Analysis of "Let's play" by Crystal Distortion: the paradoxes of a bit of the free party

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to understand the musical meaning of a production of so-called underground techno music. Through the analysis of "Let's play" by Crystal Distortion, a famous artist from the free party trend (or underground techno trend), one examines the painful coexis­tence of the utopian values of the movement, tremendously weakened today, with the unavoi­dable commercial status of the record in which the composition appears. The confrontation could be frontal, as one of these essential values precisely is the refusai of consumer society; but one detects, through different analyses, numerous strategies aiming at hiding the commercial side coupled with the track. Indeed, all what puts a work in situation contributes to its meaning. We will devote time stating some of the aspects of the free party movement, discovered through a long period of specialized work and many observations: the presentation of the values of the free party movement; its historical background; how Crystal Distortion is considered by the actors of the movement; and also the fact that it sells this production on CD (while most pro­ductions usually are printed on vinyl disks, as they are to be mixed by DJs). After that, we will examine the elements that make up the CD's jacket, to end with the internai analysis of the pro­duction, in relation with the previous layers of analysis.