I'd put off reading this book for a while because of the "EDM" subtitle, "How Electronic Dance Music Conquered America." Call me old fashioned (or simply old), but I don’t care for the Skrillex/Deadmau5 generation of music. I like my dance music spun on vinyl w/ two turntables and a mixer. I come from the Detroit/Berlin school of techno and the Chicago/New York school of house, where the DJ doesn’t jump around on stage and act like a rock star. Needless to say, the subtitle of the book alone made me tentative about reading it. I’d enjoyed one of Michaelangelo Matos’ books before, however, his 33 1/3 book about Prince’s Sign of the Times, so I thought I’d give this new book of his a chance. After all, it’s not often a book of this scope comes along. Dan Sicko’s Techno Rebels had been published back in 1999. While still required reading for Detroit techno heads, the stories in that book have since been told time and time again. Simon Reynolds’ Energy Flash (aka Generation Ecstasy) is another touchstone, but it too has gone out of date. I tried reading it again recently, and the glamorization of Ecstasy there is off-putting, not to mention the championing of sub-sub-niche genres specific to the U.K. that anyone under age 30 has probably never heard of and never will. The other touchstone book in the “techno” cannon is Last Night a DJ Saved My Life, a great book but, again, focused on the distant past and New York-centric.
Now along comes The Underground Is Massive, which spans the early Chicago/Detroit scene of the 1980s to the EDM era, wrapping up w/ Daft Punk’s Grammy win in 2014. The chapters are centered on specific events in history, generally a club, rave, or festival that ushered in a new era. The three chapters centered on Detroit – the Music Institute, November 24, 1989; Richie Hawtin’s Spastik party, August 13, 1994; and Detroit Electronic Music Festival, May 26-29, 2000 – were of particular interest to me. I was thrilled to see all the interviews that Matos drew from, particularly Rob Theakston and Joshua Glazer, two of the most bleeding-heart techno guys out there. As someone who was there (for the mid- to late ‘90s, at least), I can tell you that this is very much the true story, the Detroit part at least. Matos spoke to the right people, researched the right archives (i.e., the Hyperreal.org mailing lists were vital back in the day), and focuses on the right events. Plus, he rattles off discograpical information left and right – probably too much so for casual fans who don’t know Carl Craig from Derrick May, or Richie Hawtin from Plastikman, but on the other hand, record collectors and DJs should take notes while reading, as there's wealth of information here. The appendix of DJ mixes itself is reason enough to keep this book on your shelf for reference. In the end, these three aforementioned chapters alone prove to be essential reading for Detroit techno historians.
Of course, not everyone is into Detroit techno – precious few, in fact. As for those looking for the “EDM” angle as teased in the book’s subtitle, I suspect they may be disappointed to discover that the term doesn’t even come up until chapter 17 (page 340 of 382 in my Kindle edition), Electric Daisy Carnival, 2011. I must say, this pleased me (the glossing over of "trance" too). I’d read every page of the book to this point, and I wasn’t about to stop, so I pushed forward to the end. I’m glad I did because I understand the EDM phenomenon better now. Can’t say I’m itching to listen to Skrillex, but at least I have a better concept of why he’s as popular as he is. In any event, it was my sense that these last few chapters differ from the rest of the book. For one, the discographical minutia goes out the window. Matos breezes through post-2010 history (if it even counts as “history” yet) at a much faster clip than he does earlier in the book, and at times, there is a hint of dismissiveness. For instance, Daft Punk circa ’96 are framed as game-changing, whereas Daft Punk circa ’14 are framed with considerably less reverence. My sense was that this post-2010 part of the book wasn’t Matos’ favorite part either but rather the book publisher’s. In 2015, "EDM" is the new "electronica"; "techno" and "house" are passe, the province of old-school curmudgeons. In fairness to Matos, he uses the Introduction to pretty much say, this is my book (i.e., my subjective take on the subject matter), and if you don’t like it, write your own because I can only fit so much in this one. Hopefully others are motivated to take up the challenge because you can't please everyone w/ books like this -- too much music out there to cover in a 400-page book and tastes vary from region to region.
I enthusiastically recommend The Underground Is Massive to anyone curious about the 1980s/1990s, especially anyone interested in the Chicago, Detroit, New York, and California scenes – or the Midwest raves scene, which gets far more attention here than I’ve ever seen elsewhere. The late-'90s "electronica" era also gets a fair examination, Moby in particular. Don’t let the EDM subtitle dissuade you; this is a history book for house/techno heads. Personally, I would have liked to see more discussion of the Detroit-Berlin connection. I suppose that’s another book, though (perhaps the recent Tresor oral history that to my knowledge hasn't been translated to English yet). Selfishly, I’d like to see even more exploration of the Detroit scene, more quotes from guys like Dean Major (i.e., Syst3m), dare I say “shady” guys who were major players but never really came out from the shadows, presumably because what they were doing wasn’t entirely legal (surprise, surprise). That’s another book I’d be keen to read some day, a behind-the-scenes oral history about the most legendary rave parties described in Matos' book, from the point of view of the promoters and DJs as well as the partiers and -- now this would be cool -- the police who had to go bust up those parties every weekend. Another angle might be the How Music Got Free approach, where the story is told from the perspective of a few choice insiders, some of whom were on the wrong side of the law. The chapter about Even Further '96 is kind of like that, and it's something of a horror show on several counts, a parent's worst nightmare. As we await further books like this, The Underground Is Massive is a valuable addition to the cannon, up there w/ Techno Rebels, Last Night a DJ Saved My Life, and antiquated or not, Energy Flash. I'm already looking forward to a revised, extended edition in a few years' time. This easily could have been double the length it is, probably triple if it were to drill down deeper into the post-2010 era.
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Reviews with images
My book arrived perfect. Clean cover
My book arrived perfect. Clean cover, no bends or frays. I was hooked upon reading the first few page excerpts.I loved the photos included and the in-depth history and knowledge by the author in regards to house music, EDM, techno, and legendary DJs and producers.I was honestly wishing the book would never end.
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Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2016
My book arrived perfect. Clean cover, no bends or frays. I was hooked upon reading the first few page excerpts.
I loved the photos included and the in-depth history and knowledge by the author in regards to house music, EDM, techno, and legendary DJs and producers.
I was honestly wishing the book would never end.
I loved the photos included and the in-depth history and knowledge by the author in regards to house music, EDM, techno, and legendary DJs and producers.
I was honestly wishing the book would never end.
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Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2017
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Customer
Really informed. The author knows his stuff. In ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 30, 2016