OK. I'd been staying out of this, mostly because I try to steer clear of
anyone offering up criteria for what constitutes "REAL music", unless that
criteria is simply the fact that it is being offered up as such. As far as
I'm concerned, the jackhammer outside your window mixed with the din of
traffic, the low hum and whine of your refrigerator, and the insipid
dialogue on your neighbor's television can be music, if it is heard as
interesting and appreciated within a musical context. Different forms of
appreciation can be brought (very successfully) to bear on a number of
different aesthetic objects. John Hughes III probably said (sang) it best:
"I can dance forever/ to the beat of murmur/ to the clang of clatter/
without you... ever... hearing." That is, if I remember my lyrics correctly.
But I digress. I'm actually writing to mention that neither gamelan or Oval
belong in whatever category you're describing here (i.e. "no progressions of
tones being used").
Gamelan, strictly put, is simply the word that Indonesians use for "music".
On a worldwide scale, it merely means "music in an Indonesian style" (just
like chai means "tea like they make in India"). This music may be entirely
percussion-based, or it may include flutes or other instruments as the
primary instruments. It's pleasant, often.
Oval also makes use of tones, although Popp and Oschatz (repsonsible for the
visual aspects of Oval) would tend to agree with you that Oval isn't
music--- their reasons why are somewhat convoluted. In short form, Popp
would call the project a comment on the uses of technology and the
commodification of art forms. I think I've only recently come to any
understanding of his philosophy behind what, to me, are merely some of the
most beautiful soundscapes I've ever heard, and some of the more important
albums to come out this decade. At any rate, much of 94diskont sounds like a
minimalist (Glass-ish, perhaps) CD-scanning symphony, and, e.g., ovalprocess
and systemisch contain a number of well-recognizable tones, rhythms and
textures. Dok does lean toward more extreme minimilism, but dear god, I hope
you don't believe that sparseness, when it reaches some ill-defined degree,
means that something is no longer music.
So, yeah. Since you (DynamiCell) mentioned having not heard either of these,
I didn't really think I could let the two above-mentioned sink into your
relatively arbitrary "not music" category. FWIW, I probably won't be buying
those Fax releases either.
Cheers,
M.
-----
Made with affection by distrustful lovers.
DynamiCell@aol.com wrote:
quoted 2 lines Have you heard gamelon orchestras? Or Oval? Or any of those cds on >> Fax
>>Have you heard gamelon orchestras? Or Oval? Or any of those cds on >> Fax
>>that are just one note sustained for an hour? Is that not >> music?quoted 2 lines No, that is not music, and no I have never heard it, and thank you >for
>No, that is not music, and no I have never heard it, and thank you >for
>telling me so that I wont buy it.
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