From Chris Fahey Sent Tue, Sep 29th 1998, 22:57
From Chris Fahey Sent Tue, Sep 29th 1998, 22:57
NINPHIL wrote:
>Ok..here's our defense...
I'm definately pleased to read your "defense", and I should say that I
meant no disrespect to the artists (or even to the label, really) - I
simply was disappointed by the show. Ninja Tune obviously cares very much
about this show being as fun as it can be for everyone - I mean only to
offer constructive criticism to electronic music performers in general.
>When asked by interviewers (a question whic
>arises often) why he does not do "live" preformances, his response is why
>should he artificially reproduce his music in a way that that it wasn't
>actually made in the first place to satisfy a rock/live performance
>ethic.
I *totally* agree with Amon's attitude about this. The next logical
question then, is, why is he touring at all? The biggest apparent reason to
tour is, ironically, to "satisfy a rock/live performance" music and
marketing paradigm!
The problem is that with electronic dance music hitting a wider
audience, touring artists (and their labels, promoters, etc) are torn
between playing "parties" (i.e., DJ gigs with people mostly dancing) and
playing "concerts" along the traditional rock/jazz model (a bunch of people
face an onstage personality and *maybe* there's some dancing). And yet lots
of shows of celebrity producer/artists are modeled after rock shows. This
show was unfortunatley no exception. The "Detroit Techno All-Stars" tour, DJ
Shadow, DJ Spooky, they've all been touring with these stupid proscenium
stage setups. The idea of putting a (non-turntablist) DJ on a stage is still
pretty boring, and the audience's head-bobbing behavior for many of these
kinds of gigs is directly attributable to this arrangement.
>we feel bad that anyone would leave a ninja night feeling like a
>sucker...in our defense the gig was advertised as a dj gig...
No it wasn't. Most promotion I saw simply had the artist's names listed.
Of course I was 95% sure it would be a DJ gig, but I was *hoping* for a
surprise of some kind, like the surprise I had when Mad Professor wheeled
out a ten foot long mixing board and a succession of MC's proceeded to rock
the mike while he masgterfully fucked with the beats with his gear, or when
Laika rolled out the huge percussion section, or even when Aphex Twin had
the pair of dancing bears.
>most of our
>parties are cause 10 peice bands on tour cost a fortune..something we
>unfortunately just don't have. We have to fly in 4 guys from england,
>hotel, internal travel pay them...and ultimately the promoter puts the
>price tag on the event...we request that it don't go over $15..buy NY can
>be an expensive town.
I understand. It's tough to tour and make money. Touring is supposed to
do two things for an artist - 1) Sell records (by introducing the artist to
a new audience or by reinforcing an existing fan base) and 2) Make the
artist some money from the gigs themselves.
In Ninja's defense, I would guess that a lot of people loved the show -
I met people there who had never heard anything like it before, and I
noticed some people watching the DJs beatmatching with the kind of awe as if
they were seeing it for the first time. To these people, I suppose you've
satisfied objective #1.
But what about those of use who are 1) experienced/jaded enough to know
what beatmatching is and what d-n-b music sounds like, but 2) don't get much
aroused by just being in the presence of an artist we like? What can you
provide for us? You could provide a slamming dance party I suppose, but $15
is a lot for a dance party at a bar, especially if no one is actually
dancing because they're all staring at the rock-concert stage setup.
Apparently the dancing did really hit a good clip late in the night, but the
vibe could have been kicking a lot earlier if you simply did all you can to
subvert the stage-centric club architecture.
>Mixmaster Morris is one of the best djs I've ever seen and
>generally speaking he plays a wide variety of music that I maynot have
>heard before and mixes so slyly (sorry kids not scratching) that he
>blends tons of genres and takes you on a journey that is crazy good..its
>very possible he had an off night in NY and if that's the case, once
>again... very sorry
No, he was great. It's just that it's not the kind of thing you want to
*look* at, it's the kind of thing you want to *dance* to.
>as far as I understand Jonah's set he is
>actually travelling with effects and dat and remix equiopment
Didn't notice this. I think that this is potentially an interesting
thing for an artist like this to do on tour. But I rarely see anything like
it.
>Sorry dude, just had to repond cause ya seemed so mad...but it will be an
>eternal argument I guess...does dj-ing count as performance..
IDM has had it up to here with the "is DJing an art" question, an
argument which I will argue fervently in the affirmative. However, is
beatmatching/party DJing fun to *watch*? Nah. Does being "live" make it any
better than if it were just done for a mix tape in a studio? Sometimes, but
usually not. The whole paradigm of what our "scene" can be on a tour needs
to be defined a little more independently from the rock scene it has been
emulating recently.
>and hey as for cute girls and drugs...ya gots ta sort that shit out for
>yourself. Or pay 30 bucks and go to a rave and see some dj's there
:) Ah yes, the crakhead jailbait rave scene. No thanks.
I wish all the artists and Ninja Tune a successful tour, but I would
like to see these types of events become a little more exciting and less
confused: either more performative like a rock/jazz show (the Tricky/Massive
Attack route) or the pure dance club route (a la Goldie or Photek), or
somewhere entirely new (the Mad Professor example, or what Jonah Sharp is
trying to do.)
- Chris