From Michael Upton Sent Wed, Feb 10th 1999, 05:32
From Michael Upton Sent Wed, Feb 10th 1999, 05:32
On Tue, 9 Feb 1999 xxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx wrote: | I'm reading Simon Reynolds' _Generation Ecstasy_ (that's the US title), | and he rather harshly compares IDM to progressive rock, in that it is a | reintroduction of traditional notions of musicality into what was | previously a 'base' genre --propulsive but simple dance music, in this | case-- that was severely in want of structure, melody, complexity, and the | deliberate incorporation of influences from 'high art' genres like jazz | and classical. The Face mag ran a similar line about ambient house (which includes a lot of IDM, really, from that period) around '93, comparing specifically Floyd and Orb live shows. I think there definitely is an element of validity to the claim. Basically, I think there are plenty of high art wankers who listen to IDM, and think their music is superior to "normal dance" folks. I think the major problem with the comparison, though, is that you've got something like p-funk or even hip-hop doing a similar thing, but from an essentially emotive and 'low art' approach. So, why not compare IDM to that? Truth be told, I reckon IDM as a genre name is also so loosely defined, and unrelated to any specific scene, that trying to compare all of it to one or the other isn't going to hold. Michael np. 'Long Time Man' - Tim Rose ____________________________________________ "His eyes are TV cameras" http://www.vuw.ac.nz/~michael/jj.html