From jon anderson Sent Thu, Oct 14th 1999, 03:05
From jon anderson Sent Thu, Oct 14th 1999, 03:05
To whoever recently mentioned that derrick may is not "intelligent": The original post was someone looking for "classic IDM" recommendations. While derrick may (and i believe someone mentioned kraftwerk) perhaps do not neatly fit the mold of what some people mean by "IDM", it still makes sense to recommend artists who have been a major influence on IDM... and kraftwerk/electro/techno have influenced IDM, right? Or am I on a different page? One problem with making that kind of statement is that "intelligent" in this context could mean simply "belonging to the catagory of electronic dance music known as IDM" or "characterized by complexity/sophistication (and other vague or problematic adjectives) that typify what is called IDM" - or, as I think unfortunately this word _inevitably_ connotates, it could just mean "intelligent". (As if to say, "derrick may makes unintelligent music".) Assuming the best, that you meant it in the first sense, then I would agree; in that: _Sure_, techno and IDM are officially two different genres which have roughly agreed upon definitions, and May arguably falls much more into the techno category. So he's not "IDM". But then again, although we share some common ideas on what IDM means, I'm not aware of any 100% authoritative definition of IDM, nor any good way of quantifying to what extent things like "complexity" or "sophistication" are present in a tune. I think it's a little naive to think that there is. Techno isn't just good to dance to btw... there is such a thing as a techno producer with musical talent and an ear for subtlety. Not to say you wouldn't agree, but i'm just pointing it out. So while I would never use derrick may as an example of "IDM" if I was trying to explain IDM to a novice, i would never insist that he could not possibly fall into this catagory according to a more flexible definition. I think techno is very different from most (though not all) of the very recent IDM of the late 90's (particularly autechre-soundalike etc - in it's focus on "experimental" textures and timbre), but not so different from the "classic idm" of the early 90's. Just check out those artificial intelligence comps and album series with richy hawtin, speedy j, and kenny larkin. Don't forget early aphex (geez, especially the universal indicator stuff) - who else but aphex, mr. IDM, could conclusively prove that techno influenced IDM? clearly IDM, like every genre, has at least small roots in virtually any other imaginable genre, as musicians do not live in boxes. We don't need to go into that though, because techno was a plain and major influence on IDM. Can someone back me up on this? Certainly there is a "rock" influence as well, but to say that it's just an x-hippy rocker thing or whatever is a little odd I think. It makes me think i'm missing your point, and maybe i am, so feel free to mention that. So even if we grant that derrick may is strictly techno, and not IDM (which i really have no problem doing btw), i would still insist that IDM is in fact VERY rooted in techno. Surely you see the evidence of that? Someone earlier said, I believe, something about kraftwerk only being the roots of electro and techno and not IDM... which frankly i find a little unbelievable... for the reasons mentioned above, but also because there is a very direct resemblance between kraftwerk and lots of IDM, particularly the older "ambient" type stuff. I'm pretty sure Kraftwerk had a _direct_ influence on both electro _and_ IDM, although I suppose the connection may not be totally evident if you only compare ae's "ep7" with kraftwerk's "computer world"... anyhoo, that's what I think! jon ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com