It's freezing outside, and the blowing snow makes it tough to see the corner of Delaware Avenue from the crossing of Pearl and Chippewa streets. No matter. People are out and about, most of them dressed for a slightly cool fall evening, not a sub-zero-windchill winter's night. Why?

Because they wanna dance.

These folks aren't flocking to Chippewa-area clubs like Pure and the Third Room to dump bills into the jukebox, though. They are here to be moved by the men and women who proudly call themselves DJs — a sobriquet once implying the spinning of vinyl discs over the radio waves, but now fully given over to the electro-auteurs who preside above turntable, mixer and hard-drive, seamlessly blending beats, grooves, beds of sonic connective tissue, all in service of a flow meant to transport artist and dancer alike.

Once considered the lowest form of pop-music-art (recall the worst of disco, Paula Abdul, Vanilla Ice, the Baha Men, or so many cut from the same mold), dance music has, over the past two decades, evolved into a serious art form that also happens to be seriously fun. High and low art conjoined at a shotgun wedding, with American hip-hop and the more European strains of electronic music acting as bride and groom.

One might be forgiven for figuring a trek north to Toronto would be in order to catch the cutting edge of this not new but still evolving music.

But one would be wrong. It's here, and it has been here all along.

The origins go back a bit. "It was the Knowmatic Tribe Soundsystem, definitely," says Mike Marshall, concert promoter, rave/dance-party overseer, and proprietor of MnM Presents. "They really kicked off the DJ scene here in Buffalo, with the big warehouse parties that they handled the music for, back in the early-to-mid-'90s.

"Those parties would be packed, and the Knowmatic Tribe DJs were definitely on the cutting edge. As far as I'm concerned, those warehouse parties were ground zero for the scene that has developed since."

Concurrent with these warehouse and loft-space parties, a small but vibrant club scene began to grow in Buffalo — centered around the Chippewa area, but certainly not limited to it. The likes of the Rendezvous, Asbury Alley, the Kingsnake, the Atomic, the Icon (later to be known as Club E), the Opium Lounge, and Osaka's Blu, among others, all featured at least one night of DJ-based music per week.

In the beginning, lounge (laid-back, easy-going grooves one step above ambient music, meant to summon a "chill" mood) and acid jazz (a drum loop-based idiom generally revolving around funk and hip-hop grooves, with jazz horns thrown on top) were the modes of choice. But the music was always protean, and it began changing shape and sprouting limbs from the moment of conception.

In addition to the Knowmatic Tribe guys, Deja Blu, DJ Zuk, Mike Parker, and the collective responsible for the weekly Baby Steps shows at Broadway Joe's conspired to lay the template for 21st century Buffalo electronic dance music.

By halfway through the last decade, the music had moved out of warehouse spaces, under-used theaters like the Ellen Terry on Grant and Potomac, and even various basements around town, and into the clubs. Most of the bars responsible for birthing the electronic dance music scene in Buffalo had closed, changed ownership, or simply given up on the whole deal. The music was still alive, though, and a new generation of DJs was eager to get out there and make some noise.

According to Marshall, the migration in the early 2000s from wide-open spaces like the old Icon into the much more rarefied environs of restaurants like the Left Bank was a blessing, but a mixed one.

"On the upside, the music and the parties became a lot more accessible to people who probably wouldn't have ventured out to a warehouse rave or a party in a downtown, more under-the-radar club," he says. "That's a good thing. But the downside is that the scene lost a little bit of its edge, in terms of it being underground, new, exciting, grassroots — you know, a little bit dangerous."

The Left Bank nights — including one hosted by DJ 3PO, aka Chris O'Connor, which ran from '06 to '08, and was consistently well-attended — are now a thing of the past. The music has gone underground once again, but a whole new scene is beginning to gather around a certain downtown Buffalo basement club.

In search of the 'Sound'

Every scene needs a hub, a nucleus around which all else forms. Merseybeat had the Cavern; New York City punk had CBGB's and Max's Kansas City; "Madchester" pop had the Factory in Manchester, England. Now, Buffalo electronic dance music has Big Orbit's Soundlab.

"It's just the right venue, with the right people, at the right time," says Jessica Rector, one-third of the collective known as Communist Party, which hosts monthly dance parties inside the venue, located in the basement of the Dun Building at 110 Pearl St.

"The Communist Party started out as a weekly at Broadway Joe's four years ago, then moved to Off the Wall, became a monthly, and stayed there until the club closed," Rector recalls. "But when we started as a monthly at Soundlab, in 2008, things just immediately clicked, and then really took off.

"There's an underground, artsy vibe there, and there's exactly the clientele we want to reach — the downtown hipster kids. For a long time now, the scene has been kind of diffuse, floating around and looking for a home. I think Soundlab might be it."

The Communist Party favors electro — a more mechanistic, rigid, European-based form of electronic funk, at first, but today, a more open-ended, spacious, synthesizer-centered sound — during its monthly soirees, and it has tapped into a rich vein of dancer appreciation. The parties are routine sell-outs at this point, and the Communist Party collective — Jessica, husband Cameron Rector, and DJs Patrick and Mario — has now been able to branch out into the talent-buying biz.

"The success of the nights has meant that, with the help of people like Brian Nelson of Factory Nightlife, we've been able to bring up-and-coming DJs from all over the country to the parties, and have Buffalo DJs open for them," says Rector. "We brought (electro-rave duo) Designer Drugs to town for our first big name show, and it cost next to nothing. Shortly after that, they totally blew up, became huge. Now, they'd cost at least five times as much to bring back!

"Our idea is to bring the exciting DJs here while they are on the way up, and pair them with our local talent. So far, it's working."

Factory whistle blows

A bit north of Soundlab, in the much more mainstream environs of the Chippewa district, the club known as Pure is routinely packed for events dubbed Factory Nightlife Parties. During these throw-downs, big-name DJs are flanked by the best of the local breed, and an ebullient strain of trance-electro is favored. (Hyphenated terms are big in electronic dance music, you may have noticed. But just as they have done in rock — think "Brit-pop," "Post-rock," "Math-rock," "Hair-metal," "Geek-rock," or what have you — these myriad terms ably suggest a rich, variegated and still-developing idiom.)

"Factory Nightlife is simple," writes the collective's creator, Brian Nelson, on the Factory My Space page. "Hot people, big bass, and the world's best DJs rocking out in small, intimate clubs all over Western New York."

It's a recipe that has worked for Nelson and Co. quite well — to the point that Factory Nightlife has now launched a new series, at the Pearl in Rochester. On Chippewa, the "hot people" caveat applies. Whereas Soundlab boasts a more laid-back, college-age hipster vibe — one where a bearded and bespectacled Wilco fan in a tattered flannel shirt might feel at home — Factory Nightlife is unapologetically for "the beautiful people." While the DJ hits the decks, the dancers are decked to the nines.

Nelson says all of that is changing, as the events grow in size and scope.

"We get everybody now," he says. "These days, Pure is full of people who normally wouldn't go to Chippewa, wouldn't got to a Top 40 dance club or whatever, people who avoid the mainstream. It's moving away from what it was in the later '90s and early 2000s. Now, one of my nights will have 1,000 people in the club, and it'll be a cross-section — some regular Chippewa people, some music people, college kids, hipsters, whatever. These DJs are like rock stars to them, and we present these parties like they're concerts."

So is the electronic music scene still wandering about, looking for a home? Are things up in the air, waiting to settle in and preparing for the next movement, whatever it might be?

"It has a few homes in Buffalo now, and it's bigger than ever," insists Nelson.

"I deal with big booking agents all the time for the big DJs I bring into town, and every one of them agrees — per capita, Buffalo is one of the 10 biggest markets in the country for this music, hands down. It's here, and it's huge.

"And it's also nice, I think, that it has moved back into the clubs. Raves in warehouses got a bad name over the years, and some of it was definitely deserved. Now, in a club like Pure, it's safe, the DJs are professional, and everything is on the level you'd expect in a Miami, Los Angeles or Toronto. It's only gonna get bigger."

Communist Party's Rector agrees.

"I think people want to party, they want to dance, they want to hear great music and have a great time in a cool environment," she says. "And we're here to fulfill that need."

jmierst@buffnews.com

DJ culture in Buffalo, at a glance

THE PLAYERS

Big Basha: House, electro, dub-step. Fridays at the Third Room.

Brandon Chase: House. Fridays at 31 Club.

3PO: House. Fridays at 31 Club.

Communist Party: Electro. Monthly at Soundlab.

Factory Nightlife: House. Monthly at Pure.

DJ Marcos: A founding member of Knowmatic Tribe Soundsystem. Now performs twice weekly at the Rose Bar, Grammercy Hotel, New York City. Returns home periodically for guest appearances.

Shock & Awe: House, electro. Various venues. shockandaweparty.wordpress.com.

MnM Presents: Various venues, everything from house to dub-step, international DJs to local talent.

THE STYLES

Electro: Generally, synth- and drum machine-based, upbeat, pop edge, rapid tempos.

House: Funk-, soul- and disco-informed electronic dance. Can vary from chill to shrill, laid-back to hyper-tempo.

Techno: A descriptive routinely tossed around to label anything that is nominally electronic dance music, but really a bit of a misnomer at this point akin to calling both Cat Stevens and Metallica "rock." "Techno" is merely an umbrella term for electronic dance music.

Trance: A blend of ambient textures, minimalism and house music.

Dub-step: A blend of dub, reggae and electro-garage. Favors a half-time feel over rapid tempo, implying a more laid-back groove. Here it's all about the bass line.

THE VENUES

Soundlab, 110 Pearl St.

Pure, 75 West Chippewa St.

31 Club, 31 North Johnson Parkway.

The Third Room, 56 West Chippewa St.

Town Ballroom, 681 Main St.

Pearl Street Grill & Brewery, 76 Pearl St.

Mohawk Place, 47 East Mohawk St.

THE PARTIES

Communist Party: Monthly, at Soundlab, 110 Pearl Street. Mostly electro. www.myspace.com/nightshiftwednesdays

Factory Nightlife Parties: Monthly, at Pure, 75 West Chippewa St.; House music. www.purebuffalo.net/www.myspace.com/opmlounge

Sunset Sundays: House, electro, dub-step. Patio of the Pearl St. Grill & Brewery, 76 Pearl St. Weekly during the summer months.

Electro-House Fridays at Third Room: House, electro, dub-step at the Third room, 54 West Chippewa. Weekly.

Get House Nights at 31 Club: House music, posh space, chilled-out. Weekly at 31 Club, 31 N.Johnson. www.the31club.com

Transmission Dance Parties: At Mohawk Place, Buffalo's indie-rock haven, electronic music arrives via Transmission Dance Parties, which pit niche bands like the Cure and the Smiths against each other in "DJ battles." Bi-monthly.

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