To whoever was posting yesterday about the Mr. Scruff LP:
I'd encourage you to seek out the s/t Mr. Scruff 2x12" on Pleasure Records -
it's in a similar vein as the Fish single on Ninja, kinda sample-goofy trip hop
that's smooth and brings a smile to your face. There's a great track with
samples about a whale on there (sounds stupid, I know but...) and "Chicken In a
Box", which is worth the price of the rekkid alone. Ethiopian nose flute intro
which breaks down into a feverish latin percussion workout and vocodered voices
at the end. Prolly another one that would fit into the K&D recommendations camp
as well. Worth scoring.
As far as Simon Reynolds' tirade, I can't say that I disagree entirely. Maybe
it's because I've read his book "Generation Ecstasy" (also worth scoring) and
know his whole argument. If you read that one you'll understand better where
he's coming from - he's more interested in music as an agent of social change
and personal transformation, and idm seems a bit too self-indulgent and
deliberately elitist to work in that direction. Compare someone who makes
"difficult/avant garde" music to a kid who goes out to raves every weekend and
eats loads of drugs - Reynolds would argue that the kid is actually doing more
to push the envelope, challenge the status quo, etc. while the "avant-garde"
musician is actually just working within the system for primarily self-indulgent
reasons. As long as the kid is conscious of his actions (which most aren't), I
can't say he's wrong on this one. And if your goal isn't to buck the system,
then you won't buy into this anyway. It all depends on where you're coming from
and what end result you desire. I'm doing a horrible job of explaining it, maybe
someone else who's read the book and is a bit more eloquent can step in. And
this is prolly the wrong audience to make the argument to anyway. Please don't
torch my ass too bad on this one...Brock