From Sam Frank Sent Wed, Jul 15th 1998, 05:31
From Sam Frank Sent Wed, Jul 15th 1998, 05:31
Using Hotmail is a pain, so I'll put all my thoughts in 1 email. Reply to xxxxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx The new Push Button Objects 12" is pretty good, nothing spectacular. Percussive and complex, but something is lacking. Maybe not enough melodic complexity? I dunno, i listened at work, and might have missed something. maybe 6/10, maybe a 7. What do people think of the new Rhythm and Sound (aka Maurizio) Compilation? it's been played to death where I work, but I'm not in love with it. The bass and beats don't have any texture at all, they're just flat and boring. Does it sound good played over a good sound system? Do complexities emerge? I just picked up the Farmer's Manual album Explorers We, and it's very good, better than I expected. It isn't the formless noise and ambience that i thought it might be‹ instead it's crackly electronic noise that resolves itself into beats and pulses, some voice samples, and a whole lot of weirdness. Abrasive, but still very listenable. I still haven't even started the second CD yet. I bought that Dujeous tape I told you all about a few weeks ago, and it's really worth hearing, especially for the $4 I paid for it. Full live band NYC hiphop, with guitar and trumpet, and 3 excellent MCs. If any of you live in NYC, try to check out a Wax Poetic productions show (they are Dujeous' production arm, and they usually have great lineups on their bills, plus an open mic). Check www.sandboxautomatic.com >Actually the most classic example I can think of is Tricky. >Throw in lots of roughly looped, sometimes distorted bits, and mutter >away, and you're not doing something new, you're buying into very >pretentious expectations of what it means to be experimental. Grrrrr. Don't get me started on Tricky... But you did, so I will... His production is astounding. It isn't just the loops he uses, it's how he's able to turn a tiny loop or sample into something entirely his own. And if you don't think he has his own sound, check out his new album, where he's able to achieve the same effect with a live band. His lyrics are brilliant ‹ clautrophobic, insane (i'm postive he is after listening to his new album and seeing him play last year), some twisted version of hiphop as filtered through his weed-addled brain. Hiphop has always been about loops... It isn't about how much the beat changes throughout, it's about how the beat is, and how it interacts with the vocals. Nobody matches the 2 elements better than Tricky. Same thing goes with our discussion of the Amen break ‹ Tricky may use simple loops and samples on some songs, but he mutates them into something completely perfect. Check out the beat on She Makes Me Wanna Die... GO SEE HIM LIVE ON THIS TOUR. His new album is hard to take, but still excellent, with the kind of songs that he translates brilliantly to the stage (i.e. repetitive and intensely dark diatribes) Finally, can people help me resolve my sneaking doubts about "turntablism?" I love it at times, but isn't a lot of it just the same as the worst drill and bass, or Joe Satriani doing a 10 minute guitar solo ‹self-indulgent "experimental" crap? Not to be a singleminded hiphop purist, but 60 minute long scratchfests abandon the point of hiphop a bit too much, just like Satriani solos aren't rock any more, or a capella rhyming is barely rap. And I dunno if scratching is a flexible enough tool to stand completely on its own. I like the Mixmaster Mike album because he's creative in the sounds he uses, and because there's still some structure to his songs. And despite the flack the X-Ecutioners album has gotten, I like it because it retains musicality. Should I be afraid to check out something like DJ Faust? The Skratch Piklz "shaggar fraggar show" limited CD is pretty much self-indulgence, fun for a few minutes, then deathly in its repetition. Would this stuff sound good if we didn't know how much skill it took to create it? Sam ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com