(idm) Usa=guitar-based, Uk=electronic?/Amon Tobin (long)

From KaisrSolze
Sent Tue, Jun 30th 1998, 05:11

>possibly, but my take on it is that the record industry has convinced
>all the people that deal with it that nobody can sell anything without
>lyrics.
=09And whenever they try, they can't.  They don't know how to market it, =
and by=0Anow there are no popular alternatives through which to hear musi=
c.  USA Radio=0Ais very niche-driven, except for low power college radio =
which does its best=0Ato not cater to a mass market (not that there's any=
thing wrong with that).=0AHow would it sound if KRock in NYC threw on Orb=
ital (a poppy electronic group,=0Abut with little relation to rock) in be=
tween a tired grunge ripoff and Oasis?=0AGood, poppy electronic has nowhe=
re to go marketwise (on the most basic level,=0Athe songs are far too lon=
g, the hooks are structured completely differently,=0Athe repetition is o=
f a different sort), except for the strictly partybased=0AEurobeat / high=
NRG stuff, which usually sucks (I have no problem with=0Aimpugning this p=
articular genre, I'm sorry to say).  It's a bad form of disco,=0Aand peop=
le use it as background music, becuase there's no way of convincing=0Athe=
 mass market that "electronic listening music" exists.  People on this li=
st=0Amay criticize a magazine like Spin, but I think it does a good job o=
f=0Apresenting electronic, and other non-popular, but still pop, forms of=
 music as=0Aviable alternatives.  Problem is, relatively few people read =
it in the grand=0Ascheme of things.  And honestly, even though stuff like=
 jungle and house is=0Anice to listen to, they are usually dance musics, =
which are better grooved to=0Athan sat down to.  So, until the US changes=
 its entire music culture/economic=0Astructure, stuff outside of the Prod=
igy, with vocal hooks, short songs, and=0Arock sounds, won't sell much.  =
That's whdant/right here I sound redundant." 
=09What's the radio/marketing situation like in Britain?  Is radio so "ni=
chey?"=0ADon't outlets like the BBC present good listening alternatives? =
 Why the hell=0Adid techno break through in England/Europe in the first p=
lace, and get out of=0Athe clubs?  Did Strings of Life really change ever=
ything that much?  It has to=0Ago deeper than that.

>How about Amon Tobin?  I have the Creatures EP and have heard his stuff
>as Cujo.  Any tips on his Ninja releases?
=09Buy his stuff ASAP.  The only jazzy jungle stuff I've liked, and I lik=
e what=0AI've heard a lot, as does pretty much everyone on this list who'=
s posted about=0Ait.  The jazz is actually real jazz, instead of the Buke=
m noodling, and the=0Ajungle is halfway between dancefloor and experiment=
al.  Plus Brazilian=0Abreakbeats / rhythms, some dark stuff, some more am=
bient parts.  Permutation=0Awould be the album to buy (the folks in the r=
ecord store where i work have=0Aalready dubbed it drum and bass album of =
the year, and we get a lot of jungle=0Ain), but Bricolage and the singles=
 are supposed to be fine too.

=09And guitars are great instruments, which have created much of the best=
=0Apop/art music ever IMO.  Even if there are IDM tunes up there in the p=
antheon,=0Athe sheer number of great guitar songs outweighs anything elec=
tronic.  They=0Ajust have a longer history, and frankly, lyrics can be ve=
ry meaningful.  Great=0Arock is a good thing, all apologies to Che.  Peop=
le aren't closeminded to give=0Arock the benefit of the doubt over instru=
mental electronic wanking.  Let the=0Amusic prove itself.

Sam=0A