From Joda Clement Sent Fri, Apr 9th 1999, 07:13
From Joda Clement Sent Fri, Apr 9th 1999, 07:13
> = > APHEX TWIN Analogue Bubblebath 1 (TVT 12") = > = > Date: Thu, 08 Apr 1999 20:04:39 +0400 >othomstates.scene.org/ > = no regard for factuality. > = > <<Reich's work doesn't need techno processing because his music has it > = > Date: Thu, 08 Apr 1999 14:51:52 -0500 > From: Rodney Perkins <xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx> > Subject: (idm) Reynolds' most overrated music of 1998 (IDM, anyone?) > = > I was checking out Simon Reynolds yearly hate list and foudn this tirad= e. = > Its must read. I know many of you will be chucking those Gescom 12's fo= r > speed garage white labels after reading this. :-0 > = > = > GEEKTRONICA, A/K/A IDM (INTELLIGENT DANCE MUSIC) > = > = > This international network of home-studio-made, pressing-of-500 electro= nic > music is basically the new lo-fi rock. That much is clear from the fact= that > Matador, home of Pavement and Yo La Tengo etc, now has a roster of seri= ously > hip techno (Pole, Jega, Burger/Ink, Boards of Canada) and has done a de= al > with Warp, the pioneers of first-wave "intelligent techno". Then there'= s all > these Pastels/Mogwai/Low type bands putting out remix albums with their= > tracks revamped by all the usual geektronic suspects. > I call it geektronica because the people into it have the same trainspo= tter > obsessive-compulsive collector mentality as lo-fi nerds, and because > musically, it's deliberately enfeebled or impaired sounding. Just as th= e > demographic constituency/class-base for lo-fi doesn't like rock that's = too > rockin' and rhythmically muscular, similarly the geektronica audience > prefers dance music that isn't danceable. I'm not saying that good musi= c > hasn't come out of this area--IDM's patron saints Aphex Twin and Luke V= ibert > are household gods chez moi (although Autechre and Squarepusher, also p= atron > saints, are decidely not), I dig Mike Paradinas, Jega and Boards of Can= ada. > But this music's strongest trait isn't rhythm but melody (all those poi= gnant > or chipper or glum tunes) and timbre (another thing it has in common wi= th > lo-fi, an obsession with different grains of distortion). > Lo-fi and geektronica fans have the same commodity-fetish for wacky sle= eves > and peculiar configurations of vinyl --split singles, one sided discs w= ith > drawings etched into the other side, flexis, 10 inches and 7-inches (an= d > soon 8 inches, apparently), double-7inches, maxi-EPs and mini-albums. > There's a whole on-line world of obsessives who trade and hunt down rar= e > early 12 inches on labels like Skam and Rephlex, which sometimes fetch = huge > prices. > Nothing against obscurity (that would really be the pot calling the ket= tle > black I suppose) or unusual formats/packaging, or coveting rare records= =2E But > a lot of this geektronica stuff has crossed the line into wilful > obscurantism. With records coming out in pressings of 250 or even fifty= > (with handpainted covers etc), you have to wonder what's the threshold = below > which music ceases to be a "cultural practice" and becomes mere hobbyis= m? As > the phenomenon of music distributed through the Internet, downloaded an= d > CD-burned continues to develop, this global geektronic network may well= > devolve into a barter economy, with bedroom producers trading their mus= ic > with other artists through the Net. Momus recently suggested that rathe= r > than everybody being famous for 15 minutes, in the future everybody wil= l be > famous for 15 people. That's what it's getting like, and that's why we > should be getting worried. = Oh man, you guys should lighten up and take a step back for a sec. It's = true, every word of it. The whole limited to 500 or so copies things gets me t= he most, it's so incredibly pointless, but it seems to make the release so m= uch more satisfying, and "cool". And you feel so much better having it. It = works for me. Skam really has it all figured out, their stupid limted releases= , lack of information and ambiguity seems so appealing and mysterious, and = they clean up everytime. It's a genious marketing scheme. Who wants the new Autechre that you get at K-mart when you can have a limited 12" from some= obscure artist, which no one else has, who cares what it sounds like, you= 're cool. Other labels can try, and I still fall for them too, but skam wins= the marketing game hands down. You know deep down it's all true...ho ha. -- Gwei-lo, clown prince of crime np: Thomas Koner- "Nuuk" ____________________________________________________________________ Get free e-mail and a permanent address at http://www.netaddress.com/?N=3D= 1