Some people occasionally complain that this blog isn’t positive enough about the dance music world. To which I plead not guilty – I think there’s a lot of fantastic music being created out there. But the mere idea that discussing issues within dance music somehow makes me negative is downright ridiculous.

One thing I’ve mentioned a few times lately is cash-strapped festivals deciding to go for broke by only booking the highest profile – and almost invariably most expensive – DJs for their lineups. It’s a risky move which means some of them potentially face bankruptcy if they don’t sell tickets in huge numbers.

It’s also utterly stupid because it means all of these festivals are essentially offering exactly the same thing. Yes, seeing Carl Cox play might be an enticing prospect – but just how many times in the space of a few months is the average punter going to want to do that? Which has left me wondering if there are any festivals which haven’t totally lost their marbles this year.

And the answer is yes. Step forward Dimensions – due to take place in Croatia in early September. Reading the lineup on their website was a deeply refreshing experience. Gone was the business techno brigade with their brand of sleep-inducing music, instead to be replaced by… well, this is where things get interesting.

Because I openly have to admit I don’t know who some of the names on this lineup are. Running a blog which constantly tries to keep an eye out for new talent – amongst other things – means I come across a lot of names, but I’ve never heard of some of them. And I quite like that fact!

Why oh why do I like it? Because I imagine this is a bit like how things were done in house music’s earliest days. When Jazzy M started broadcasting house music on LWR back in 1985, I was a baby – and during the era of illegal raves, I would have been a toddler who was about to start school.

I wasn’t there to see this era first hand – but I’ve spoken to enough of those who were. And one thing they unanimously tell me is it was all about the music. They sometimes had an idea who was playing, sometimes not. But so long as the DJ was playing good music, they didn’t care who was on the decks.

This looks like it follows a similar philosophy, only on a much larger – and not to mention legal – scale. I like what I’m seeing here, and I do hope they do well out of their decision to offer something different to the fast food served up by the alternative…