One problem is the increasing fragmentation of uptempo dance music. House has always thrived on its diversity and a constant ability to re-invent itself, but lately the polarization has led to the development of a myriad of sub-scenes that are almost mutually exclusive. The mainstream clubs really are a mirror of the money making corporate hyenas who cashed in on Disco, playing the lowest -common denominator garbage to drugged up juveniles. The "Sunday Scene Underground Garage heads" are of no interest to intelligent house music lovers, and serious club nights attempting to deliver quality music are finding it harder and harder to attract, or keep, the crowds.

Looking closer at the different camps we start to see what the problems are. When this page started using the term "Nu Soul" it was a journalistic tool to differentiate quality soulful dance music from what had come to be ( misunderstood ) as Garage. People who claim that we don't need categories in dance music, that there's only 2 types of music - good or bad - are natives idealists who never had to handle the realities of writing about selling dance music. ( Example - Person goes into a record shop. " Yes mate, what sort of music would you like to buy? "Good music." You taking the piss?"

It was an acknowledgment that the dub freaks, crack dealers and ex-hard-core crews had appropriated " our" music and applied the term to a sound that had nothing to do with a music rooted in the Soul traditions of the Sound of Philadelphia and Salsoul.

It was an attempt to clarify the differences between the camps; an attempt to guide real "garage" lovers towards a music that was becoming sullied by the unsoulful outpourings of those who had no understanding of musical history or of what "we" look for in uptempo dance music. That exercise seems to have achieved it aims. But, today, even armed with such useful tools to find music that satisfies the demand for quality. Yes, there are plenty of encouraging signs - the new European labels, some good American productions, the UK Nu-house scene and a handful of clubs swimming against the tide.

But 16 years since "Love can't Turn around" was in the charts (Uk),you'd have thought the scene that carries on those traditionswould be a little more healthy.

("Love Can't turn around" by Farley Jackmaster Funk - Chicago, reached number 10 in the Uk Charts in September, 1996!) - (Steve "Silk Hurley - Chicago - gave House music its first number 1 (Uk) with "Jack your Body" in January, 1987)

It's not only interesting fragmentation at this end of the house spectrum that has led to the crisis though. We've suffered from other angles too. As the major labels began to score commercial successes with the trail blazing productions of Master of Work, Morales, Sanchez, Todd Terry, etc and many other producers that have followed them have been stuck in the rut of having of to replicate successful formulas to keep their paymasters happy.

How much we used to look forward to new material from the hot American producers, and think of how predictable, safe and unimaginative much of that material has sounded lately.

This is not because those producers have "lost the plot" - well, usually! - its because they want to get paid! And while the big boys control the purse strings, there's not a lot of room for originality or experimentation. Much of this is attributable to many of the things I've talked about here in the past; in particular the fact that the real House/Nu Soul underground has never developed the infrastructures needed to allow it to exist without the major labels.

The distribution, promotion and retailing of quality independent dance music has never been properly sorted; meaning, ultimately, that talented producers and cutting-edge labels simple cannot survive without the multi-national record companies and their distribution set-ups, the corrupt promotion scams and the bribe-riddled retail operations ("One for One" deals freebies, etc. )

The price paid for the injection of the big players cash onto "our" scene though is the price of originality, invention, creativity and the willingness to experiment and take risks. Example; when major labels commission a remix from the current flavour of the month, they expect to hear something that sounds like the hit that put those remixes on the map. Its not the remixers fault. When any of them submit something that doesn't adhere to the required blueprint it gets knocked back. Its really f***** sad.

At the same time, the independents, the labels where the real originality and invention comes from before the major pimps step in, are getting increasingly squeezed, as the big operators dominate " our markets" "our press" and "our clubs". The freshness and vitality that coursed through the veins of the original underground scene has been corrupted by the virus of corporatism, leaving little more than a lifeless corpse, kept barley alive their own pockets before discarding it in favour of the next cash cow.

It's not hard to predict that the same thing will happen again with the Nu-House/Nu Disco Underground. Already the darlings of the press, how long will it be before the fresh sounds of Basement Jack, Idjut Boys, Faze Action and the rest of become trapped in the same vicious circle? Personally I enjoy and appreciate a lot of this "new school", although I can't help feeling that we've actually been here before with Nu Groove, Kaleidoscope, Cajual and a lot of the Detroit and Chicago oddities of the last 6 years.

Also, I can't quite adjust my head to the idea that the future of uptempo dance lies with music that his already being described as " Headphone House", suggesting that we're going to abandon clubs altogether in favour of a comfy chair and a fat spliff. House and Garage used to be about going out, coming together, share a vibe, dancing, and expressing ourselves. Without that shared experiences it has little to differentiate it from Student Union " ambient house" wankery and middle class white boy bedsit music.

Are they the really the ogres I make them out to be? Talk to the big A&R men and they'll try and convince you that many of the things they get the blame for are the result of the demands of the market. They'll tell you how much, really, deep down, they love quality vocals, they hate using the latest trendy remixer or including trashy handbag versions of their releases…. But they have to "because that's what the punters want", because otherwise they won't shift units, because they'll be out of a job and someone who really has not got a clue will take over.

That may not be the case, but it doesn't excuse the despicable way they hype the shit out of someone for a few months and then dump them when some one else comes along. It doesn't excuse the lack of investment in new talent, and it doesn't excuse the fact that genuine A&R work- finding material at he demo stage and developing the artists - has been replaced ( in most all but not all cases ) by simply waving a chegue book at the latest names to emerge from the underground.

It's no good blaming the whims of the market for shoddy way emerging talent is treated;it's no good treating our whole scene as little more than a hunting ground for the next one-off crossover hit. We need a constructive, positive, dynamic 2 way relationship with the majors, one that acknowledges and rewards the contribution of the independent sector and encourages it to thrive. We don't want a few crumbs from the table, we won't a fair slice of the cake.

The most frightening thing about all of this is the nagging doubt that maybe all this angst is little more than a reflection of the fact that all of us have been around too long and are simply getting too old. Maybe quality soulful vocal cuts and serious deep house doesn't sell purely because the new generation of record buyers prefer cheesy snare rolls and tuneless nonsense. Maybe banging dubs using stupid samples is the way forward for garage.

Maybe the quality clubs are struggling because clubbers don't want to listen to an intelligent, knowledgeable DJ taking them on a spiritual, educational jounery, but would prefer to either neck a few pills an " Have it large" to the latest pop-house anthems played by a coked-up jerk on £70,000 a year, or smoke a rock in a n East London DRUG haven while doing step Reebok dances to exactly the same pitched up dubs they heard last week.

Maybe the fact that this current generation of clubbers has no memory of what it was like 17 years ago, when there were NO legal clubs, playing proper dance music, when getting a drink and having a dance after 2am was harder than finding the Holy Grail, means they have no memory of how, for the rest of us, clubbing, and more importantly the music, still actually means something. Fortunately I don't think this is the case.

Every era has its commercial scene and its underground. I do not care about a bunch of druggy Brits embarrassing themselves, whether they're in Ibiza or South London. There's always a percentage of people who can see beyond the mass-marked pop culture, and they are the people who're being let down by the current state of affairs. The excuse that "its what the punters want" just doesn't wash. Provide quality music in quality clubs and you will attract people who appreciate it.

Give good music the attention and shelf space it deserves and it will sell. Allow talented producers the freedom to develop their skills and express their creativity without the mad pressure to stay "hot" and the music will continue to move forward. The cream will rise to the top.

Have we reached the end of the line? Has house had its 17 years? I can't accept that. There's still a lot of good music out there to keep that spirit alive. You probably won't find it on the vast bulk of major labels with eyes on mass sales and crossover hits; you definitely won't find it on daytime Kiss FM or in the Nu Mecca super clubs; you won't find the distributors giving it the big push; and you won't find it nodding out with a bag of Thai in your bedroom. But make the effort. Look beyond the obvious, demand the best and, despite this temporary lull, it'll be back.