Meute is a German marching band that understands the essence of electronic dance music. Their rendition of Dennis Ferrer’s classic “Hey Hey” embodies everything that is wonderful about house, then takes it to the street and celebrates everything that is wonderful about live music in public spaces.
Bob noted how the best covers bring the right amount of both the covering artist and the covered artist. Meute stayed true to the original track, yet completely made it their own. Ferrer is one of my favorite house DJs but I will never hear “Hey Hey” in the same way again.
There’s one thing about the video that bewilders me. For the most part, the crowd stands with tapping feet and crossed arms. Several young women are slightly freer, but hardly anyone dances. I have no idea how the people there didn’t completely lose their minds. My dancing would have been a spectacle. Certainly not a pretty one, but it would have been a celebration of the moment.
Released: October 26, 2018
First, I liked this. It was really creative and interesting and had all the elements of a good cover. For most of the song though, I thought you might have been off about it understanding the essence of EDM. While it does have an ebb and flow that really manages the energy, plenty of genres do that. To me, what makes EDM interesting is how it uses layered tracks to make that happen. It’s the different elements moving into and out of the song, often subtly, that can be so amazing and this didn’t have that … until the last minute when it achieved it almost perfectly! I think I liked that best about it, because it was a surprise.
You raise a really interesting question about what defines great electronic dance music. You’re so right about those subtle shifts being an incredible part of this type of music, sounds that sneak in or sneak out without you even noticing until you realize their presence (or absence) has completely changed the song and moved it forward.
But that’s only one component and you’re challenging me to think about what else makes this music great. Something that comes to mind is the sense of joy and unity. Some of the most important roots in this music lead back to the parties in the ’60s and ’70s that existed because there were few safe and legal ways for gay Black men to meet up and dance. Those roots evolved into the early ’90s rave culture mantra of PLUR: peace, love, unity, and respect. That spirit has certainly been tested as mainstream genres of electronic dance music were embraced by wider audiences, but the greatest electronic dance music today still has that sense of joy and equity, of PLUR, that has defined this music since its inception.
That joy and unity is part of what makes me love this video. As I listen to and watch Meute, I see a moment where I feel that anyone and everyone is welcome to come in and celebrate being alive and together. That’s always been the spirit of the best electronic dance music and they tapped into it here.
The PLUR part is kind of lost on me. I think that is because I almost always listen to this stuff alone, so there is no community around it. That has been an ongoing issue for me and my relationship with music, but it seems like it really affects this genre in particular. It’s like, no matter how hard I may try, I may never fully get it. That’s kind of a bummer.
That’s a really interesting point. I don’t think you have to be immersed in the “scene” to get it, but then I think about all the moments where I experienced it and it was almost always live. The anger of punk comes through the stereo when you’re listening alone but the love and joy of electronic dance music doesn’t always succeed in the same way.
However, I think you do get it on an important level, even if you don’t feel like you do. Those Lazy Dog records that Ben Watt and Jay Hannan put out have moments where that sense of plur jumps out of the record. A lot of deep house is that way, where they pull in elements of gospel and touch on the spiritual without getting bogged down in dogma.
Those Lazy Dog albums are still really cool. The Julien Jabre track on the first one still transports me back to driving around in Miami. The song comes on and I am right there driving around in the hot, muggy Miami evening.