Leaderboard

I empathise with the discomfort of being forced to choose a side. No one should be forced or pressured into narrowing their sympathies (though I see no evidence of such coercion here). Nevertheless, I feel it is very important for us to understand that throughout human history art and creativity has attracted censorship of various sorts by those who see innovation as threatening and who are upset by the power of art to bring people together. Deviant artists must be controlled! I think of Shostakovich nervously smoking and fidgeting every night on the ground floor so that when Stalin's KGB came to take him away they would not take his family sleeping above. I think of attacks on the supposedly "red" and "communist" scriptwriters in McCarthyist America. There are so many other examples, it is hard to know where to stop. Unfortunately, this is true of trance culture too. Do not forget the UK's 1994 "Criminal Justice Bill" which attempted to outlaw any gatherings to "repetitive beats". The police have shut down many outdoor parties and "raves" in many different countries. Now trance culture is once again being attacked by those who are threatened by its dangerously sensual and decadent and free aspects (though they are superficially from the other side of the political spectrum). I wonder if they targeted it precisely because it is colourfully multicultural? Goa trance attempted to bring together east and west. I am sure you can see which "side" I am on. Along with my deep condolences for the many victims, I want to express my solidarity and support for music, art, creativity. I feel it is important that we never forget that there are those who will seek to turn the music off. We must not allow them to do that. We can use this dark hour to bring us together in a reaffirmation of beauty, inclusivity, and creativity. I believe that this is what our fellow dancers and dreamers who are no longer with us would want. Can we all agree that the drums don't stop? ~*~ PS - "Drums Don't Stop" is the title of a fabulous Atmos track...

There's dashcam footage of these terrorists looting bodies and rooting through bags: thieves as well as mass murderers, they hide their greed and jealousy behind resentment (for which, no doubt, many of them have good reason). Make no mistake this was a planned attack on music, just like at Bataclan in Paris not so many years ago, just like the Taliban burning guitars and drums and pianos as though a bunch of wood and wires is a threat. The self-styled pious, the self-declared righteous, the extremists, the fanatics, they all hate music because it gives joy to people without ideology. We should feel sorry for them in their silent hell. These extremists driven by hate can murder peaceful dancers, but they cannot stop music. THE DRUMS DON'T STOP!