“To know the future, you must know the past” Greg Wilson beautifully explores the ‘pre-rave’ era of dance music
Greg Wilson´s brand new volume is called Discotheque Archives. It is all about exploring the “pre-rave” era of dance music. The book is written from the personal perspective and with first-hand experiences.
The book starts narrating the origins of electronic music back in 1960, going through the underground of the 1980´s and concluding with the blown-up of raves.
Discotheque Archives Is composed of different articles from the Wilson´s original monthly DJ Mag column. “Through a series of concise articles, which first appeared in a monthly DJ Mag column, Discotheque Archives explores the pre-rave era of dance music. Placing focus on classic DJs, venues, records and labels to celebrate the giants of dance culture and illuminate its forgotten characters.”
The book follows “25 DJs, record labels, venues and tracks and includes a list of 500 key records, details Wilson’s label, Super Weird Substance.”
This book aims to teach the emerging artists and labels that know the past is essential:“By nature of the scene, dance music is very forward-looking: DJs always pursuing the next record to break, venues pushing the boundaries with sound and lighting techniques, label’s seeking out the latest artist to emerge and musicians/producers continually moving the sound forward in new directions.”
It continued: “The past is of course constantly referenced and drawn from, but this hasn’t been enough to prevent the scene often disconnecting from its roots.”
The limited paper edition contains creative illustrations from the designer Pete Fowler.
Discotheque Archives cost £15 and is available in Bandcamp.
