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| [HOTC018] |
As far as announcements go: this is a big one. Comments boards and forums were sent into overdrive this week as the dance music community was rocked by the latest news from the HC camp that a new Heartthrob EP (better known for his minimal techno efforts on Richie Hawtin's M_Nus label) is to be released on Hot Creations in the coming months.
A questionable decision from all parties to say the least, but we have to say we saw it coming here at TA... Ethan McNamara explains why:
Jamie Jones and Lee Foss dominated 2011 with an inescapable stream of slick disco-tinged house tracks, quickly establishing themselves as two of the most popular and powerful figureheads in the current scene - with Jones in particular picking up the coveted Resident Advisor award for World's #1 DJ. With such wide spread popularity, naturally comes wide spread hate from the so called 'underground'. We all remember the reaction to that video from Hot Natured NYE in London. With many slating it as an embarrassment, verging on 'boyband karaeoke' and the final nail in the commercial coffin for Hot Natured.
But for them to take what appears to be such a drastic change in sound is an exciting prospect. Never ones to play catch-up to their own hype, and always pushing what they would describe as a 'new' sound, we are on the verge of a new and exciting direction for Hot Creations and every label that follows suit.
Sounding like a mid-2000's minimal techno hit - the Heartthrob record is a brilliantly dark 9-minutes full of swirling industrial synths, tight metallic percussion and playful basslines. It retains some of the 'fun' element that HC have made themselves known for, without losing the credibility that an artist like Heartthrob brings. We saw the death of minimal after a slew of copycat records that left the entire genre in a generic mess of 3 minute beatless breakdowns and Marc Houle taking the piss out of everybodys pointless pitched-down vocals, and a movement towards warmer, housier sounds in recent times – could the trend now be moving full circle and returning to the sounds of years gone by?
It's ironic that we find ourselves in the biggest backlash to an electronic music genre since the rejection of Minimal in 2007/2008 which some would say paved the way for Hot Creations in itself.
I for one embrace the new direction. Thinking back only 6 months ago, House Music was in a very different state to today – with 90's sampled vocals everywhere, west coast disco leads and that same bass that has spawned so many sub-standard tracks; it feels cheesy and throwaway looking back now. With scores of DJ's coming out in opposition to the lazy productions:
House music has always been a fickle creature, and with views like this so openly expressed by major players, as soon as something becomes too recognisable (or heaven forbid 'commercial') it is suddenly cool to hate it. We spoke to Ryan Crosson (Visionquest) earlier in the week, and he gave us his opinions on this negative attitude that is currently awash in dance music circles, as streams of 'fans' slated the Cocoon In Park festival lineup for including Visionquest and well known Hot Creations supporter Seth Troxler for his second year running:
A questionable decision from all parties to say the least, but we have to say we saw it coming here at TA... Ethan McNamara explains why:
Jamie Jones and Lee Foss dominated 2011 with an inescapable stream of slick disco-tinged house tracks, quickly establishing themselves as two of the most popular and powerful figureheads in the current scene - with Jones in particular picking up the coveted Resident Advisor award for World's #1 DJ. With such wide spread popularity, naturally comes wide spread hate from the so called 'underground'. We all remember the reaction to that video from Hot Natured NYE in London. With many slating it as an embarrassment, verging on 'boyband karaeoke' and the final nail in the commercial coffin for Hot Natured.
But for them to take what appears to be such a drastic change in sound is an exciting prospect. Never ones to play catch-up to their own hype, and always pushing what they would describe as a 'new' sound, we are on the verge of a new and exciting direction for Hot Creations and every label that follows suit.
Sounding like a mid-2000's minimal techno hit - the Heartthrob record is a brilliantly dark 9-minutes full of swirling industrial synths, tight metallic percussion and playful basslines. It retains some of the 'fun' element that HC have made themselves known for, without losing the credibility that an artist like Heartthrob brings. We saw the death of minimal after a slew of copycat records that left the entire genre in a generic mess of 3 minute beatless breakdowns and Marc Houle taking the piss out of everybodys pointless pitched-down vocals, and a movement towards warmer, housier sounds in recent times – could the trend now be moving full circle and returning to the sounds of years gone by?
It's ironic that we find ourselves in the biggest backlash to an electronic music genre since the rejection of Minimal in 2007/2008 which some would say paved the way for Hot Creations in itself.
I for one embrace the new direction. Thinking back only 6 months ago, House Music was in a very different state to today – with 90's sampled vocals everywhere, west coast disco leads and that same bass that has spawned so many sub-standard tracks; it feels cheesy and throwaway looking back now. With scores of DJ's coming out in opposition to the lazy productions:
House music has always been a fickle creature, and with views like this so openly expressed by major players, as soon as something becomes too recognisable (or heaven forbid 'commercial') it is suddenly cool to hate it. We spoke to Ryan Crosson (Visionquest) earlier in the week, and he gave us his opinions on this negative attitude that is currently awash in dance music circles, as streams of 'fans' slated the Cocoon In Park festival lineup for including Visionquest and well known Hot Creations supporter Seth Troxler for his second year running:
"Ethan McNamara: see you at Cocoon in the Park Ryan! [any thoughts on some of the comments made on Facebook against the Visionquest booking?]
Ryan Crosson: Stupid punters saying we don't belong there? Maybe we should just play pounding techno with loads of effects and no musical style. Fuck that.
Ethan McNamara: Leeds is full of negativity at the moment, don't take it personal man. Atmosphere on the day will be electric, no doubt.
Ryan Crosson: I won't. Everytime we've been to Leeds the people have been amazing. If they want us to play rolling, repetitive drums we could, but fuck that. We're being asked to do what we do, so we will and it'll be fun. See you there Ethan!
Ethan McNamara: yes - respect! looking forward to it."
Take the deep druggy bass heavy sounds from people like tINI and the FUSE crew – who have even branded a entirely new string of house with the release of their 'Fusic Vol. 1' EP – they are a perfect example of forward thinking music that feels fresh and exciting in the same way that Hot Creations did this time last year. If I can understand that feeling of change then why shouldn't talented musicians like Lee Foss or Jamie Jones? It's refreshing to see a label actually recognising a backlash to their sound and moving with it - as Lee Foss spoke out recently in an interview with Resident Advisor - nothing is gained by being stubborn and sticking to a sound just for the sake of it:
“Yeah I've been asked the backlash question and I've answered it. Why would you think about the haters or the backlash at all? All you can do is improve what you do creatively. If people love the product, cool…If they don't then OK, move on…From a personal standpoint as an artist I have a plan for what I need to do to grow as a musician and I've taken those steps. As a label I think we need to work even harder. All you can do is make the best music you can and constantly evolve with what's inspiring you. Any thoughts you have about changing or not changing based on hate are counterproductive. Grow with what moves you.”
And when you take a quick look at Hot Creations release schedule it becomes apparent that this 'plan' may have been in place for a lot longer than previously thought. With huge tracks such as wAFF – Jo Johnson and the equally brilliant Cera Alba – Missing You being held back for months, whilst some tracks on the mediocre Hot Waves samplers were rushed to release within weeks in some cases, it begs the question:
'What are Hot Creations waiting for?'
Did they always know there was going to be a backlash? Maybe they saw all this coming? An intelligent business plan when you think about it - they pushed the bass music while it was hot and now they've quickly and quietly moved on as it went out of favour, using the Jesse Perez release and Deetron on the last remix package as a nice bridge between the two sounds, easing some of less clued up listeners into the New Era more gently.
Me personally - I must say I like it. Haters will be sure to brand this as just another 'fad sound' from the label, but with a new Hot Natured album set for this year including collaborations with house legend MK and a sure-fire return to Ibiza success with Jamie Jones and co. at DC10 – 2012 could be the biggest year yet for Hot Creations.
A brave statement to make in the current climate... yes. But one that we are definitely interested to see unfold.
TA
Take the deep druggy bass heavy sounds from people like tINI and the FUSE crew – who have even branded a entirely new string of house with the release of their 'Fusic Vol. 1' EP – they are a perfect example of forward thinking music that feels fresh and exciting in the same way that Hot Creations did this time last year. If I can understand that feeling of change then why shouldn't talented musicians like Lee Foss or Jamie Jones? It's refreshing to see a label actually recognising a backlash to their sound and moving with it - as Lee Foss spoke out recently in an interview with Resident Advisor - nothing is gained by being stubborn and sticking to a sound just for the sake of it:
“Yeah I've been asked the backlash question and I've answered it. Why would you think about the haters or the backlash at all? All you can do is improve what you do creatively. If people love the product, cool…If they don't then OK, move on…From a personal standpoint as an artist I have a plan for what I need to do to grow as a musician and I've taken those steps. As a label I think we need to work even harder. All you can do is make the best music you can and constantly evolve with what's inspiring you. Any thoughts you have about changing or not changing based on hate are counterproductive. Grow with what moves you.”
And when you take a quick look at Hot Creations release schedule it becomes apparent that this 'plan' may have been in place for a lot longer than previously thought. With huge tracks such as wAFF – Jo Johnson and the equally brilliant Cera Alba – Missing You being held back for months, whilst some tracks on the mediocre Hot Waves samplers were rushed to release within weeks in some cases, it begs the question:
'What are Hot Creations waiting for?'
Did they always know there was going to be a backlash? Maybe they saw all this coming? An intelligent business plan when you think about it - they pushed the bass music while it was hot and now they've quickly and quietly moved on as it went out of favour, using the Jesse Perez release and Deetron on the last remix package as a nice bridge between the two sounds, easing some of less clued up listeners into the New Era more gently.
Me personally - I must say I like it. Haters will be sure to brand this as just another 'fad sound' from the label, but with a new Hot Natured album set for this year including collaborations with house legend MK and a sure-fire return to Ibiza success with Jamie Jones and co. at DC10 – 2012 could be the biggest year yet for Hot Creations.
A brave statement to make in the current climate... yes. But one that we are definitely interested to see unfold.
TA
