Matthew Collin – författare

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.

'The definitive story' Q Magazine'I can't recommend this marvellous piece of work enough' Irvine WelshFrom its first publication in 1997, Altered State established itself as the definitive text on Ecstasy and dance culture. This new edition, reissued as part of White Rabbit's prestigious Deep Cuts series, sees Matthew Collin take a thrilling trip through the acid house Summer of Love and the rave scene's euphoric escalation as MDMA became a mass-market narcotic.Using a cast of memorable characters to track the origins of the scene and its signature drug through psychedelic subcults, underground gay discos and the Balearic paradise of Ibiza, Collin provides an anatomy of not only its ideologies and myths but also the criminal underside to the blissed-out image.Altered State illuminates the social history of the most spectacular youth movement of the twentieth century and its enduring impact on music, politics and popular culture.'For anyone who's ever lost themselves on some dark, dry ice-filled dancefloor . . . it's a book that conveys the very essence itself' Bethan Cole, i-D Magazine'Anyone who has played a small part in this unfolding story will want to read this book because it explains what they have lived through' Geoff Dyer, Independent'A fascinating history . . . Altered State keeps politics in the foreground even as it tells picaresque stories of rave promoters with suitcases of cash' Hari Kunzru, London Review of Books

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.

From its first publication in 1997, Altered State established itself as the definitive text on Ecstasy and dance culture. This new edition sees Matthew Collin cast a fresh eye on the heady events of the acid house 'Summer of Love' and the rave scene's euphoric escalation into commercial excess as MDMA became a mass-market narcotic. Altered State is the best-selling book on Ecstasy culture, using a cast of memorable characters to track the origins of the scene and its drug through psychedelic subcults, underground gay discos and the Balearic paradise of Ibiza, to the point where Tony Blair was using an Ecstasy anthem as an election campaign song. Altered State critically examines the ideologies and myths of the scene, documenting the criminal underside to the blissed-out image, shedding new light on the social history of the most spectacular youth movement of the twentieth century.

From its first publication in 1997, Altered State established itself as the definitive text on Ecstasy and dance culture. This new edition sees Matthew Collin cast a fresh eye on the heady events of the acid house ''Summer of Love'' and the rave scene''s euphoric escalation into commercial excess as MDMA became a mass-market narcotic. Altered State is the best-selling book on Ecstasy culture, using a cast of memorable characters to track the origins of the scene and its drug through psychedelic subcults, underground gay discos and the Balearic paradise of Ibiza, to the point where Tony Blair was using an Ecstasy anthem as an election campaign song. Altered State critically examines the ideologies and myths of the scene, documenting the criminal underside to the blissed-out image, shedding new light on the social history of the most spectacular youth movement of the twentieth century.

An expansive and illuminating account of the development of electronic music in the UK, told with passionate enthusiasm by Matthew Collin, the critically-acclaimed author of Altered State and Rave On.Dream Machines tracks the music's evolution from early avant-garde experiments after World War Two through psychedelia, art-rock and synth-pop to electronic dance music, sampling and the techno era. As well as profiling the sonic futurists who pioneered new styles, it documents the scenes and underground movements that built Britain's thrillingly diverse electronic music culture in its formative decades.Based on interviews with key players and a wealth of in-depth research, Dream Machines explores genres as diverse as space rock, electro-pop, ambient, dub, industrial music, prog, electro, hip-hop, hi-NRG and house, highlighting how developments in British electronic music were shaped by changes in society as well as technological advances.

1997 verfasste Matthew Collin zusammen mit seinem Kollegen John Godfrey mit Altered State - Im Rausch der Sinne das Standardwerk über die damalige Dance-Kultur, ihre Ursprünge, ihre Einflüsse und ihre verschiedenen Gesichter. Heute liegt der zweite "Summer Of Love", als Ende der Achtziger Acid House die Welt eroberte, dreißig Jahre zurück, und pulsierende Beats und hedonistische Partys sind in der westlichen Welt längst Teil des Mainstream-Entertainments geworden. Grund genug für Collin, sich einmal genauer anzusehen, wie sich die Szene von einst gewandelt hat - und auf dem Globus nachzuspüren, ob sich die innovative Kraft der Beats andernorts vielleicht noch ihre einst so subversive Energie erhalten hat.Und so nimmt Collin die Leser mit in Dance-Metropolen wie Detroit oder Berlin, wo etwa die Techno-Idealisten im Berghain immer noch den alten Geist des Genres beschwören, während "Raving" anderswo längst zum Big Business geworden ist: In Las Vegas bestimmt die Höhe des Eintritts den Platz im Club, und in Shanghai werden die Tanzflächen immer kleiner, um den reichen Selbstdarstellern an den kleinen Tischchen mehr Platz fürs Posing zu bieten. Doch als Mittel zum Ausdruck eines individuellen Lebensgefühls ist Dance dennoch nicht passé: Das beweisen die jungen, innovativen Szenen in Südafrika oder die Techno-Outlaws in Frankreich. Collin ist durch die ganze Welt gereist und stellt die neuen Keimzellen frischer Ideen in China oder den Vereinigten Arabischen Emiraten den altvertrauten Dance-Hochburgen gegenüber.Seine Porträts der jeweiligen Szenen sind das Resultat akribischer Recherche vor Ort, und sie basieren auf Interviews mit aufstrebenden DJs und Promotern, detaillierten Beobachtungen und fundierten Schlussfolgerungen. "Das Buch sollte eine Reportage aus erster Hand bieten und beschreiben, wie es aussah, wie es sich anhörte und wie es sich anfühlte, dort zu sein", sagte er dem International DJ Magazine. Das ist Matthew Collin meisterlich gelungen. Er verschließt nicht die Augen vor Diskriminierung und Gentrifizierung, ohne sich aber auf die kulturpessimistische Einstellung zurückzuziehen, dass früher alles besser war. Rave On ist nicht nur eine Bestandsaufnahme aktueller Dance-Trends geworden, sondern eine kritische Liebeserklärung an die Beats, temporeich, bunt und ungeheuer informativ.