As show-runner for Enlightenment For Your Ears, I've become accustom to using the phrase Electronic Dance Music (EDM) to describe what, for years before, could only be terms techno. The phrase EDM has ballooned and become the synonymous term associated with techno music. It's use has especially seen such widespread use in North America, the true creators of techno and deejay-ed music. The first man to cue and mix multiple records, and therefore be deserving of the title DJ, was Ray Newby in California , in 1909. That's right, we, North Americans, are responsible for the creation of techno music and deejaying, however, as has become the case throughout history, the cultural hotbed that is Europe took over and has begun to sell us back our DJs and our techno music. Europe has be able to go as far as convincing us that our techno and deejay-ed music must be imported, despite our creation. As has become the norm, the Europeans have found a way to make techno their own.
In 2008, eleven years after the original DJ Mag Top 100 Armin Van Buuren won for a second time, and the culture and semantics of techno music would change forever. Notable French DJ Sebastien Leger used the term Electronic Dance Music to describe his style, he pledged to step away from the electro-house with which he was associate
d. "Electro-house has almost become an insult for me because there's so many cheesy records," he says. "I want to make it impossible to predict what I'm going to do next." This all comes from a place deep inside Seb Leger, a confirmed hater of flippant French donkey David Guetta, who only last year reached the top spot of the DJ Mag Top 100. This year has been monumental in terms of the backlash in response to the voting and placement of this years DJ Mag Top 100. In the 16 years of voting, there have been only eight winners, with AVB winning five, Tiesto taking three, and both Pauls, Oakenfold and Van Dyk taking two each. Single winners Carl Cox, Sasha, John Digweed, and the aforementioned greasy Guetta. The backlash from DJs and fans alike show the disdain for these DJs and the plain fact that AVB can win his fifth title, while the list of 100 is nearly impossible to crack without morally reprehensible actions such as SHM and pandering for votes. The reality is we are here/hear for the art that is EDM, a term coined by virtuoso Sebastien Leger, back in 2008.
Read more here:
Seb Leger Facebook post
Brief history of DJing
DJ Mag Top 100 - Past Winners
Electronic Dance Music
