From lwtcdi Sent Fri, Jan 23rd 1998, 01:58
From lwtcdi Sent Fri, Jan 23rd 1998, 01:58
On Tue, 20 Jan 1998, lwtcdi wrote:
>> 1)Is the concept of a 'digital ELO' a good one?
>No
That's settled then!
>> 2)Will you been rushing out to buy a selection of polo necked sweaters
>> in an attempt to pre-empt this summers fashion craze, or is the French
>> revolution really over?
>No and no
You can't have it both ways. Either the hype continues or it dies off in
favour of the next 'big thing'. And I guess that will depend on the
success of Air (and others) this year...
>> 3)Why do the French, or anybody, like the Beach Boys so much?
>(sound of spluttering) What? Have you no soul? :-)!
Well, I have a bit of rock, indie, house, techno, hip-hop and drum and
bass, but not much soul. Maybe I should get some, what titles do you
reccommend? :-)
>The world, as far as I
>can tell, like the Beach Boys so much because they wrote beautiful,
>melodic, pop music and you, me, idm should take note of some of the truly
>innovative production ideas they used.
1) I couldn't 'take note' just by listening to them. Somebody had to
point out to me that they used a Theremin, because I'd be damned if I
could tell. It was in the background on the chorus or something, and if
that's innovative and daring, well...it aint, is it?!
2) Those darn vocals harmonies. If they were the ones responsible for
'pioneering' this most rancid style of harmonising, then as well as
giving the world music, they also owe a great percentage of the
population compensation for all the headache tablets they have had to
purchase over the years!
Of course, the above techniques could have been pioneering in those
bygone days, in which case, wow, do we have it good now! I take it all
back - less originality in music, please!
>Air have some good melodies and a
>similar emotional sense as the Beach Boys so criticts feel bound to draw
>the comparison. The same parallel has been drawn with Kraftwerk, somone
>else Air are supposedly similar to.
Yeah, but Daft Punk don't sound like the Beach Boys, and they're heavily
into Brian Wilson. Why the French connection?
>> 4)Aren't Virgin just trying to pull another 'Daft Punk' by slipping the
>> new Air CD into the executive pigeonholes of the 'beautiful people' who
>> work at style mags?
>Hmmm yes and no. I mean of course they want the band to be a sucess
I don't think we're in any dispute about this one. If their music is
good, then I hope they are extremely successful.
>and so they employ the usual methods, courting the press, comparing them to other
>successful acts with somthing in common, and writers are trying to get
>your average punter interested in somthing new
Yeah, but the question is, do we want the press championing the concept
of a 'digital ELO' as new? I know I bloody don't!
>try and thus describe them
>in terms easily understood. However having listened to the album Daft
>Punk, the Beach Boys and Kraftwerk aren't really useful comparisons.
So now were getting to heart of it - yet more outbreaks of lazy
journalism (crap comparisons, grouping bands together) to hide any
decent desciption of they music they make (I've have yet to read a
review which tells me in any sensible way what the music is like).
>As for pulling another Daft Punk, I don't quite know what you mean.
I mean, do Virgin send out press releases going on about baguettes,
berets, bicycle riders with onions around their necks, and the hotbed of
amazing muscial talent such as Ettienne De Crecy, Dimitri From Paris,
Kid Loco, Laurent Garnier etc etc who all live in the same house
togethe, give each other music making tips and reflect a new wave of
French talent which has added chic and emotional sensitivity to all the
all the other 'new music in the world, which is so dour, grey and
boring! (phew) Take for example, the cover of the Air LP. Next to the
Air logo you have the words "French Band". I smiled when I saw it. You
can't argue with blatant scene-creating such as this!
>Magazines
>are sold because they have new things in them (thats why I buy them) and
>if I worked at a magazine I would want to write about these people making
>differnt sounding, cool new music that appeals to a wider audience as well
>as purists
[purist rant snipped]
Yes, I totally agree. But I don't believe in hyping up bands who are
crap (I'm not suggesting Air, 'cos I haven't heard them) just because
they look cool and are easily marketable at certain points in time (ie
cos of the success of Daft Punk and other French Artists). In these
magazines, I just hear very little about the music and a hell of a lot
more about what their influences are, dodgy comparisons as to who they
are like etc etc, hence the reason why I had to ask question 5...
>>5)And, of course, is the album really any good, or is prog rock really
>>the new rock and roll?
>Well to be honest I flicked through the album at my favourite vinyl den
>(the excellent Way Ahead in the Victoria Qtr, Leeds)
<nostalgia>
One of my favourites too, although the prices used to be a bit cheaper,
and have been fluctuating since the demise of Eastern Bloc - Drum and
bass 12" were pushed up to 6 quid a throw. Thankfully they seem to have
levelled out at a fair fiver. Vinyl LP's there used to be really cheap.
I remember seeing the Plug album for around 8 quid, and the Grand
Central comp for about 9.
Blah blah blah.
</nostalgia>
>and I was deeply under whelmed.
...
>nothing to warrant the comparrisons drawn in the
>press.
Yeah, dispel that hype! :-)
>The melodies for which, at the end of the day, is what they are being
>lauded for were nice enough but then I did only flick through so they're
>probably growers.
Yeah, that would seems to be the case from what has been said about
them. Certainly they're opposite to Daft Punk in this respect. The whole
idea of Daft Punk seems to be immediacy, which would explain why I
haven't really enjoyed their Homework LP any more on subsequent listens
than I did on the first.
>If you read what Air cite as influences its more Sere
>Gainsbourgh and the Beatles with a bit of Jean Pierre Henry than anything
>else just pop with a twist as they say.
Darn it, I was expecting something fresh-ish, maybe hoping the reviewers
were grasping at straws 'cos they couldn't really describe what it was
like. :-(
>I don't really care what the new rock and roll is,
>it won't be half as interesting as the new ....(insert name of genre yet
>to be invented here).
I agree, but I was just using a press term to emphasise what I meant.
What the press seem to mean by 'the new rock and roll' is not a genre
that sounds the same *as* rock and roll, just one they hope will have
the same impact rock and roll did the first time around. While we're on
the subject, here's some possible new genres for the coming year...
grill 'n' baste - cookery is the new rock and roll.
trip over - the future sound of people falling over while onlookers
laugh.
beer beat - drunk people trying to operate samplers. (and play the drums
in time for one bar).
>The moral of the story is to read between the lines
>of what the press tell you try and find the truth about what the stuff
>actully sounds like.
Yeah, but there's more truth in the X-Files! The only way of really
finding out something approximating 'the truth' is to either
a)listen to it yourself (which I can't do right now) or;
b)try and get an impartial opinion (hence the questions).
So thanks for the answers!
gb.
PS...
>I quite like it when the press hype things up, it
>makes me feel like I might be part of somthing or somthing beautiful is
>about to happen,
Hype doesn't do that! Good music does that!
>but all too often I find it's just hot Air.
Very droll :-)
> -Funky music I can't get enough.
> -Know what it is?
Don't tell me, it's "just Street Tuff!"
--
/TheW i http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk/lwtcdi/all/
f o L D
o dlr WTC "Let's decompose and enjoy assembling!"