Sometimes I feel like my tastes in music have become way too nostalgic... It's becoming more and more rare for me to actually discover a new band or musician that I fall in love with. I think I can count the amount of times that happened last year on one hand (and I am trying to rack my brains to figure out who they were right now, to no avail). Maybe I am just relying too much on the stuff that I already know I love (and there is a lot of that), so I'm not even looking for anything new. (This means I need suggestions, for those who didn't get the hint).
Anyway, I was making a playlist on Spotify for my sister (it's HERE if you feel like listening to it) and have since been dancing round my apartment (and subsequently at work during a performance of Being Shakespeare) to The Prodigy all day. I still remember the first time I heard them, back in 1994. I think it was the first time I really got into music that wasn't rock/punk/folk/metal/goth/EBM. I was in England during my summer holiday and the video for No Good (Start the Dance) was pretty much playing on a loop on MTV (between Alanis Morrisette, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Blind Melon, Stiltskin, Gun, Blur, Oasis, Alice in Chains and that bloody Wet Wet Wet song). I loved that video (still do actually). Dark and creepy with furious dancers in an underground basement area. Kind of like a visual dance track of the parties I was used to going to. I bought Music for a Jilted Generation that summer, but pretty much only used to listen to a couple of songs off it for a while. My sister also immediately fell in love (although that was no surprise, she was already well entrenched in the underground rave scene in France).
Fast forward a few years and The Fat of the Land came out. I can't tell you how excited I was, especially after having heard Firestarter and seen Keith Flint's new crazy punkesque look and vocals. I like angry music and I like to dance, so couple anger with dance beats and it seemed like the perfect combination. Like dance music for those who are into the darker side of things. EBM and Dark Electro also worked, but there was something really refreshing about The Prodigy. There was that whole controversy about the track called Smack My Bitch Up (and the awesome video that came with it), but that just made me like them more. That track, as well as Breathe are still firm favourites of mine. In fact, I've been dancing to Breathe all day.
That said, I missed out on the album that was released in 2004 (I was too busy living an idyllic life in Israel on a kibbutz while drinking too much vodka), and I didn't even realise that they released another album in 2009. Must get on that as soon as I get home tonight... And I still haven't seen The Prodigy live, which I really need to one day.They should totally co-headline a tour with Skinny Puppy or something... Anyway, seeing as I am back in 1994 now I'm going to move on from The Prodigy for an hour and listen to some Asian Dub Foundation, just to take my mind off the fact that my sister is currently watching the Buzzcocks live at Coachella, while I am stuck at work in Brooklyn.
The Prodigy official site
The Prodigy on Wikipedia
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