Nice little summary of the function of ‘rewinds’ from Blackdown/Martin Clark.
The history of rewinds run back through the hardcore continuum to Jamaican soundsystems via 2step garage and jungle. They have been omnipresent in UK urban music for several decades now, and the psychology behind them is revealing about UK culture. Traditionally “dance” music involves a DJ seamlessly beatmixing between tracks. The night progresses in one uninterrupted flow, gradually building toward climaxes where full abandon ensues. For the ravers this escapism is the goal.
In urban music, by contrast, traditionally the emphasis is never wild abandon. You skank and enjoy yourself but it’s not about being out of control. Those who are calm in all circumstances walk with status. In many ways the rewind is an extension of this multicultural urban mentality, because the rewind is the get-out clause should a DJ be doing his job too well. It’s almost as if just as the tune becomes so unbearably amazing that abandon might occur, the button gets pressed and the tune is rewound.
To some people of a dance persuasion this might feel like an interruption, and it’s true that too many rewinds in a given set undermines them, but it would be a shame if dubstep sets went down the formatted, linear seamless DJing route. Rewinds are a good indicator of audience enjoyment. They provide a vital interaction between the crowd and the DJ: Much of DJ dance music is a one-way relationship from the DJ to the crowd. Rewinds also provide a more dynamically varied night, with frequent peaks and troughs not unlike a live gig. These stops and starts also allow DJs to “edge-roll” tunes without being forced into the constrictive mentality that all tunes must be beatmixed. This spills over to producers, who don’t feel constrained to arrange their tunes in formulas known to be DJ-friendly or at the same tempo (house and d&b suffer greatly from this).
