From Alex Reynolds Sent Mon, Jun 29th 1998, 23:31
"Why I Dug, Dig, and Will Continue To Dig IDM" There are too many list members complaining about what they are hearing in IDM right now, and not enough of them knowing why they don't like it. I deliver the following to try to open a discussion on the list of where IDM was when things were better, and where IDM should be and why. So let's discuss. -- The following is a mini-review of sorts, specifically of "turquoise hexagon sun" from BOCs "hi scores" and "music has the right to children". Because of the coloring of the packaging for both the Skam and Warp release, and due to the appearance of the above track on both releases, I think it is safe to say that BOC really thinks a lot of THC(sun). Enough for me to consider it their swan song, at least for now, at least for the purposes of this essay. To continue, the following is a review of the aforementioned song in the form of my visualization of the story it tells. You can listen along with the time markings, if you like: 00:00 Opening bars Fish-eye perspective from our hero, walking down an apartment hallway towards a door where party sounds can be heard. Camera pans from doorknob to the flashy action in the unlit party immediately behind the door. 00:21 Party time Bass thumps, drunk laughing voices, talking -- our Hero breathes deep, intimate lungfuls of air as he walks with confidence through the crowd of people. This is his domain; he is comfortable in this setting. Clearly, the volume of the party- goers implies that our Hero is not quite "at" the party, having either drank or smoked a fair bit before entering the throng. The camera follows our Hero from the side as he stumbles his way into the fray, with a lazy grin on his face. 01:01 Hey there Hi-Fives to everyone as the Hero says hello to his chums and other familiars. Hey, I've got a good buzz on; let's dance, let's have fun. 01:41 Wait a sec Voices die out as our Hero spots his target of affection, focusing immediately as her voice comes through clearly above the din. Camera follows his directional cue by tracking his intended target. She is making smalltalk with her present companion. She looks up, glancing at him for the briefest of brief moments. 02:02 Anticipation Love at first sight? Heartbeat is racing now. Cut to shot of Hero walking (almost running) to the balcony to get a better glimpse of Her. 03:04 Inner doubt Introspection as the Hero hangs out on the balcony, nervous and thinking of the Other. What to do? What if she laughs at me? What will happen? 04:11 Guts Voices cut in -- the Hero's course is clear, now. He makes his move, cutting through the people in his way. He sees only flashes of her face as he bobs and weaves his way through the thick mass. Camera follows the confusion as strobes fire between cuts of our Hero searching frantically and what he sees in slow-motion. 04:48 Where is she? As our Hero looks for his object of desire, she suddenly disappears, nowhere to be found. Camera pulls back, focused on the Hero's face, ultimately the face of the loner. Crowd remains distinct and unfocused in the background. -- The strong imagery in this track, and in this release in general, is why I bought Ae's "Amber" and AT's "SAW 85-92" all those years ago and why I will continue to take the time to obtain and listen (deeply) to the electronic music I collect. Richard James promise of throwing lyric-less music out into the public and letting each individual decide its meaning appealed to me then as it still does now. This was the promise Eno realized with the sudden birth and death of environmental ambient in the late 70s. And while I mock Thaemlitz in an earlier message, tracks contained on his "Tranquilizer" and "Soil" are two of the best examples of meaningful, soulful, sad, and joyful imagery delivered via sound. My interpretation of his music may not take on the political dimensions he intends, but his writing has certainly affected my thought processes during subsequent listens. Each track tells a story; the allegory is a rewarding culmination of deliberate thought, not singly of the artist's vision, but also of the imagination of the listener. To me, a conversation between listener and artist, realized via repeated listens, is the best and most optimistic result of IDM, justifying the use of the word "intelligent" in IDM -- if the term still has any meaning. It may even explain why there are those list members who still pine for the "good old days" when we had the beated, beautiful electronic-pop ambience of Orb, Orbital, Aphex, Ae, et al in the early 90s. The Artist (via any medium) carves out a living by delivering a slice of life, with all its emotional baggage, with all its causal history. I see this sometimes in the works of electronic musicians, but this is happening to a lesser degree as the field becomes more commercially viable. The "Prodigy"s and "D'n'B" rip-offs of today make their trade with unsubtle, in-your-face, pop bubblegum. They place no import on projecting any meaningful images into their music, make no attempt to get you to work for your enjoyment of the music, and hence they will have no anchor in history -- here today, gone tomorrow. Good riddance. If the dark days of electoacoustic mediocrity are upon us, I argue it is not because of "drum n' bass" or XYZ taking over, but because a majority of electronic musicians have either lost or never had the simple desire to tell a story -- to open a meaningful, rewarding dialogue with the listener. This is why I get into BOC + others, this is why I keep coming back. Why do you come back? Alex __________________________________________________________________________ Alex Reynolds Distributed Support Specialist Department of Biology School of Arts & Sciences Computing University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA email:xxxxxxxx@xxx.xxxxx.xxx phone:215.573.2818 PGP Fingerprint: E0E3 BB20 C1BC 3C0D 56A1 1FD5 5B9C 9E91 A7F0 F9B5 "The future belongs to crowds." -- _Mao II_, Don DeLillo