Puff pastry is nice. It’s a nightmare to make – so much so that many restaurants actually buy it rather than let their chefs attempt the lengthy process themselves. It’s also messy as anything, but what you can get into your mouth tastes just lovely.

Puff pieces, on the other hand, are not nice. As far as I’m concerned, they’re the equivalent of fraud – and paid puff pieces are the worst of the lot. You might have realised this when I wrote about Mixmag a few weeks ago. They were happy to take the money and not point out to their audience the festival being plugged was basically a reunion party for plague rave DJs.

And now, they’ve done it again. Peggy Gou was doing plague raves in Russia last year, amongst other destinations. And The Martinez Brothers are understood to have gigged in Bali back in January. I’m not aware of DJ Harvey being involved in any plague raves, but I see at least two more names on the lineup who have.

Yet Mixmag’s silence can be bought, it seems. The pandemic has seriously hit the finances of the dance music press – and in Mixmag’s own case, they weren’t great to start with. And if you’ve ever wondered why the dance music press wouldn’t cover plague raves properly, the evidence is there for all to see now.

Those doing and organising plague raves were the ones with money. The dance press needs money. And these shadowy operatives in charge don’t appreciate being scrutinised at the best of times…

By The Editor

Editor-in-chief at Amateur’s House.