Is How It Feels (May 1990).

Inspiral Carpets - This Is How It Feels (1990)

 808 State

Pacific (Nov 1989), Cubik/Olympic (Oct 1990), In Yer Face (Feb 1991).

808 State – In Yer Face (1991)

   Part II: Rave

Peace, Love, Unity and Respect (PLUR), this was the acronym of the original rave spirit. Unfortunatelly these values were lost with the new generations of ravers unfamiliar with this concept.

The growth of the 'Madchester' scene was little to do with the healthy house music scene in Manchester at the time but it was boosted by the success of the Haçienda's pioneering Ibiza night, "Hot", an acid house night hosted by Pickering and Jon DaSilva in July 1988. (Taken form The Haçienda article at Wikipedia)

Rave, and with it Rave Music, comes from unorganized underground partys  where you could listen and dance what a DJ was playing, normally electronic dance music such as Techno, Trance, Breakbeat, Jungle and Ambient. Later, those partys were more organized and massive.

Lights and Music  

The aesthetic theory plays a central role in the rave movement. The mixture of the different sounds to create a musical wall and the combination with lasers and stroboscopes to create a space of light and sound  perfectly synchronized brings the aesthetic of this movement to its limits.

Genres

Rave music has diversified into various different genres.

• Acid house — 808 State, Guru Josh, Humanoid, The KLF, Phuture
• Breakbeat hardcore — Acen, Altern-8, Brainstorm Crew, Bobs and Sounds, Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy, Shades Of Rhythm, Shut Up And Dance
• Goa trance/Psychedelic trance — Hallucinogen, Astral Projection
• Drum and bass/Jungle — 4Hero, Andy C, Goldie, Dieselboy

• Hardcore techno styles: Happy hardcore, Hardcore house, GabberAngerfist, Evil Activities, Dune, Scooter, Luke Slater, Dave Clarke, Darren Styles, Neophyte, Endymion, Tommyknocker, Hellfish, Vagabond
• Hard trance — Cosmic Gate, DJ Scot Project, Alphazone
• Hardstyle — Technoboy, Zany, Donkey Rollers, Luna, Dana, Isaac, Blutonium Boy
• Breakbeat — DJ Mikey Mike, DJ 303, Brad Smith and DJ Phunx

• Speed garage & bassline — Platnum, DJXP, T2 and Double 99

Downtempo and even non-dance styles that might be heard in a rave "chill-out" room include:

• Ambient music — Brian Eno, Harold Budd, The Orb and Orbital (band)
• IDM — Aphex Twin, Autechre and Mic-Chek
• Dubstep — Chase & Status, Rusko, Skream, Magnetic Man, Benga, Digital Mystikz and Burial
• UK Garage & grime — Artful Dodger, Zomby, Roll Deep and DJ Pied Piper 

   Part III: New Rave

New rave (sometimes spelled nu rave or neu rave) is a term applied to several types of music that fuse elements of electronic music, new wave, rock, indie,  techno, trance, hip house, electro and breakbeat. It is most commonly applied to an arguable British-based music scene between 2005 and late 2008 of fast-paced electronica-influenced indie music that celebrated the late 1980s' Madchester and rave scenes through the use of neon colours and using the term 'raving' to refer to going nightclubs.

The British music magazine NME popularized the term throughout 2006 and 2007, despite having claimed in mid-2008 reviews that "New Rave is over". The genre has connotations of being a "new" version of rave as well as being a play on the term "new wave". 

The aesthetics of the new rave scene are largely similar to those of the original rave scene, being mostly centred around psychedelic visual effects. Glowsticks, neon and other lights are common, and followers of the scene often dress in extremely bright and fluorescent colored clothing.

Klaxons, Trash Fashion,  New Young Pony Club, Hadouken!, Late of the Pier and Shitdisco are generally accepted as the main exponents of the genre.

Klaxons

Klaxons are a British alternative rock band, based in London. Following the release of numerous 7-inch singles on different independent record labels, as well as the success of previous singles "Magick" and "Golden Skans", the band released their debut album, Myths of the Near Future on 29 January 2007. Klaxons second album, Surfing the Void, is scheduled for release on 23 August 2010. 

Stream: 

Hadouken!

Hadouken! are an English  originally formed in Leeds, West Yorkshire after James Smith and Daniel "Pilau" Rice met at the University of Leeds. It was here they began their own record label, Surface Noise Records. After forming the label, Smith began writing and demoing the first Hadouken! tracks. In February 2007, Hadouken! self-released a two song limited edition vinyl, a double-a side of "That Boy That Girl" and "Tuning In".

Trash Fashion are a four-piece band made up of brothers Tom Marsh and Ben Marsh joined by Matt Emerson and Jim Ready. All members originally hail from Birmingham and are now based in London.

Trash Fashion -It's a Rave Dave (2007)

New Young Pony Club are a four piece rock band from London with  post-punk and New Wave influences.

New Young Pony Club - Get Lucky (2003)

Stream:

Late of the Pier are a four-piece band from Castle Donington, England. Their debut album Fantasy Black Channelwas released on 11 August 2008. They  have often been compared to artists like Gary Numan, Brian Eno, Stephen Dubrich, Bill Nelson of Be-Bop Deluxe fame, and the more contemporary Metronomy and Klaxons, mainly due to the prominent use of synthesisers in an off-kilter pop style.

Late of The Pier - Space and the Woods (2007)

CSS is a Brazilian rock band from São Paulo. The band was labeled as part of the explosion of the New Rave scene. Their songs are in both English and Portuguese. CSS is an abbreviation for Cansei de Ser Sexy , literally "I'm tired of being sexy" in Portuguese.

CSS - Alcohol (2007)

Stream: 

Hot Chip are an English electropop band. They have released four studio albums: Coming on Strong,  The Warning,  Made in the Dark and  One Life Stand.

Hot Chip - Boy from school (2006)

Stream:

Shitdisco, is a Dance-punk band from Glasgow, Scotland. They were formed in 2003 while studying at the Glasgow School of Art. Their first single "Disco Blood"/"I Know Kung Fu" was released in December 2005 and sold out quickly. Shitdisco released their debut album Kingdom of Fear on the 16 April 2007.

Until they were evicted in summer 2006, the band held free parties in a large dilapidated house on Glasgow's West Princes Street, known locally as "61". They have attracted a reputation for organising and playing free parties and raves in peculiar places; including squats, streets, abandoned railway tunnels, shipping containers and caravans.

The group have been compared to Talking Heads and The Rapture, but admit influences ranging from Donna Summer, Arthur Russel and The Prodigy to Gang of Four and The Clash.

Shitdisco - Ok (2007)

Datarock is a Norwegian electro rock band. The band formed in 2000 as Fredrik Saroea, Ketil Mosnes and Kevin O'Brien and soon hired Tom Mæland. O'Brien and Mæland later left the band, but the duo of Saroea and Mosnes continued the project.

Datarock - Computer Camp Love

That’s all folks! Enjoy this short travel to the music history and see you soon!

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