| Deconstructed club | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Late 2000s,New York, United States |
| Other topics | |
| Intelligent dance music | |
Deconstructed club, also known aspost-club[1][2] ordeconstructed music,[1] is anexperimental style ofelectronic dance music characterized by apost-modernist approach and an abrasive ordystopian tone.[1] It stands opposed to the tropes of mainstream club styles, often dispensing withfour-on-the-floor beats and stable tempo while mixing eclectic or abrasive sources.[1]
The style was born inNew York dance parties namedGHE20G0TH1K, which started in 2009.[1] These parties featuredvoguers, punks, and fashionista,[1] took place in warehouses acrossBrooklyn andManhattan and started to radicalize the city's nightclub scene within a year.[3] The style that defined the deconstructed club movement was directly shaped by the possibilities ofCDJs, and DJ sets, in turn, have inspired producers to imitate this chaotic experimentation in their own music, creating feedback that continued to re-imagine the expectations of the dance-floor music.[4] The MP3s used by DJs onGHE20G0TH1K had a crunchy, cruddy texture while being played on a big sound system, which came to define their aesthetic.[1] Each member of the collective came from a different background, but they incorporated those differences into the mix, hybridizing a melange ofJersey club,Baltimore,footwork,grime, andballroom music, as well as elements ofhouse andtechno.[1][5] Because of Deconstructed club's relationship to vogue and prominent LGBTQ originators, the genre's identity is tied to the underground party scene in NYC and alternative queer nightlife.[1]
Artists from the labels Fade to Mind and Keysound, who mixed together rebootedballroom/vogue house,Jersey club, and the new wave of instrumentalgrime with a stark, hi-tech machine sheen are also cited by Adam Harper writing inThe Fader magazine as pioneers of the genre.[6] The term itself started circulating in the mid-2010s and was used as an umbrella term to describe a disparate, international genus of producers pushing the limits or boundaries of club music and tapping into theavant-garde.[7]
TheJam City albumClassical Curves (2012) was an inspiration on the deconstructed club scene.[8] UK musicianSophie was credited with producing pioneering work in deconstructed club andbubblegum bass music during the 2010s, influencing mainstream artists such asCharli XCX.[9]
The genre steps away from traditional and mainstream dance music tropes, such asfour on the floor beats, stable tempos, build-ups, and drops. Instead, it is identified by an aggressive, frantic,post-industrial sound design, featuring metallic or staccato sounds such as samples of glass smashing or gunshots. Deconstructed club aims for an excessive, apocalyptic-sounding soundscape, with constant rhythmic switch-ups and atonality.[1]
Deconstructed club proposes a chaotic mix and a sonic canvas whereballroom samples,field recordings,a cappella rapping and industrial soundscapes are adjusted into dance-floor music.[1] The genre is characterized by its disruptive elements and a wide dynamic tempo range, often utilizingjersey club kick-patterns,grime claps, and jitteryfootwork production to create a sensation of frenetic high-BPM tracks. In addition, tracks delve into experimental soundscapes and alternating atmospheric breathers.[1] The genre's ethos and ideas are decidedlypost-structuralist towards conventional music production and dance music.[10]
InLatin America, deconstructed club is often influenced by Latin American andAfro-Caribbean sounds likereggaeton,baile funk,dancehall, andtrival,[11] such as the work ofArca, a Venezuelan artist whose song "KLK" (featuringRosalía) has notabledembow influence. The label NAAFI in Mexico has numerous artists who mix genres such as trival and reggaeton to reformulate deconstructed club music.
The music is often accompanied by music videos with visual art. Some of the artists studied visual arts rather than music.[10] The visuals are often abstract and feature mutational, grotesque, and decomposing forms. This cross between the visuals and experimental electronic music has become so prominent that one of the key labels in the genre, PAN, has launched an imprint, "Entopia", dedicated to producing soundtracks for art installations, films, theater works, dance, and fashion podiums.[10]
The music journalist and criticSimon Reynolds called the styleconceptronica and said that "it isn't a genre as such, but more like a mode of artistic operation".[10] He contrasted the genre with 1990sIDM, saying that early IDM from those likeAphex Twin orLuke Vibert tended to be more down-to-earth, relaxing, and rife with juvenile humor, rather than demanding and intellectually charged.[10]