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Date:
24 Oct 96 10:59:21 +0200
Subject:
Re: (idm) Re: Autechre (was the fall of WARP (or not))
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Arjun wrote:
quoted 3 lines I think you might be missing the point. IMHO, Autechre is one of the few>I think you might be missing the point. IMHO, Autechre is one of the few >outfits who create sounds/noises/rhythms that are actually worthy of being >looped.
I guess I'm missing the point, yes. But I think the point is moot in the first place. What's the point in layering loops? After hearing each loop once, well, you can just recreate the entire piece in your head. It's just addition/subtraction. If there is no progression over time other than this layering thing, well, then I'd just as rather not waste time sitting through the entire composition where it fundamentally exists of a twenty second loop. Show me the twenty second loop and I'll make infinite variations on it without ever considering any of these variations to be 'music'.
quoted 8 lines Take the beginning of the first track off of Tri Repetae. That's>Take the beginning of the first track off of Tri Repetae. That's >a completely original loop, which-to my ears-is not only incredibly >interesting but really grooves.(There are people who would make an entire >track out of just such a loop and a few chords.) And when Autechre lay on >that wicked second loop six bars later, it sounds like an electronic >abstraction of those crazy distorted old Mike P. drum loops. On top of >this, they slowly build a melody/chord progression that I think *defines* >"dark brooding atmosphere." And this is just one track.
What's so incredibly interesting about a loop? It appears to me what Ae-fans enjoy the most about Ae-music is the 'feel-good' vibe to it. It's all very groovy and has lots of bass and thick synth-textures. It literally feels good when the oscillations hit your skull. But this is more of a biology topic. Well, the construction of our ears and brains makes us enjoy some sounds more than others. And you can use this in your music. But it is not music in itself. Luke Slater's "7th Plain" springs to mind.. It has a couple of very well-executed tracks that illustrate the use of sound to make things feel good, like icing on a cake.
quoted 6 lines I assume you're exaggerating when you say 128, but Autechre is innovating>I assume you're exaggerating when you say 128, but Autechre is innovating >in this respect as well. Listen to track 1 of the Garbage EP for stuff >that'll confuse your tapping foot. At the end of track 2 of Key Nell, the >strings are in one tempo, and the fucked-up cut-up voice rhythms are in >another. The last track on Key Nell has a chord progression that's 18 bars >long instead of 8 or 16 like you would expect.
These are all arbitrary numbers. You don't get a 'song' by making a chord progression that's 18 bars long. You make a chord progression that's 18 bars long because the music demands it. At least, ideally. But the Ae-music is so superficial.. It does not, at any one time, seem to demand anything. It's just feel-good thumps and moans and groans.
quoted 1 line ...are we faulting them for getting better?>...are we faulting them for getting better?
I'm faulting them for calling music what is actually a computer language. IPascalHO.