Same Beat

I just don't understand the appeal of deep house music. I also don't know if that is the right description of what I went to hear on Saturday night. Kruder from Kruder and Dorfmiester was playing here. I've heard of them, but haven't heard any of their stuff before. I figured that world famous people don't play in Korea that often, so I chose to check it out with some friends. I had a great time, but it wasn't because of the music. It could have been a CD that was playing on repeat or one of my students behind the turn-tables. All I heard was a constant bass drum and some tribal drums here and there with some splashes of keyboards. I really don't understand the appeal of this music, especially in a place where drugs commonly found in clubs are non-existent. I'm not saying I take these drugs, but I've been told they tend to enhance the music. I've tried to dj a bit and understand some of the challenges of mixing two records together, but I've tried to do that with r&b, funk and jazz music. Different beats. When the beat is the exact same on each record, how can it be that hard to blend it with another? Maybe I just don't understand music. However, I would have a hard time believing that even the funkiest people ever, James Brown for example, would enjoy a night of bass drum on beat 1,2,3, and, yep you guessed it, 4. He even produced a song called "Same Beat" and that's ten times more exciting than what I heard. There was nothing else of any substance that would bring a little flavor to the music. If anyone can tell me what is fun about listening to the same beat for three hours straight, please do. It sounds a bit more like torture than pleasure to me.

Another thing I don't understand: Why do people insist on facing a dj in a club? Maybe it's different in other places (I don't go to clubs very often), but everyone in the crowd was facing Kruder, and no one could see him. He was behind a huge bar-like structure blocking most of his body and his turntables. Why not turn and dance with someone? Isn't dancing with your friends the fun thing about being in a club? I was one of the few social deviants who chose to face my friends and had a great time doing it. After the show I went back to a bar where several of my friends were and danced to Salt n' Peppa, Jamiroquai, and countless other top 40 acts. You know what, it was much more fun dancing to that stuff, and no one was watching the dj.

A friend of mine once told me a joke and I'm sure I won't tell it right, but you'll get the point. Two djs were going to see a movie. One dj asked the other, "who is the projectionist?" Think about it...