Going to Miami: How IDM conquered the USA

[auxien]

The story of IDM in the USA begins in Miami, a city tucked away at the bottom of the eastern seaboard and, by the early ’90s, flush with drug money and violence amid a population of retirees and growing immigrant Latino communities. The benefit of being a geographical cul-de-sac is you can do what you want. And what Miami wanted to do was dance: disco in the ’70s, electro and its own Miami bass in the ’80s, and raving in the ’90s. Rough and rugged, with weather as hot as some of the temperaments, Miami is a town that has always liked to get down. It’s also a town with a penchant for looking to the future. As the sexy robotic prophecies of Miami Bass subsided, booming subs and scratched lasers still echoing on the radio and in clubs, IDM signaled a new way forward with cuts, bleeps, and awkward grooves.

 

http://www.factmag.com/2018/03/01/idm-usa-history-machinedrum-prefuse73/

 

Long article I haven't read yet, figured it would be good to set here though.

[Extralife]

Thank you for this. I’ve been a Schematic die-hard since ‘99. Great story about an amazing scene.

[sweepstakes]

Good to see some copious nods to Farinas... he's one of the biggest unsung heroes imo. Cash still sounds like the future to me but maybe it just sounds like the 90s to everyone else.

[ignatius]

will have to give this a gander.. grew up in miami but left in 1997... though came back often. bought richard coleman devine EP from Specs music on south beach and was stoked on the discovery. Bruce Wilcox (RIP) ran the dance dept there and stocked lot's of good shit. 

 

there were lot's of little corners of coolness for electronic music back then.. before south beach got totally over run by $$$$$$.  

[Rubin Farr]

I used to drive down to Y&T records all the time in the 90s for the dance dept.

[Extralife]

Wasn’t somebody mentioning PBO was coming out with a new album this year?

 

Also dying for som new music by Josh and Rom...

[joshuatxuk]

This looks fascinating. Skimming it I realize how PBO and Prefuse 73 were such a bridge between 90s/early 00s glitch and IDM and later 00s beat scene stuff and wonky (i.e. Flying Lotus and his peers)

 

Glad FACT is doing features like this, same with Quietus, R.A. and RBMA (who had an excellent one about 90s London techno and ambient house)

[ignatius]

I used to drive down to Y&T records all the time in the 90s for the dance dept.

 

 

that place was great for a long time.. then one day the owners got fed up with the work.. and they put up signs everywhere "Don't listen to a stack of records if you aren't going to buy any" and such other bullshit.  it cut down on my visits there.. by the time i was into buying records all the time i had moved to san diego which had a gem of a shop w/big sections for Warp, schematic etc.. a goldmine. rad staff too.. 

 

Specs in south beach was actually really good for a while too. many great finds there. 

 

Miami still has its charms and seems to be equally terrible and awesome for me... love hate relationship w/my hometown is in full effect.. 

 

there was a full on IDM night at a place in south beach.. wednesday nights i think.. went on for a while.. when LP5 came out Acroyear used to drop in the mix to big wows/whoas from the crowd. 

 

somehow i missed that Ae show that was on the beach.. the one that has a flyer in the article. 

 

it's nice to see miami getting some love for the bass and electronics.. every so often it gets the nod in some way. i miss the bass. 

[cloud capture]

Edgar used to work at y&t.  Half of my vinyl was from there, specs, or uncle sams.  There are some discrepancies in the article, but I'll chalk that up to history & the fact that every person involved is inherently a thug.  Especially edgar & rom.  But still really good dudes.  It's more the shittiness of Miami seeping into the blood. I'm also glad to see when Miami gets some props, and it makes me very appreciative for growing up there.  There were raves everywhere, but South Florida was all about dancing, and the idm/breaks/electro shows it.

[ignatius]

Edgar used to work at y&t.  Half of my vinyl was from there, specs, or uncle sams.  There are some discrepancies in the article, but I'll chalk that up to history & the fact that every person involved is inherently a thug.  Especially edgar & rom.  But still really good dudes.  It's more the shittiness of Miami seeping into the blood. I'm also glad to see when Miami gets some props, and it makes me very appreciative for growing up there.  There were raves everywhere, but South Florida was all about dancing, and the idm/breaks/electro shows it.

 

 

yeah.. definitely about the bass, breaks etc.. i graduated highschool in 89 and when i was in 7/8/9 grade break dancing was massive. the local roller skating rink (sunshine skateway) was mecca for breaking.. people would go there.. not rent skates.. and break dance battle. 

 

uncle sams!  i used to buy future music from there on my lunch break.. i worked at the Wolfsonian Museum on 1001 washington for a few years so would squeeze some record browsing when i had time. 

 

miami was a great place to grow up in the 70s/80s and some of the 90s. ft lauderdale (the edge) and before that all the places in south beach.. future shock, bee hive, and shit.. what was that other place??? The Cave or something???  oh.. and the rave shop on washington owned by that guy Paul or Paulie from NYC.. i think it was called Area 51.. he sold records too.. went in there one day and he was playing squarepusher on vinyl and i had the come to jesus moment of "WTF is this??" and paid $29 for import version of CD of Feed Me Weird Things because the fucking USA version wasn't in yet. 

 

i'm very appreciative of growing up there as well... so diverse. i miss that. oregon is fucking white as hell most of the time. 

[cloud capture]

I'm maybe 3-4 years younger than you, but I recall one of the biggest influences on my music influences was the edge in ft lauderdale.  Specifically that huge back patio chillout area.  So much great music and a hybrid of break dancing to early autechre, spacetime continuum, human mesh dance, soul oddity.  And then all the idm being intertwined with bass and ambient.  That place was a real treat for me.  Doors open at 4am full on every Saturday night and went until noon Sunday.  And then most Sundays another rave would start at noon somewhere nearby on the beach tucked away in mangroves.

 

That's pretty cool that you are in Oregon now.  I lived there for a few years.  I don't know if I'll ever see the earth and be in such awe again as I was in the pacific nw

[Extralife]

I'm maybe 3-4 years younger than you, but I recall one of the biggest influences on my music influences was the edge in ft lauderdale. Specifically that huge back patio chillout area. So much great music and a hybrid of break dancing to early autechre, spacetime continuum, human mesh dance, soul oddity. And then all the idm being intertwined with bass and ambient.

This sounds amazing. Best I had was the discman and cheap headphones in my teenage bedroom.

[ignatius]

the edge was a special place for a good while. 

[Rubin Farr]

Oh shit I forgot uncle sams. Top shelf.

[Goiter Sanchez]

Really inspiring read!

Wasn’t somebody mentioning PBO was coming out with a new album this year?

Yeah that was probably me. Edgar has been posting new clips on FB and mentioned to me that new material is ready for release!

[sweepstakes]

oregon is fucking white as hell most of the time. 

Yes lol. I love visiting Portland but the whiteness starts to weird me out after a couple hours. 

[Lada Laika]

 

oregon is fucking white as hell most of the time.

Yes lol. I love visiting Portland but the whiteness starts to weird me out after a couple hours.

This is true for the entire PNW. I moved to Seattle from Chicago and my literal first thought walking around downtown was “where the fuck are all the black people?”

[ambermonk]

 

 

oregon is fucking white as hell most of the time.

Yes lol. I love visiting Portland but the whiteness starts to weird me out after a couple hours.

This is true for the entire PNW. I moved to Seattle from Chicago and my literal first thought walking around downtown was “where the fuck are all the black people?”

 

That reminds me. Coming back home from studying abroad after nearly a year (Japan in my case)...I felt so out-of-place around the white majority. True taste of reverse culture shock. (Seattle was my first point of entry back to the US in August 2008)

[hello spiral]

That centre label pictured at the top of the article is the first thing I put on my record player after setting it up in my new place last week :^)

Look forward to reading this later.

[sweepstakes]

 

 

oregon is fucking white as hell most of the time.

Yes lol. I love visiting Portland but the whiteness starts to weird me out after a couple hours.

This is true for the entire PNW. I moved to Seattle from Chicago and my literal first thought walking around downtown was “where the fuck are all the black people?”

With Portland it's not even that such a huge majority of people are white, it's that they're SO white. I feel this omnipresent aura of, like, plaid socks.

[Richie Sombrero]

You should see Northern Ireland. Rappers must think they've come to a clan meeting at gigs.

[Extralife]

Just discovered Gosub after all these years through this article. Thanks, FACT.