The DJ Poll has been a dubious measure of popular opinion about the state of the nation's turntablists for three years now. Voting for this year's poll closes tomorrow afternoon with the final results to be announced in next week's column.
Stan (Wu from Kaohsiung) looks like the favorite so far.
The results bear all the hallmarks of the poll system, which involves mobilizing friends and supporters, and interpreting the words "fair play" very loosely. What started out as a bit of fun has changed into something a little more serious, with some pretty cut-throat tactics employed to win the title. On the one hand, it's encouraging to note just how coveted the Vinyl Word's top award seems to be. On the other, one has to wonder just whether everyone's playing nicely. And we're aware that not everyone is happy with the idea of a DJ poll. So, what's the point?
To a degree, polls have something to say about the state of society, whether that be in the serious contests which decide who governs us, or the micro-slices of our day-to-day lives such as what music defines our particular generation. Polls are routinely used to gauge just what the public thinks about this war, or that law, or the other band. They can give us lists of likes and dislikes, of what's hot and what's not. But do polls actually tell us anything useful anymore? Do we really need a list of the top three gabba-punk remixes of country and western tunes? Does the DJ poll actually really tell us who is more popular? Or does it tell us who can round up more voters? It's up to you to decide that, but what a poll like this doesn't measure is the talent needed to mix, scratch, to build a set, to react to the audience's mood, or to drag even the most tired booty out onto the dance floor. If the place is bumping, that's the best barometer. Vote with your feet, and keep on dancing.
Of course, the alternative to a DJ poll or some other list so beloved of mainstream music media, is some journalist or other coming along and telling people what's good and what's rubbish, which is essentially what this column does every week. Is this any more objective than the DJ poll? Of course not. It's less objective as it's a personal opinion, though naturally it does fall within certain parameters: it's unlikely that the Vinyl Word would retain any credibility if all it pushed was cheesy Eurotrance. But it isn't actually rigged.
Looking back at 2006, some personal favorites this year have been low-key events: after-parties with just a handful of people and the sun coming up, or grooving in a basement to a jam session. They are normally the memorable ones, the loosely organized and rough-and-ready gigs which really showcase raw talent. But, that said, some of the more meticulously planned elements of the scene deserve special mention.
Innovation has been, thankfully, in abundance over the last twelve months, and this is to be praised because it is the injection of the new that stops the old getting, well, old. Collaborations between musicians and DJs have produced some interesting results, with live electronica starting to gain a toe-hold, particularly in the capital, with Viba, Moshang, and Kay and Kollette just four of an up-and-coming crowd of experimental electronic musicians.
In clubland, the rigid distinction between residents and big name guests has been blown apart by the idea of bringing big names over as residents and letting residents on as headliners, as we have seen over several months of Luxy's Sabbatical, which has proved itself to be one of the city's most ground-breaking and consistently good nights out. And we have seen the old guard of local DJs step aside and allow new talent to carve out their own niches: Scotty Baller's increasingly regular appearances are of note in this category.
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