Thursdays: the previous weekend has well-receded, yet the promise of a new weekend looms on the horizon. Over the past few months, I have increasingly felt that the scene in and around Canberra is edging towards a saturation point. As I nudged the tempo slider towards 170bpm at a recent set, the question danced around me: how much more experimentally, how much more vigorously, do deejays intend on charging?

It was therefore a breath of fresh air to nod off – and wake up – to the BunkerBauer set some mornings ago at the masterfully organised Woodburnia ’24. Having rallied against the wee hours of the morning to a medley of fast- and faster-paced techno, the punters were treated to a hard trance extravaganza. Imagine euphoria: that first sip of Sprite; physical touch between reunited lovers; morning sun; Ratty’s Inferno; lasers through smoke; existing in and only in the moment; mum’s spaghetti*; remembering a funny dream; and finding long-lost property.

A set can amaze you by locking you onto the dancefloor; a set can amaze you by challenging your assumptions about what belongs on the dancefloor. Neither approach is necessarily better, nor are they necessarily incompatible. X-Dream’s ‘Radio’ arguably did both, carving out a space within psytrance in 1998 that delimited goa from darker, adjacent flavours. The titular opener, with its pulsating wriggles and metallic stabs, would not sound out of place on an area127 compilation. And although the album was heralded at the time as a trailblazer for hypnotic, driving trance, it chugs along at a relatively modest pace by today’s standards (no track exceeds 150bpm, by my count). Nestled within the suite of wobbly acid lines and bouncy kicks is my personal favourite, ‘The Frog’ (Track 5), whose croaking and angelic pads lend the record a whimsical flair.

It’s albums like ‘Radio’ that handle electronic music’s tradition–experimentation dialectic so gracefully. X-Dream reminds us that basslines need not be harder, nor faster, than their predecessors to be celebrated as innovative. Scanning dance music’s progression to date and eyeing the weekend ahead, we cannot help but ask ourselves: what’s next?

*not to be confused with Eminem’s ‘mom’s spaghetti’

80

Joe Negrine

14 April 2024