From martin burbridge Sent Wed, Jan 6th 1999, 19:16
From martin burbridge Sent Wed, Jan 6th 1999, 19:16
Bob Bannister wrote:
>
> <Stockwell steppas was not a proper album. It is listed as a single and I
> think most of the tracks were from a radio show. >
>
> I saw it listed as a single on some Web discography but figured
> that was a
> mistake - it has 9 tracks and is 67 minutes long. No indication in the
> credits on the CD of when or how it was recorded - if it were essentially
> live and improvised, I might rate it a notch higher, which is no doubt
> fodder for an extended disputatum.
>
yes its supposed to be a single. this is fairly common w/ weatherall,
"sabres vs", "swimming not skimming", "bag of blue sparks" also are all
lengthy multi-tracked efforts classed as singles/eps, a couple ("sabres vs",
"swimming not skimming") are remixes. i think the "bag of blue sparks" ep
actually clocks in at longer than the companion "stay down" full length cd?
it appears that if its an experiment or remix, more an ephemeral throwaway
designed for the moment then they call it a 'single'. having said that
"swimming not skimming" is wonderful.
> <The new release
> is very good. I am not sure if I would classify it as house or techno.>
>
> No, but nor, as someone mentioned, is that entirely right for Pole - and
> I'd hardly call "Music is Rotted One Note" drum & bass - bickering about
> categories is admittedly wearying and never-ending.
>
> As for "label of the year" or "artist of the year" for that
> matter - I can
> see why these are separate categories but when an entry in either
> fails to
> be responsible for *any* of the best records of the year, you start to
> wonder what they're famous for, other than being famous.
bickering about categories will exist as long as the categories themselves
do. some thoughts on this:
. at tops only a little over 10% of the list voted in the poll.
. "rotted note" is not drum'n'bass and the vote was split between people who
thought it was and people who categorized it as 'idm'. therefore giving it a
lower share in 2 categories where it could have come out top in one (not
that i'm saying it deserves to).
. same goes for "consumed" - 'chill out' or 'house/techno'? you decide, but
just make sure everyone else who votes for it decides the same way. and
"music has the right ..." and so on...
. the categories lead people to vote based on best of genre. which
immediately means those most typical of the genre will tend to get higher
placing. this is like dog breeders who produce pure bred idiots, when
everybody knows that mongrels are smarter.
. there are too many good comps for only 1 vote.
. artist/label of the year may be the only place to get in vote for the
wilfully unclassifiable (see v/vm). so the most useful categories are also
the most meaningless, as this info could be compiled from votes for actual
music releases.
still it gives us something to talk about, eh?
-martin