Jules music


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Jules's style has progressively got slower, cheesier and less focused towards Trance over the last decade - to the point where the bulk of his sets became "EDM" shite and commercial rubbish.

He's been irrelevant to the Trance scene for years now unfortunately. His sound is more suited to the "three shots for a fiver" music-for-the-masses commercial / chain-owned clubs these days where 18-25 year olds are happy to hear commercial music with "Somebody screeeeeeeam" jingles slapped over the top.

Gone are the days of Jules smashing out a bit of decent, pacey, "niche" tunes like Dark Monks - Insane, BK - Revolution and Mauro Picotto - Baguette at 143bpm in a main room or festival.

A 133bpm Swedish House Mafia vs Bananarama vs Will.I.Am vs John McEnroe (Six Sambucas & A Strongbow "You Cannot Be Serious" Vocal Bootleg) mash-up is more apt these days*.

*That bootleg may or may not be fictional before anyone tries looking for it*

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I suspect that Jules knows, and has accepted, that he's no longer looked upon as a credible Trance music DJ. I suspect that he's also quite content playing the kind of music and the more mainstream clubs these days because it's enabled him to prolong his career alongside a day job. The UK Trance scene is on its arse now - so gigs in this country have really dried up - and all of the big British DJs are now having to play abroad a lot lot more - to the point where I see the likes of Halliwell, Emery, Above & Beyond, etc on more European, Australian and South American line-ups than UK line-ups now.

Jules was at his peak in the mid 90's to late 90's through to around 2004/2005. After that, rather than having the "niche" sound he'd always had (Pacey, Harder-edged Tech-Trance, Trance with funky basslines and House with a Euro bounce to it - plus the occasional outrageous quirky tune that couldn't be categorised into any style or genre - but when you walked into a club, you could just tell it was a "Jules Tune"), he started "following trends" - playing anything that was popular at the time. In recent years, Jules has gone from Trance, through to Tech-Trance, through to House, through to "Trouse" through to EDM and commercial nonsense. He always mixed genres to some extent - but Jules always had his own unique sound that could be easily identified - whereas in the end, he was playing whatever sound was popular.

Add into that the sloppy beatmatching, clashing tune selection, god awful bootlegs, OTT unnecessary looping and dragging out of breakdowns, "Somebody screaammmmmmm" voiceovers and attempts at scratching that should only be attempted at home when practicing new tricks, its sad just how quickly Jules went down hill.

Even just ten years ago, Jules was my favourite DJ. Even now I get out old Jules sets to listen to - and loved them more than any other DJ's sets I listen to because when Jules was at his best, he really was superb. Every time I went out clubbing, Jules made the night. In just a short space of time, that rapidly changed - to the point where whenever I went out, I never knew which Jules I'd get because he became so inconsistent. I remember seeing him one week in London - and he played one of the best sets I'd ever heard - one week later, he played one of the worst I'd ever heard. It was like hearing two completely different DJs because the difference was so vast between the two sets. Then when those "Somebody screammmmmmm" jingles and god awful bootlegs with RNB or pop vocals, poorly mashed-up into a poor tune, I'd just given up completely - and stopped going to see Jules completely.

I don't know whether Jules had just lost interest, become out of touch with the Trance scene, became complacent thinking "I've made it" and "I can do as I like - and people will still see me", whether mainstream music that paid better money became more important than playing "niche" music that he loved, or whether he just naturally went into decline as some of the older DJs did - such as John Kelly, Seb Fontaine, etc. That being said though, Carl Cox has been around for donkeys years - and is now 53 years of age - yet even now, he's still relevant to the scene, he's still current, he's still one of the most in demand DJs in the world - and he's still as good and still as passionate as ever - so I don't think that age can result in a decline that quickly if the heart is still in it.

It's a shame Jules didn't go out on a high in 2005 - because then I'd have always regarded him as one of my all time favourite DJs and a true legend of the scene. Those last few years have really tarnished that view for me. I'll never ever forget Jules at his best - but unfortunately, it's going to be difficult to forget those bad few years too, sadly, for all the wrong reasons.

May sound harsh - but I'm being honest about how I feel.

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I think you've hit the nail on the head there....

Its such a shame because i know he's a good dj and he's inspired me in so many ways with music.

Ive noticed myself for quite some time that his music taste was changing direction and now it seems I'm out of touch with it all, it just doesn't float my boat anymore. So sad!

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Like most, I totally agree with Briggsy. However two points to consider in this discussion:

Firstly, even though I share much of the sentiment and opinions written above, exactly the same argument was made by many back in the mid/late 90s and early 2000s. I remember distinctly Jules getting criticised heavily in printed music journalism (Ministry, Mixmag etc) and particularly on the Judge Jules Messageboard for abandoning his true sound (house of varying styles) and appealing to the youths and larger lout / beer boy crowd by playing what was popular rather than what he really had a passion for.

Secondly, from about 2004 onwards I stopped paying attention to Jules’ productions. To me they all sounded horrible super-commercial cheesy rubbish. Out of morbid curiosity yesterday I listened to a clip of Turn On The Lights (link) expecting something completely dire. Nothing could prepare me from the shock of actually hearing something half decent. Lots of distinctive Jules’ production elements, particularly the rhythm at the start. Instantly sounds like a Jules tune. Lead is a bit too EDM but goes to show that there is still some skills left in the old man.

What we wouldn't all give for him to play a propper classics set though? I haven't listened to the Luminosity recording yet and we are all looking forward to the JJ Archive Charity mix.

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I'd love to hear a "proper Jules classics" set - but unfortunately, I think even that would lead to disappointment now. I remember discussions on here about his last Radio 1 show. All the talk about what we thought he might play. All the tunes that we thought were pretty much guaranteed to be played. Most of us expected some of Jules's most popular tunes from his sets over the years - tunes that most of us would regard as "Jules classics" - tunes such as Green Martian - Industry, DJ Elite - That Fuct Camera, Rockafellas - Da Boss Track, Brainbug - Nightmare (Sinister Strings remix) - yet he played none of them. He played tunes that left many people on here underwhelmed. Tunes that, even at their peak, were fairly average tunes - such as Ferry Corsten - Rock Your Body, Rock. Jules had the opportunity to go out with such an epic, memorable set that night - yet it was very average and underwhelming. After the tens of thousands of tunes Jules has accumulated over the past 25+ years, some of which are huge classics, to hear Marcel Woods - Advanced and Ferry Corsten - Rock Your Body was underwhelming and disappointing to say the least. Even tunes that weren't necessarily what I'd regard as classics, but tunes that were heavily supported by Jules, such as Fabio Stein - Tran-4 and Team SR - Leaving London, were missed out - whilst Sander van Doorn - Riff was played, yet I wouldn't really associate that as being a big Jules tune. Even classics that I thought were almost guaranteed to be played, such as Kristine Blond - Love Shy, Brainbug - Nightmare and Starparty - I'm In Love (Ferry Corsten & Robert Smit Remix) - which Jules has stated as being amongst he's favourite ever tunes in interviews on many occasions - were overlooked. Puzzling and disappointing summed up that last Radio 1 show for me. There were many others on here that night that felt the same way.

As for the media, Jules was never really respected by many the DJ press anyway to be fair. Jules just wasn't really "cool" enough for them. Mixmag, DJ Mag, etc loved the "cool" DJ's like Hawtin, Sasha, Carl Cox, etc. Jules's unique but "loud" clothing and custom-made unusual specs image - in addition to the playful interaction with the crowd, gestures, poses & daft faces with in the booth - along with sometimes occasional commercial or cheesy tunes, gimmicky scratches and a "celebrity" profile, divided opinion. Jules was loved by many. Jules was also frowned upon by many. He got a lot of undeserved flack simply because he wasn't seen as "cool" enough.

Jules did change his sound slightly in the late 90's to early 2000's - but he always had an "identity". A sound that everyone recognized. When he reduced the amount of bouncy / funky Euro house, he played more Trance that had bouncy / funky basslines. Even when Trance peaked in 1998/1999 with the melodic "big riff" sound that became really popular (tunes like Ferry's remix of Adagio For Strings, Energy 52 - Cafe Del Mar, all the Signum and X-Cabs style stuff for example), Jules's didn't really play a great deal of it - he was playing more of the bouncier / funkier tunes such as The Act - Something About You, Burgy - Lochfrab, Moogwai - Viola, etc - followed by all the Hi-Gate, Yomanda, Storm - Storm, Zombie Nation stuff a few years later. Jules was never really an out-and-out Trance DJ - he just tended to play anything that had funky or bouncy basslines. He just happened to play more Trance than any other genres in his sets. He had an "identity" and sound that everyone recognised - Jules was one of very few DJ's where you could walk into a club, and know that Jules was playing, before even seeing him, simply by hearing the tunes that were playing.

From 2005/2006 onwards, that "identity" and sound was lost completely - for the first time in his career. He was just playing anything that was popular at the time. Never in Jules's career prior to the Trouse / EDM phase had Jules ever played anything like that in his sets before. I was a complete change. So whilst I agree that Jules's sound slightly over time, his "identity" / style always remained the same in his sets - funky/ bouncy tunes with a few complimenting Trancey tunes. To an extent, that change was a natural change as dance music progressed and changed a little over the years. During 2006 onwards though, it wasn't a natural change. Jules just suddenly started playing slow, Trouse and "EDM" - which he didn't need to do because there was still plenty of the pacier, bouncier, more Trancier tunes around. It was a change he appeared to choose - rather than one that came about as a natural progression as a genre changed.

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