Here's a reply to the message "(idm) The Arbiters of Good Taste"
written on Tue, 16 Nov 1999 10:16:20 -0600 (CST):
quoted 5 lines I think that's stupid. It rewards musicians for being
>I think that's stupid. It rewards musicians for being
>amateurish, inept, and obtuse. It punishes people for learning
>the craft of recording. It punishes people for daring to try
>and actually make a living with their music. And it perpetuates an
>elitist subculture that's little more than an elaborate circle jerk.
It's interesting you should mention Orbital, because there does seem
to be a pretty wide gulf between their fans and their detractors on
this list. Those that hate Orbital with a passion tend to be
relatively younger listeners of so-called IDM, whose first contact
with the group was probably on MTV (the bizarre rationale being that
if an artist appears on MTV, they've somehow "sold out" and thus
aren't worthy of further attention).
I find this all quite amusing. Over here in the UK, during the
late-80s, I found myself being attracted to what was generically known
as "dance" music. Around 1987-88, as a 15-16 year-old kid, if you were
into "dance" music, you were considered "a bit odd". If you were into
pure pop, people left you alone. If you wanted to be "cool", you had
to listen to "heavy metal" music such as Def Leppard and Bon Jovi. It
seems laughable now, but that was the way it was.
At the same time, UK clubs and discos didn't play speed garage, drum &
bass or club music, because it didn't exist. These clubs and discos
played either classic 70s disco or these new-fangled 12-inch remixes
of pop music. House/acid/techno began to emerge in 1986, but no-one
took it seriously -- and if you did, you were seen as a weirdo.
Now look at how things have changed. The house scene has since evolved
into today's current club scene, which everyone and their dog is
involved in. Now you're seen as a weirdo if you're *not* into that
sort of stuff.
Where was I going with this? Ah yes, so back in the late 80s, I
started hearing this incredible new music from the likes of Bomb the
Bass, S'Express, 808 State, Orbital, Humanoid, Shades of Rhythm and
LFO. I'd previously been listening to a bit of Jarre and founds the
sort of sonic experimentation on early New Order, Pet Shop Boys, Art
of Noise, Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Propaganda albums to be good
fun. Now it all seemed to be going a step further and I liked what I
was hearing.
Pretty much all these artists are still around today. Some have split
up, but the various members are still actively recording decent music.
But it makes me laugh when the younger IDM listeners wonder what all
the fuss about Orbital and 808 State is about. If it weren't for them,
the current IDM scene would be *very* different, perhaps hardly
recognisable, so jumping on them for not daring to be as "progressive"
as the current bunch of click-hiss-whirr artists is nonsense.
quoted 5 lines Fuck that. I'm not going to apologize for listening to music just
>Fuck that. I'm not going to apologize for listening to music just
>because it happens to be popular. It's popular for whole host of
>reasons, and looking consciously at those reasons is for me
>just as interesting as listening the latest click-thud-and-screech
>classics.
I had the good fortune to see Orbital (with Plaid in support) earlier
this year. I've also seen Autechre live. Now, as much as I find
Autechre's albums, eps and remixes to be incredible, cutting edge
stuff, their live performance is about as interesting as watching
paint dry -- and the audience usually consists of a dozen bearded
students, stroking their chins as they analyse the fractal structures
between sips of diet coke. On the other hand, whilst Orbital perhaps
aren't as "progressive" or "experimental", their live shows are
awesome. Seeing thousands of people jumping around, high on the music
as it pulsates throughout the venue in tidal sine waves, projected
images and icons flying everywhere, is a sight to see (and hear).
--
Mark Stevens
http://www.headspin.clara.net/
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org
For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org