Live vs. Progress
Мнения · 26.01.2006
By Анна Лекс
With the development of technology in the world of DJing, playing from laptops has become hugely popular; vinyl records have been replaced by digital music carriers such as CD and Mp3 formats. Dance music performed live is going further and further "underground", and it seems this bothers hardly anyone. Not long ago in the USA five brave musician-DJs joined forces in the fight against the guys who play from laptops and hide their lack of talent behind newfangled computer turntable emulators. Now, under the banner of "DJs are Alive", The Scumfrog, D:Fuse, DJ Skribble, Static Revenger and Kristine W. will use every lawful method to fight the unjust and mistaken notion of DJ uselessness. One of the DJs are Alive tracks, "Gimme Some Love", turned out so alive and danceable that DJs from all over the world demanded a copy before the track was even finished. The final version of "Gimme Some Love" will come out this spring on Effin Records. And in February 2006 the debut of "DJs are Alive" will take place in New York, where they will play live. You can watch the rehearsal of "DJs are Alive", which took place at Kristine W.'s ranch in Las Vegas.
To the question: "How do you feel about the "DJs are Alive" idea?" - our DJs' opinions differed...
Spy.der: The point is not what you play from, but what comes out at the end. There is a worldwide belief, which sounds simple enough, that DJs play on records. In general the word "DJ" comes from disc jockey - one who plays on discs. So everyone who plays on something other than records is not a DJ; they are not doing the main thing, they are not playing with the music. And a real DJ doesn't just put on and mix a record, he works with the sound. I think that is why "DJs are Alive" put such emphasis on this, so that people don't confuse one with the other. Modern DJs are increasingly using digital sound or, to put it more simply, mp3 files, and this leads to us losing the most important thing that is valued in music - sound quality; because of this the cultural level of the listeners is lowered. What is relevant for the USA today is not relevant for us. We live in opposite worlds. It wouldn't be bad if Russian DJs at least switched to laptops, or to something else. Although someone is already playing on Final Scratch now, and there is nothing wrong with that.