"My take on dance was rockist, because, barely acquainted with how the music functioned in its "proper" context, I tended to fixate on singular artists. This is how rock critics still tend to engage with dance music: they look for the auteur-geniuses who seem most promising in terms of long-term album-based careers. But dance scenes simply don't work like this: the 12-inch single is what counts, there's little brand loyalty to artists, and DJs are more of a focal point for fans than the faceless, anonymous producers. In the three years before I engaged with rave culture on its own terrain and terms, I accordingly celebrated groups like 808 State, The Orb, The Shamen, Ultramarine, on the grounds that they were making music that made sense at home and at album length. Today I cringe to remember that, reviewing the second Bomb The Bass LP, I proposed the term "progressive dance" to describe this new breed of album-orientated artist. Cringe, because this divide between so-called "progressive" electronica and mere "rave fodder" has since become for me the very definition of "getting it completely wrong"."

Also:

"Whenever I hear the word "hardcore" (or synonyms like "dark", "ruffneck", "cheesy") used to malign a scene or sound, my ears prick up. Conversely, terms like "progressive" or "intelligent" trigger the alarm bells: when an underground scene starts talking this talk, it's usually a sign that it's gearing up to play the media game as a prequel to buying into the trad music industry structure of auteur-stars, concept albums and long-term careers. Above all, it's a sign of impending musical debility, creeping self-importance and the haemorrhaging away of fun."

Both quotes from Reynolds, Simon, Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture (1998; repr. London: Picador, 2008).