Actually, it's been my experience that a lot of IDM-ish stuff,
especially recent favorites such as arovane, tends to fall under the
categories of dull, wistful, meandering, or other moods that are
definitely not "bright and happy." I think it's a problem, actually,
an unhealthy obsession with making tracks that sound moody or pensive
(perhaps because this sounds more "serious?"). I like a good "dull"
or "angry" track as much as the next person, but I would make the
claim that, at least in the underground scene of emerging, young
artists, there is a notable lack of "bright and happy." The more
developed artists with longer histories (Plaid, Aphex Twin, Freeform,
Squarepusher, even Boards of Canada) show a mastery of multiple moods
in their music.
I will always appreciate variety and prefer it to a release on which
all the tracks blend together in my memory. I think arovane is a
good example of this. I have listend to both the "atol scrap" album
and "tides," and while I found it to be quite pleasant, most of it
has left little impression on my memory, partly because there's not
much variety between tracks (you probably can tell I'm not a gigantic
fan of minimalism). I own a lot of music, and there's no way I can
listen to it all an equal amount of time. The stuff that gets the
most play is the stuff that I remember later on, thinking to myself,
"I just have to hear that again."
If after a few listens, I later look at a CD and only remember a
general mood from a bunch of tracks that have all blended together in
my head, I'm probably not going to choose to listen to it again, and
consequently that artist, over time, becomes less interesting to me.
Now, I do really like the first three tracks on "tides," and track 6
is nice, but while I'm listening to the CD as a whole, the rest
generally just goes into the background for me. I realize that this
can be a purpose for an artist, to create quality background music
(hence ambient), but I'm not a big fan of that. I spend my money to
be engaged by music. If I want to not pay attention to something,
there's plenty of free ambient noise right outside my window.
I love SAWII, though. My point is just that, I wish there were a
little more demand for inspired stuff like the Max Tundra's recent
variety-filled album (Some Best Friend You Turned Out To Be), and
less for autechre-ish
"interesting-meandering-noises-but-now-i've-stopped-paying-attention-t
o-it" stuff like arovane. Which is not to say that I think arovane
is like autechre in style...
Obviously I don't have to listen to something just because other
people say it's good; I'm just making a case for more variety in
moods.
-Adam
(sorry for the length)
On Thu, 15 Jun 2000 19:47:56 +0300, Konstantin Minko wrote:
[re: "Ischemic Strokes" from Schematic]
quoted 8 lines It is indeed hard to conceive but not harder than most of the music I have.
>It is indeed hard to conceive but not harder than most of the music I have.
>It is dull and uncomfortable (which I need sometimes from music - I'm not
>supportive of the idea that every music has to be bright and make you happy,
>some tracks need to make you feel sad or dull or angry...) but it strikes me
>that it was an original idea to make it in such way. The sleeve tells
>something about it somehow. I cannot say that it is the best stuff I have
>but I certainly do not regret having it. And by the way it was the only way
>to get some more Richard Devine tracks for his fan. 8)
--
Adam Piontek [
http://www.tcinternet.net/users/damek/]
ICQ: 3456339 [damek@earthling.net]
... Engineers believe that if it ain't broke, it doesn't have
enough features yet. -- Scott Adams
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