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Update – April 2023

Some of you might remember I’m writing a book about scene music – focused primarily on notable songs. The draft is current around 75% complete. So one way or another, it’s going to be finished – and soon! There’s still a few gaps in my knowledge, but knowing the people I know, I was hoping some of you might be able to help me finish this thing off.
 
So, if you think you know about any of the following (or know someone who does) and are willing to contribute a few ideas, please get in touch.
  • Psychobilly
  • Horror punk
  • Deathrock revival (i.e deathrock bands formed from the mid-90s onwards)
  • Steampunk (even if this is more of a fashion genre, there’s bands associated with it)
  • Industrial hip-hop hybrids
  • Industrial bass music (all past disagreements will be forgiven and forgotten)
  • Club-friendly industrial from the past 10 years
  • EDM that works in scene clubs (again, mainly from past decade, but the 00s area could use some help too)
  • Digital Hardcore (anyone remember that?)
  • Witch House (ditto)
Note that all assistance will be credited and I’m not asking anyone to do any writing – I’m really just asking for some playlist suggestions and a bit of fact and reality-checking.

Update – December 2022

There isn’t much Terminates Here DJ activity at the moment (none, actually), but progress on my ‘Dark Scene 500’ book continues.   I’m well over halfway through the first draft, and I’ll soon be at the stage where I’ll be asking for help.  Specifically, I will be looking for some expertise in certain sub-genres which haven’t featured heavily in my own scene experiences, but I know are too important to leave out. 

As for getting the thing published, self-publication seems to be the way to go these days.   I’m hoping crowdfunding will be a cost-effective way of paying for this, given I’m not seeking any personal financial gain from this endeavour.  As a sign of good faith, I won’t start this process until I know the text is close to the “finishing line”, given the real costs of self-publishing don’t really come into play until after the text is drafted.  

The one area where I’m really stuck, and looking for suggestions – finding an editor.  Google searching mainly seems to yield US-oriented editors practised in either academic texts or works of fiction, and this book is none of these things.  So if anyone has any ideas for how to find someone who could help get a mammoth tome about obscure musical styles written in colloquial (sometimes cynical) British English into some kind of publishable shape, please get in touch.  

Update – June 2022

Writing on the “Dark Scene 500” continues at a steady pace, with close to 50,000 words written so far. Still a lot to do, but I’m not working to any specific deadline here so no need to rush things. The aim is to get at least some of each chapter written within the next month or two, and then the overall shape of the thing will become clear.

As for DJing, I haven’t fully re-joined the circuit (as if I was in said circuit in the first place!), but I will be making a second appearance at the Work! (To Live) night in July – details are available on the Facebook page for those of you who like EBM done the ‘old way’.

Update – April 2022

After my DJing comeback in March, I’ve now turned my attentions back to writing.  The concept remains “500 songs that define a scene”, although the final title won’t be decided for some time yet.  At time of writing, just over 150 songs have received a draft write-up.    Challenges include working out a fresh ways of describing periods where many songs sounded pretty much the same (thank you aggrotech), and how to sensitively handle the whole ‘musically notable-ideologically problematic’ issue.  “Leaving those bits out” isn’t an option – re-writing history to eliminate things you don’t agree with causes more problems than it solves.  

I’m hoping to launch some crowdfunding to actually get this book published – forget about the established press.  However, as a sign of good faith, I won’t launch this until the first draft is nearly complete (probably around the 400 song mark).  It will also be the point where I hope to engage other subject matter experts on corners of the scene I haven’t personally been involved in – so if you think you know your stuff RE: digital hardcore, deathrock revival, 2010s EDM-that-had-a-scene-following or whatever it is steampunks listen to, hold that thought – we might have something to discuss!

Until then, I haven’t counted out DJing again from time to time, particularly if I get to play under-represented styles (as was the case with ‘Work!’) or have the opportunity to work up a decent genre-spanning setlist. 

If you have any interest in any of the above, get in touch!

Update – January 2022

Hi everyone, and a belated Happy 2022.  I haven’t posted much on here lately, whilst the emergence of the Omicron variant has kept me from picking up the DJing once again.  I have, however, been writing.  I’ve decided that I’ll never have time write every listeners guide I want to, so have instead decided to change course and once again attempt to write a print-to-paper book. 

This is my third attempt at such a thing, but this time I’m 20,000 words in and with plenty more to come, I’m confident of success this time.  The underlying concept is ‘Songs that defined a scene’.  I’ll reveal more as writing progresses.  As for publishing – I’m hoping that aspect can be crowdfunded, but I won’t ask for any money until the first draft is mostly complete. 

I’m otherwise alive and well, and happy to continue with this project at my own pace.  I’ll post updates when there’s news.  Until then, I wish you all the best with whatever it is you’re all doing these days.  Hopefully we’ll all meet again soon.

Listeners Guides Updated

Hello, anyone out there?

Despite the reopening of the outside world, I for one am not ready to rejoin it.  The next listeners guide is well underway at least.  However, I’ve taken a short diversion to bring two of the existing guides up to 2021 spec.  It’s a pity I didn’t have more interesting material to work with, but for those who care one way or the other, you can read what I thought of the recents Wumpscut and Fear Factory albums.  These are not ‘reviews’ as such, just updates to the story I’d already told.  

Anyway, back to the next epic.  Who was it who said “You Cannot Help, Where Your Help Is Not Wanted”?  That’s both a massive hint, and the story of the past few months.  See you on the other side.

Update – April 2021

It’s been a while since I’ve even logged into this site. Curiously, the DJ Terminates Here Facebook page is still getting likes despite me having done nothing to earn them in recent times. I thought you all at least deserved an update. I’m still alive and so far avoided the Coronavirus. However, long-running mental health issues, which are only partially related to the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have results in a severe hit to my productivity in the past year.

I’m beginning to find a route out, but it’s early days. DJ Terminates Here will as a result remain closed until it is possible for full-audience events to be safely held once more – indeed, my lack of activity and personal circumstances mean I’m unlikely to be first in-line for a real-world return. The good news is – the writing it on its way back. I have a half-finished Listeners Guide which should be published here soon.

In the meantime, I have updated the half-dozen existing guides to 2021-spec, so there’s something new to read, even if you’ll have to scroll a lot to find it.

A New Look

It’s been a while since I’ve posted much here, I’ve been working on various other projects. In preparation for my next “long read”, I’ve overhauled the whole look-and-feel of this site, making the colour scheme more neutral and freshening the look up in general.

I’ve also updated the site to work more effectively on mobile devices, on the understanding that there’s only so much one can do to make epic-length diatribes on the forgotten corners of the scene readable on a smartphone.

Anyway, some new content will be available soon – in the meantime, have a look around, there must be something you haven’t read yet.

A Listeners Guide To…

There were times in my online life where I felt the pressure to be constantly reviewing and critiquing ‘new’ music by ‘new’ bands. Certainly, this is helpful in bringing people’s attention to sounds they otherwise might not hear and gives an important ‘leg up’ to up-and-coming musicians that don’t benefit from music industry backing. And there’s a number of sites blazing that trail now.

But when I look at my recent DJ activity, I find that my natural audience isn’t in tune with this mindset. With the exception of a few recent breakthrough acts (She Past Away, Lebanon Hanover and Youth Code spring to mind), demand on request sheets is for the classics. Similarly, my bookings for specific-genre nights are usually retro of one description or another. The DJ slots where you can play the tastemaker are tied up by a fraternity I have no means of entering.

But neither do I take any joy in playing the same hits over and over. There’s a lot of bands with a lot of songs out there, and a newcomer to a particular band is going to struggle to find the best place to start with large backcatalogues. The albums might be on Spotify, iTunes, etc, but where to start? Often I’ve heard people dismiss an entire band due to having heard (unknowingly) one of their ‘difficult’ albums acquired for pennies in a second-hand dealer. So it’s time to unpick the backcatalogues of bands that have too much music to listen to in one go.

And I’ve started with a long-running favourite of mine – Project Pitchfork.