Ever since my first encounter with the world of dance music, I’ve found myself troubled by the fact that there’s something strangely and inexplicably off about its lyrics. Or perhaps I’m not put off by their strangeness, but rather, by the fact that there doesn’t seem to be a single soul with the ability to put a finger on what exactly it is that makes them strange. Why is it that the insertion lyrics written with the notion of performance by a band or solo artist in mind (assuming they have not been appropriate chopped and sliced) just don’t seem to cut it in a dance scenario?
In the unlikely event that you’ve spent as many sleepless nights pondering this phenomenon as I have (and in the even more unlikely event that you care at all), you’ll be happy to know that I have finally encountered what I believe to be the answer we’ve been looking for. And who do we thank? We thank the lovely Isis, of Thunderheist.
Thunderheist
It finally clicked in the midst of my getting caught up in a massive Thunderheist marathon. I thought to myself, “Damn, this girl’s vocals pack some serious punch. It almost feels like she bossing me around without ever having given me an order.” And then it hit me. She is giving orders. Nearly every lyric in Thunderheist’s tracks, or rather, nearly every lyric in all of dance music is derived from some kind of a command. And it makes sense too; Producers started off simply telling listeners to do things like work it, shake it, and move it, but naturally, time brought forth an inevitable redundancy, thus leading producers to more innovative requests, including, but certainly not limited to: “dust it off and jerk it,” “bounce hi, bounce low,” “be alright,” “cold act ill or get retarded,” and of course, “buy it, use it, break it, fix, trash it, change it, melt upgrade it.” And that’s what sets it apart. Where most other music’s vocals have a lot to do with expression of pent up emotion, dance music (though I do acknowledge more than a few exceptions) is home to a massive crowd of megalomaniacs.
Free Tickets!
Now here’s the part where it gets good. (And for those readers who’ve decided to skip ahead, this is the part where you stop scrolling). In honor of this (largely useless and uninteresting) discovery of mine, I’ve decided to issue one final command of my own: “Live It.”
The first person to send an email to Stephen@uhohdisco.com with their name and address shall instantly win a pair of FREE TICKETS to see Thunderheist at Studio B in New York City, as presented by Finger on the Pulse!
Perhaps a little sample will get your juices flowing?
Thunderhesit – Jerk It (Jokers of the Scene Remix)
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Thunderheist – Nothing 2 Step 2 (Trevor Loveys Remix)
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I’m particularly impressed with the Jokers of the Scene track. Their ability to layer massive chord progressions over tracks that were once as simple as Jerk It never ceases to amaze me.
