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5 - Feel the beat come down: house music as rhetoric

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 September 2009

Stan Hawkins
Affiliation:
Associate Professor of Musicology Department of Music and Theatre, University of Oslo; Chief editor of Popular Musicology Online; Norwegian chair for the Nordic Branch of IASPM
Allan F. Moore
Affiliation:
University of Surrey
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Summary

It's 4 a.m. and you're speeding. On the crowded dance space, jagged flashes of strobe lighting fuse with the booming sound of the sub-bass to create a kaleidoscope of sensations. The sonic roar is driven by the fast pace of the 125 bpm beat, transporting you to a destination far removed from the grim realities of everyday life. Blood pressure rises as the temperature in the room intensifies and the beat takes control; all inhibitions are abandoned for euphoria. Lost in the music, you are aware of your feelings for all sharing the dancefloor as the serotonin in your body creates waves of depthless bliss. Suddenly the break section is upon us and the regular beat becomes layered with the amorous moans of a female vocalist lifting our emotions to a higher plateau. Next the rhythm and bass drop out leaving the voice on its own, raw, exposed, orgasmic. Flanged into the mix, pleasurable groans fill the air as the strobes dissipate into a flood of purple haze. You want to swoon, fall, float, as suspense in waiting for the return of the beat becomes an excruciating eternity. Caught in time, the crowd appears in a trance swaying with arms raised in response to the ecstatic moans of the female vocalist. Starting up again, then, slowly, the beat begins to pound through: the throb of the kick drum punctuated with stabs of metal-edged brass sounds on the off-beats. No longer are you listening, but feeling the overpowering beat as everyone starts jacking to the energy with a fluency that locks into the beat.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2003

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  • Feel the beat come down: house music as rhetoric
    • By Stan Hawkins, Associate Professor of Musicology Department of Music and Theatre, University of Oslo; Chief editor of Popular Musicology Online; Norwegian chair for the Nordic Branch of IASPM
  • Edited by Allan F. Moore, University of Surrey
  • Book: Analyzing Popular Music
  • Online publication: 22 September 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511482014.005
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  • Feel the beat come down: house music as rhetoric
    • By Stan Hawkins, Associate Professor of Musicology Department of Music and Theatre, University of Oslo; Chief editor of Popular Musicology Online; Norwegian chair for the Nordic Branch of IASPM
  • Edited by Allan F. Moore, University of Surrey
  • Book: Analyzing Popular Music
  • Online publication: 22 September 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511482014.005
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Feel the beat come down: house music as rhetoric
    • By Stan Hawkins, Associate Professor of Musicology Department of Music and Theatre, University of Oslo; Chief editor of Popular Musicology Online; Norwegian chair for the Nordic Branch of IASPM
  • Edited by Allan F. Moore, University of Surrey
  • Book: Analyzing Popular Music
  • Online publication: 22 September 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511482014.005
Available formats
×