Nineties rave music measured evolution by bodily intensity and punishing extremes

Evidence

But then it is easy to forget that the Nineties was all about this kind of punishing pursuit of extremes: the beats and the bass were a test to the listener, something you endured as much as enjoyed (or had to take drugs in order to withstand). The evolution of the music was measurable in a experiential, bodily way. Beats got tougher and more convoluted, textures got more scalding to the ear, atmospheres and mood got darker and more paranoid. — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1251

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Dance music’s Nineties futurism gave way to Noughties fixation on the past — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 1247; Participants experienced early-nineties rave music as purposeful evolutionary unfolding — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 1248; Nineties dance music evolved along a linear axis of intensification that discarded its past — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 1249 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Rising BPM made Nineties techno feel physically progressive #corroborates (0.90) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1256
• Nineties dance music was affective but not introspective or romantic #expands (0.85) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1304