Rave On: Global Adventures in Electronic Dance Music

Electronic dance music was once the utopian frontier of pop culture. But three decades after the acid house 'summer of love', it has gone from subculture to the global mainstream. Does it still have the same power to inspire? From the pleasure palaces of Ibiza and Las Vegas to 'new frontiers' like Shanghai and Dubai, raving is now a multi-million-dollar business. But there are still hardcore believers upholding its DIY ethos - the techno idealists of Berlin and Detroit and the queer subcults of New York, the post-apartheid party people of South Africa and the outlaw techno travellers of France. In Rave On, Matthew Collin travels the world to experience these unique scenes first-hand, talk to the key players and hear the story of how dance culture went global - and find out if its maverick spirit can survive its own success.

About the Author :
Matthew Collin is the author of Altered State, the definitive story of acid house and rave culture in Britain. He has worked as a foreign correspondent for the BBC, Al Jazeera and Agence France-Presse, and as editor for i-D magazine, the Time Out website, the Big Issue and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network. He has also written for many newspapers and magazines, including the Wire, Guardian, Observer, Mixmag and Mojo.

Review :
Part history lesson, part vibrant dance-floor travelogue, Collin's smart geographical survey shows how club culture mutates and adapts, its meaning changing between Detroit, Durban and the conspicuously consuming Dubai ... Between those repetitive beats, there's still a world of possibility. Ten x-rays of dance culture in ten global hotspots that lovingly trace the history of each locale's sound through its DJs, promoters and proponents ... Both scholarly and intimate ... Collin's quest is never short of illuminating ... fascinating Praise for Altered State: 'At last somebody has written the real history of the last ten years, and written it with such wit, verve, empathy and profound intelligence. I can't recommend this marvellous piece of work enough. Altered State remains the definitive story of the last decade's love affair with MDMA and mucking about in fields just off the M25 The first book to forensically document the acid house explosion ... written with the authority of the first-hander Altered State is not just timely; it was crying out to be written Matthew Collin has a reporter's eye, a critic's erudition and a fan's passion A timely deconstruction of the interests and influences shaping international dance music - but with all the fun left in ... both an intoxicating field trip and a well-argued word to the wise on (not) selling out. Rave On describes in fascinating detail how electronic music scenes bubble up in places that are in the depths of poverty, despair or unrest. The Detroit and Berlin chapters are particularly powerful... Collin's descriptions of Berlin's superclub Berghain today are particularly wonderful