[Closed] MDMA - to treat depression?

Not just the old tunes! There's a wealth of awesome new dance music out there these days!
The scene may not be what it was (I blame the rise in popularity of coke & ketamine as much as anything,) but the music is still stunning!

Sorry this thread needs a soundtrack

Well, if we're getting into that....

Might as well join in then...

I'll not get invlolved in posting tunes I love, if you don't mind. The thread will be 100 pages long in no time! 😉

Anyway... 😉

MDMA to treat depression?
Possible I suppose. I'm convinced it's had a lasting (positive) mental effect on me, so I can see how it could work. Obvioulsy though, people are affected differently - I know a few people over the years who should never have dabbled, but that's the same with anything that alters your conciousness, I guess.

There's a wealth of awesome new dance music out there these days!

+ 1, and not just EDM.

general quality of music is up from the late 80s - then you bought an album expected maybe 2 good tracks on it plus fodder, nowadays albums are much more consistent.

It is just a shame that peoples expectations of quality are so low that they get away with compressing the hell out of produced music, so it sounds good in cars...

On that docu by Idris on dance music it hinted at the society changing effects of mdna.

I am not denying any effects of mdna, but as a dance music fan since the age of 14 I found looking at dancefloors of people using it as somewhat sad, they danced to anything and thought it fantastic and all started whooping and cheering as they thought the dj was 'in the mix' when in fact the record has just reached a break. Contrasted badly to what I regarded a proper club as.

Detroit techno, chicago house, NY garage was definitely not produced with these drugs in mind, if you think so then that is proof of the aftereffects of the drug.

A classic example:

A lot of the euro style techno definitely was produced to target white boys out of their heads on something, 'cos a lot of it was mindless, lowest denominator, and formulaic, with a faster tempo to help these guys dance, as they had problems with normal dance music, or even house.

Having said that most of it was good, and could well be elevated to great if the right memories are associated with it.

My memory is shyt these days - I was wondering if the excesses of those days had owt to do with it. Proffesor Nutt sez not tho

This may sound odd given my previous comments, but for things like depression I tend to err on the side that questions whether drugs which mess with your brain chemistry are a good idea.

As far as I know there's just not enough known about either depression or the effect of the drugs at a chemical level to go messing about with it.

Our scene back in the day!

"normal dance music"

Think you've said all you need to say right there.

Fantastic. I think I've met you back in the day TG. Was it compulsory for you to change whichever uber-niche genre of music you were into on a weekly basis? So you could dismiss anything else as just commercial shite, for people off their tits?

Detroit techno, chicago house, NY garage was definitely not produced with these drugs in mind, if you think so then that is proof of the aftereffects of the drug.

I was never a fan of old Detroit Techno. I've seen Juan Atkins, Robert Hood, Kevin Saunderson etc and found their sets really flat, ploddy and boring. (Apart from Jeff Mills and Richie Hawtin - if you include them - who were far more lively and entertaining.)

Much prefer Sven Vath, The Advent, Chris Liebing, that kind of vibe and in lesser amounts the Liberator DJs and the rest of the SUF crew for the odd dip into the grimy squat party vibe..

Binners were you at The Hacienda for the performance a year [ish] after he died?
We must have been in the same clubs at the same time apart from Flesh - best keep that one in the closet eh 😉

There was a also a wedding of staff from the Hacienda at a Youth hostel Yorkshire way??? Did you go - hell it may even have been yours i did not know the bride or groom

Just looking an old flyer £2 before 9 and £3 after! 🙂

Erm.... a lot of it is a bit...erm... 'hazy' from back then. 😳

There's an amazing video on Youtube from Atomic Jam at the Que Club in Brum back at the peak of the techno scene in 1996, with loads of people I remember. I'm in there at 11.40ish, complete with pony tail and manic chewing gum action!
Still gives me goosebumps watching it.

I was there, was pretty much at the Que every weekend as there was always something going on.

Will have a proper look at the video tonight, see if I can spot myself trying to dance 🙂

Yay Haze! My brother is on there too and loads of old mates!

Couldn't figure out how to embed it though, so there's just that link.

Don't think i'll ever go for a night out in a quarry again....

Cybotron is an interesting one, for me more associated with early electro hip hop of the 80s, like Hashim, Planet Patrol and other Arthur baker productions, all inspired by Kraftwerk. It's not got the standard 4x4 kick drum, like techno house or disco which worked so well with MDMA. Awesome tune and still a regular on my ipod.

I was a dj and club promoter from many years , my experience was that at first MDMA taking was very discrete, you knew people were loved up but it was special and exclusive, people got a real buzz if there was a new 'E' in town, remember Doves, then there we're capsules Dennis the Menace, it all went a bit wrong when K and coke became the drug of choice, I think it's was dealers preferring to sell a gram of naughty chalk for £50 rather than a pill for less than £15, I understand E's are even less than that now?

all started whooping and cheering as they thought the dj was 'in the mix' when in fact the record has just reached a break

lolol...

personally speaking, I believe the whooping and cheering was for the enormous full body rushing sensations that the break induced..

I remember at one of the best parties I went to, there was a plate of spaghetti bolognese on each turntable and the 'DJ' was a travellers dog that was enjoying the feast.. (DATs being wonderful things)

I think as a rule, most people couldn't have cared less if the DJ was mixing a record or constructing an airfix kit of a boeing 747..

I call your posts.. TROLL!!

I understand E's are even less than that now?

last time I did any they were about 50p each..!!

it all went a bit wrong when K and coke became the drug of choice

Amen to that, brother! 👿

[quote=dazh said]Once you've experienced dance music on E / MDMA, a whole new perspective opens up, that's there forever.
+1.
Without wanting to exaggerate, it changed my life. I was 19 back in the mid-90s, going through uni and preparing for a future of career-driven drudgery the minute I graduated. Then some mates suggested I go to a techno night called 'Havok' in Manchester with them. The next few years were a bit of a blur, but it opened by eyes to a whole new world which most people don't even realise exists.

Out of interest, how did your uni period end up ?

I remember being blown away how the DJ could blend Afrika Bambaata with Pink Floyd - a few months laterthe Bassheads tune was out lol

Yunki wrote:

personally speaking, I believe the whooping and cheering was for the enormous full body rushing sensations that the break induced..

I loved the hands on the back of the head slowly exhaling as that warm fizziness washed over you, moments - especially when you made eye contact with someone at just the same stage of their rush. Bliss!

A life changing moment for me, 1989 Energy at Brixton Academy. Frankie Bones played this, still gives me goosebumps, as does the smell of dewberry oil, which all the girls seem to be wearing. Good times 😀

I was never a fan of old Detroit Techno. I've seen Juan Atkins, Robert Hood, Kevin Saunderson etc and found their sets really flat, ploddy and boring

I always feel a bit guilty for not liking the Inner Life stuff - in fact anything that doesn't have some element of 'soul' to it, which some of the techno seemed to lack.

Fantastic. I think I've met you back in the day TG. Was it compulsory for you to change whichever uber-niche genre of music you were into on a weekly basis? So you could dismiss anything else as just commercial shite, for people off their tits?

no, I have always liked nearly all forms of dance music, with some techno styles being least favorite maybe. Always had a bit of a problem with grime though. It is good to see a talented DJ build a crowd up into a frenzy, rather than have it done for him.

Clubbing tailed of post Uni with the onset of tinitus so I only caught in anger the initial uptake of chicago house, techno, uk hoouse like hardrock soul movement, etc.

Went to see Kode9 recently but couldn't make it to the early morning hour because of the sound pressure levels, even with earplugs and locating the 'quietest' place in the Koko which is behind the left staircase.

Don't mind commercial, do mind lowest denominator cr@p.

this should cheer you up then TG you grumpy old sausage.. 🙂

Just to bring it up to date, some very good techno being produced in 2012, play loud and let it build.

who would you rather meet down a dark alley a stoned lad who can hardly keep his eyes open or some pissed toilet wi a chip up his arse?

Ah yes the old hypertheticlal question to justify something.

Who would you rather meet in a dark alley. A stoned up person having a psychotic drug induced episode or the happy drunk singing and laughing?

It is good to see a talented DJ build a crowd up into a frenzy, rather than have it done for him.

That's where it's at. Slow burning sets, where you don't realise how the music has been evolving and building until all of a sudden it dawns on you... OMG!!!!! 😮

There's an amazing video on Youtube from Atomic Jam at the Que Club in Brum back at the peak of the techno scene in 1996, with loads of people I remember. I'm in there at 11.40ish, complete with pony tail and manic chewing gum action!
Still gives me goosebumps watching it.

The Que club, such an amazing place from 95-2002, the first Atomic Jam I went to was in 96 - Atomic Jam vs Megadog, Jeff Mills in 97 was stellar!
House of God was where it was really at though ( I still go to the one or two they put on a year )

I wasn't so much into H.O.G. (Went to a few at the Dance Factory / Subway City & The Que) although I do remember a spectacular NYE one at the Institute!

After the Jam, Spacehopper was my favourite night, for a bit of Goa Trance!

Ah yes the old hypertheticlal question to justify something.

Nothing is safe in that sense but the hypothetical Q makes the point that alcohol makes folk angry [ on average] and more likely to fight than other drugs do[ on average].
Clearly other factors come into play as well.

Clearly other factors come into play as well.

yes, they are morons...

[watched some 999: what's your emergency last night - unbelievable.]

Out of interest, how did your uni period end up ?

Scraped through with a 3rd, then spent the next 2 1/2 years on the dole going to free parties in and around Manchester. By the time I got a job when I was 25 I was a little behind the curve on the career front and still am 🙂

I wasn't so much into H.O.G. (Went to a few at the Dance Factory / Subway City & The Que) although I do remember a spectacular NYE one at the Institute!

Christ, think I was at that one too...you didn't end up in a cake shop over Moseley way the following morning by any chance?!

@ Haze.

No, but I think most of the morning was spent waiting for the cloakroom fiasco to sort itself out! 😆
My brother and I did go back one morning to a house in Moseley that a chap called Tom we used to know (he was a friend of DJ Ben Kenobi(?)) shared with a couple of mates.

If you are after a more "deep" affair the may I suggest some deephouse, my mate LukeVegas on Soundcloud or Podomatic will furnish your ears with some sound.
Then theres Room84 Podcasts (soundcloud or itunes)
Oliver Schrones
Javier Orduna
Gert

And the Berlin lot of course, can't forget them now can we.

True but iirc 75 % of domestic violence involves alcohol, 50% of all violence involves alcohol and A & E is full of drunks with fighting injuries

Yeah it does but what is more readily available, alcohol or illegal drugs and which is the most consumed?

Ah yes, the Que Club, that was a hell of a venue. All kinds of odd rooms and corridors, very confusing when you perhaps weren't as aware as you could be!

Did anyone else attend the legendary Sundissential? Or Storm at The Emporium in Coalville?

Yeah it does but what is more readily available, alcohol or illegal drugs and which is the most consumed?

You're [s]doing it[/s] did it wrong.

Hmm, a touch prescriptive there - individual experience being a [i]very[/i] subjective thing and all of that. To quote the Mighty Boosh: [i]"You ever drank Baileys from a shoe?"[/i]

Do any of the straight ravers ever get reduced to a wide eyed shivering blissed out wreck when they hear the old tunes..?

What do you think? [i]Final Frontier[/i] by Underground Resistance [i]still[/i] pretty much reduces me to tears (the best techno is like the best disco - there's a kind of innate melancholy). And old jungle records from circa 93/94 (the golden age of clattering breaks, sub-bass and colliding samples, imo) still hit me with asmuch force as any soul tune. I've spent countless nights dancing all night loooong with nowt chemical done my neck - I'm not moralising, I just like music.

I'm not disputing the effect E had on clubbing or music producers, nor the social ramifications (the pacification of football terraces), but IME there was also a hell of a lot of ****tery involved - dullards droning on & on about their intake. And having been romantically involved with somebody at that time, the emotional downside could be grim.

IME there was also a hell of a lot of ****tery involved - dullards droning on & on about their intake.

EDIT: no need for the negative vibes, maaan.
🙂

there still is

There's probably a rave equivalent of CAMRA these days. 😀

but IME there was also a hell of a lot of ****tery involved - dullards droning on & on about their intake

Dear god!! I've never made that connection before. It all makes perfect sense now!

All a bit....

I did try a night at the Que once without any 'assistance'.

Overrated experience, was knackered by about 4am when the bar was closed and my beer stash had ran dry.

Still loved the music though and still do even though I haven't had a pill for about 7 years. I don't listen to much new stuff but it's great to have the odd night going back over my old tunes.

And yeah I guess it did make me a better person.

What tyres for this

'wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive [s]beats[/s] threads' 😉

Really depends in what world you move. I assume for many all are "freely" available in the sense they could consume whatever they choose.

Well I'm speaking of someone who sees both and I say alcohol is much more available, I've heard even shops sell it now.

Ah, dullards. They're in every community. The tent next door at my last music festival was full of 18 year olds who had [i]nothing[/i] to talk about except how much they'd had / were going to have.
These days it's all promoters, promises and dirty looks. Ketamine simply destroys the vibe of both the venue and the after parties.

IME there was also a hell of a lot of ****tery involved - dullards droning on & on about their intake.

Did you never get to hang out with the cool kids then?

Did you never get to hang out with the cool kids then?

Imagine if Napoleon Dynamite made a cameo appearance in [i]Dazed and Confused[/i], and you'd get a pretty good idea of my social standing.

Universally rejected. 8)

Haze - Member
I wasn't so much into H.O.G. (Went to a few at the Dance Factory / Subway City & The Que) although I do remember a spectacular NYE one at the Institute!

Was that one with Neil Landstrumm doing a live set and Paul Damage seeing in the New Year, that was a good un!

Overrated experience, was knackered by about 4am when the bar was closed and my beer stash had ran dry.

Last time I tried this at a festival last year my knees and back were aching like a b*stard and I was knackered after an hour (in my defence I had been standing up all day). In the end I blagged half a pill off a couple I got chatting to and I lasted another 4 hours! I reckon in my current state of middle-aged physical deterioration I need 'assistance' more than ever at this type of thing.

Universally rejected

I feel bad for you. No really I do 😉

TurnerGuy - Member

Detroit techno, chicago house, NY garage was definitely not produced with these drugs in mind, if you think so then that is proof of the aftereffects of the drug.

A few snippets from the web:

[i]In the mid- to late-1970s disco club scene, there was a thriving drug subculture, particularly for drugs that would enhance the experience of dancing to the loud dance music and the flashing lights on the dancefloor, such as cocaine [4] (nicknamed "blow"), amyl nitrite "poppers",[5] and the "...other quintessential 1970s club drug Quaalude, which suspended motor coordination and turned one’s arms and legs to Jell-O."[6] According to Peter Braunstein, "[m]assive quantities of drugs [were] ingested in discothèques".[/i]

[i]In the early 1980s in the U.S., MDMA rose to prominence as "Adam"[/i]

Drugs have long been associated with music scenes and dance/club/house/techno/garage/whatever is no different, the drugs didnt appear in 1988/89...they were present long before that, right at the genesis of the scene so to speak.

the drugs didnt appear in 1988/89...they were present long before that

doesn't change the fact that between '88 and '94, only 7 people in the western world between the ages of 16 and 28 [i]didn't[/i] try Ecstasy, and they were, and still are, joyless virgins..

pretty remarkable really

Re-wind selector-- play me fe de tune again- riddim step forward -BooM

TuckerUK sounds like a moron to me... (somewhere around post 4 on this thread)

Agreed

Oh christ, where'd he get that motto from... Begby?

Probably to late but tops 5 - I used to them nights in Barrow in Edisons basement, great nights 8) .listening to gripper, ahhhhh, happy, hazey days 8)

In true stw fashion i've not watched the programme (never owned a tv) and i've not read through this thread either but i will comment on MDMA, something i have vast experience of, whether that be for the good or detriment to myself as a person throughout the past 20 years

I first tried it back in 1992 at a party in a friends house in Camden, a total mind-fcuck shock of an experience for me as i was an entirely drug free 21yr old from the countryside of Galloway who had spent the last 11yrs of my life since the age of 10 dedicated to racing motocross with the expected discipline that that entails but the initial time i took it i had drunk an extortionate amount of tequila, With regard to the MDMA consumption i'm not entirely sure or whether or not i can remember if i enjoyed it or not but i didn't experiment with it again till i returned back down to Camden in 1994 and ended up at the same friends warehouse DJ after party in Pratt St, Camden, at the time a certain Jarvis Cocker rented space above his warehouse and i ended up hiding against his access door slurring my words and with an obvious "hick from the sticks" attitude or look about me so to speak. Jarvis or rather his gf "annie" at the time took pity on me and invited me in to his loft to chill out as all i remember was taking a small amount of powder in the Camden Palace with a few drinks hours previously and the rest of the night was a blur of emotion, colour, sound etc. It sounds so strange to be talking about it now but the emotion and colour of jarvis's loft seemed to pass in waves round the vast space and to bounce off the bare brick walls and wooden ceiling, i found i had an uncontrollable urge to hug complete strangers which coming from my rural Galloway/Argyllshiire upbringing was a totally alien concept to handle but thankfully everyone else was quite happy. I found it rather unnerving and unsettling after a while to be perfectly honest which i why i found myself slumped against Jarvis's front door as i couldn't work his 3 lock system, i must have been sitting there for a good hour at least before his gf at the time found me and she and jarvis dragged me me through to their bedroom and jarvis asked me if it was my first time trying ecstasy?, me being me tried to bluff my way out of it but i burst out greeting for some reason and annie hugged me for ages n ages and something seemed to change inside me, i dunno what it was or if it was drug induced (pretty sure that had a part to play) or whatever but i had been greeting for what seemed like hours and all of a sudden i felt fantastic, better than fantastic in fact, i had never felt like this before in my life and as i looked up into annies eyes she beemed back with the sort of smile that seemed to say " I know, dont think ....just enjoy it" and i knew it was going to be the most fantastic night of my life from that point on in fact, i think she saw i was having a hard time dealing with what was going on (hick from the sticks remember and my first real big night out in the city wi drugs) Anyway...... being a delicate soul that i was i had no idea who jarvis was at the time and eventually as the night progressed i settled into the experience and found myself warming to the sparse surroundings and atmosphere along with the company and annie was genuinely the most unbelievable gorgeous person i'd ever met but so not in a sexual way if that makes any sense, she kept repeating "you're weird but cool" over and over, i was introduced to everyone as "this is kenny - he's weird but pretty cool" , to this i could not speak nor communicate verbally but i could nod vigoursly which seemed to go down well enough with the crowd that was there,the night was a true mind opener to so called evil drug abuse as put forward by the government or my parents at the time, whether my preconceived beliefs regarding drugs were shattered beyond recognition because of this direct experience or subsequent experiences or experimentations i'll never know but i can honestly say i feel i am a far better person for experiencing MDMA, at a conservative estimate i'd say i have had at least 300 doses of 100mg or greater of mdma since 1994 , some years i have had none whatsoever, other years i have had more than my fair share and hammered the arse out of it but i feel that is my choice as an adult and whilst i have been prosecuted through the courts for my personal consumption i feel that it is my choice to decide what i choose to imbibe into my own body, just don't get me started on Psilocybin...Hmmmmm..... Yumm!, shame it has been a shite season for shrooms.

i found myself slumped against Jarvis's front door as i couldn't work his 3 lock system

😀

Great anecdote, somafunk.

Good old Jarvis. I'm not a huge Pulp fan, but he rules.

I really enjoyed reading that soma 🙂

I'm feeling a bit depressed at the moment, and Nina Kraviz is playing at Subby tonight, might have to self prescribe treatment 🙂

100mg? That's a pretty small dosage.... unless it's a weaker strength these days.

Used to drop 1 or 2g bombs...

And the hugging thing was probably quite a bit to do with the drugs - lost count the amount of people I've befriended (and consequently hugged) at raves... ha ha

Used to drop 1 or 2g bombs...

really..!!!? why..?

That's quite a hefty tolerance you've got there.. or a love of vomiting

I've seen plenty people doing stupid amounts like that but I'm not sure what the point of it is.. An eighth or even a sixteenth of a gram of pure crystal MDMA is a fair dose, although I've not been above doing a sick and greedy half gram line myself in the past.. 😳

shame it has been a shite season for shrooms.

is that down to the weather d'ya reckon..? Or greedy sheep trying to blot it all out..?

Tolerance was pretty high - on it twice a week for quite a few years does that to you....

Didn't start off with bombs mind....

the thought of coming up on that is making me feel quite sick..