Humans have the tendency to demonstrate a need to connect with one another in some form of group activity. For all communities to be psychologically healthy there needs to be a way for people to gather and exchange ideas or expressions as well as share common goals. Primitive humans spent a lot of their time sitting around fires and staring at the dancing flames & smoky forms. Anyone who has done this can understand how relaxing it can be and it gives your mind a chance to wander. It allows your thoughts to become fluid yet abstract. This is a trance-like state and in this state we have the ability to see the world from a different perspective.
Doing this in a group setting, in an altered state of consciousness (be it drugs or alcohol) and performed in a ritual type setting can, in some ways, be considered a tribal experience. Though it is packaged differently today, people continue to flock to group events where they can make some form of group connection, Be it nightclubs or sporting events or social clubs.
Rave culture had increasingly become an embodiment of modern neo-tribalism with the party as the ritual center. Although many younger ravers were unaware of the tribal roots of the rave movement, they became instinctively attracted to the rave scene because it gave them something they couldn't find anywhere else. Exceeding everything was a universal sense of the acceptance of differences amongst party kids. Raves had become a haven for people of all races, sexuality, religions and social backgrounds.
By surveying attendees at raves at the change of the millenium you could find lawyers, teachers, psychologists, high school students, drop-outs, dreamers, scammers, nurses, nerds and college students. With diversity came growth and each raver, in themself, was a special promotional piece as they often collected flyers for upcoming events and memorized what the next major party would be. The millenium had shown that this growing bubble had no signs of popping anytime soon.
The following mix was created in 2003 as a demo for a weekly event I hosted in the basement lounge of a restaurant in college, however it was only given to 10 people. The music I was playing during the early stages of this party consisted of a very tech-house selection. However my collection was not yet at the time up to date. This entire mix is strictly music from the turn of the new millenium.
LoSoul - Lies Watch Your Lift
Reactor Music - Holes In Space
Terry Lee Brown Junior - Fever
Loudeast - Thank You (Jack Mix)
Luke Slater - Body Freefall, Electronic Inform (Counterplan Mix)
Hakan Lidbo - Televinken
Get Fucked - De Icing
Rob Mello - Love Nasty
Jackmate - The Jacker
The RC Groove Project - The Sermon (B. McCarthy Remix)
Silicone Soul - Nosferatu
Brothers Vibe - Manos Libre
Homebase - Constant Love
