From rbc3 Sent Sat, May 16th 1998, 22:04
wells wrote: > I really don't see the merit in it. It's simple and easy, so much so that > anyone could do it. I always hate this argument when someone is trying to discredit art. It's a poor argument to say, "anyone could do it." If anyone could do it, why don't they? This was a criticism of Jackson Pollack when his art was discovered. People thought dripping paint on canvas wasn't art because it wasn't painted on with a brush. Sure anybody can do it, but DID THEY? And could imitators create such emotion with color as Pollack did? What Pollack created is today inarguably art. The point of something like Industrial Folk Songs is experimentation. In other words, has someone ever done it like that before? The noise scene is growing in popularity and the same argument could be said about that. How hard is it to thrash around on stuff or get electronic equipment to sound freaky? There's no rhythm, there are no patterns... it's just NOISE! Well some of it is quite fascinating and some of it isn't. This is all opinion, but to attempt to discredit it by saying anyone could do it misses the point all together! Hell, 90% of techno is written by musically untrained people who don't know the first thing about key, melody, or even timing signatures. My roommate doesn't believe I listen to music. He went to a music school and calls the electronic music I listen to, sound effects. He certainly wouldn't say that anybody could do it though. He knows you have to be a special kind of freak to accept this stuff we listen to as music. > So then I think that people who say they like it do so because it's Cylob. I would agree that some people buy music because of the name or label, but what's wrong with that? If you find a brand of shoe that fits, you stick with it. I know I buy records without listening to them because the record stores in my area are horrible. I find out what friends of mine are listening to because I trust their tastes and judgment and then I mail order it. If I end up not liking it, I sell it and write it off as a simple difference of tastes. Nothing wrong with that. People have different tastes and that's good because that is what makes life so interesting. If we all liked the same shit, think about how boring life would be! > I mean.. if Joe Blow Techno Artist wrote that record, I have a strong > feeling 98% of this list would hate it. Cylob IS Joe Blow Techno Artist! What makes Cylob so special? Sure plenty of people like it, but for every person that likes it, I could find a thousand who would find it to be complete crap! > However, since it comes from Rephlex and Cylob, everyone loves it. > > Does anyone see what I'm saying and maybe agree? No. I like it. I don't think it's the best thing I've heard. It's not even in the upper half of my collection. It certainly is interesting and when I'm in the mood for distorted beats, it brings out some good sound scapes. It's not your typical IDM, but it's not meant to be either. It's experimentation and it's pretty raw. It's gritty, dirty, and grungy and not the least bit refined. Maybe it's simple, but how complicated could it get? To add much more to it would be an overload of the senses anyway. You're allowed not to like it. It's pretty self centered of you to tell people that they like it just because it's Cylob and on Rephlex. I don't like plenty of Richard James' material and HE'S on Rephlex AND Warp (two labels I have a lot of respect for). So go ahead and tell us you don't like it and why you don't like it, but you're a fool for even trying to tell us why we like it! -rbc3