Russia, December 12, 1997
Russian DJ's Try Disco
No shout-out to the Moscow DJ's!
Last night, well actually early this morning, I went to a club called Pilot. It was cool, not as cool as some clubs I've been to, but it held its own. With a strip tease, video screen, and an actual airplane hanging from the ceiling, it had atmosphere. Unfortunately it also had a local DJ.As far as I can tell, there is good music here, I've seen it at Fili Park and I've heard it on the radio, though I am still searching for it in the clubs. Ok, the clubs, on occasion, do play good music, Pilot did for a bit last night, but on the whole, any good song is destroyed by the DJ. Their style is horrible!
A good DJ will have a selection of songs that give a certain energy to the dance floor. In a random club it is usually slow song, followed by progressively faster songs, ending with a very popular and danceable song. Then the DJ will pick a bit slower song and work down the list until he is back with a slow song, never repeating himself in the night. A good DJ will also mix the song together so you cannot tell where one ends and the next begins, leaving you with the impression of one continuous song progressively changing.
None of these rules apply here. Many DJ's firmly believe in playing "Prodigy," "Staying Alive," "Jump," and "I Will Survive," in one night, in that order. You never know what speed or tempo the next song will be, with DJ's jumping all over the musical spectrum without notice, but with extreme repetition. I once heard the exact same sequence of four songs twice in one night. Last night the DJ at Pilot enjoyed putting slow songs, as in slow dance songs, in between rave and techno songs. What a contrast! He was better than average in mixing the songs reasonably well, unlike the Propaganda DJ who even leaves a moment of silence between each song.
I would love to import a good DJ from the States for a month, just so the local DJ could listen and learn. The Moscow club scene would be all the better with a good DJ education. Calling DJ-3 and Masterful Mike!