remember my post from a couple days ago where i said "right now, we're lucky if whatever good clubs we have left don't get shut down"? i'm sure you do.

by far, my favorite club of all time was a club that once once named "vinyl", which is now known as arc. it was a club that was run with the philosophy that if you weren't there for the music, you were going to be bored out of your skull, because there was no glitz, glamor, or leonardo dicaprio sightseeing to distract you. this is where i had the priviledge of hearing my favorite dj of all time spin for a crowd of dancers like we were just hanging out in his living room. danny fed off of the crowd, the crowd fed off of danny, and as a result the vibe was incredible and the music was light years ahead of what every other dj was doing.

then, other clubs closed, management changed, a new crowd rushed in and the old crowd cowered in the corner in shock. tremendous renovations were done, door policy changed, the price of admission increased, and the club took on a new name. now that we've gotten used to all of that, it's announced that body and soul, a sunday afternoon party that is by far the most respected and popular party in new york city, is leaving arc. apparently it's not profitable enough for the new management, even though the club is packed to the gills every sunday (albeit for a lower door fee than is charged on friday and saturday nights).

to put it plainly, house music sucks in 2002. the hard but soulful, dark but sexy, tribal and techy sound that danny created has spawned thousands of similar sounding records that are at best boring and at worst absolutely depressing. new york, which used to be considered the creative center of house music, has only a couple parties worth the price of admission. it's a music that's found itself too strongly associated with the drug ecstacy, something that's become all too obvious by the zombie nation of kids stumbling about on the dance floors of the city.

i love house music because, when it's done right, it's the most uplifting, emotional, and creative stuff you can find anywhere. which is why this has all become so frustrating. everyone's waiting for something new to happen, even though there's no hope in sight.