-----Original Message-----
From: Albers, Brian [mailto:BAlbers@premiereradio.com]
Sent: 2004 m. rugsėjo 8 d. 00:33
To: idm@hyperreal.org
Subject: RE: [idm] radioheadtronica
quoted 4 lines I have a different hope -- that more electronic artists would spend as> I have a different hope -- that more electronic artists would spend as
> much time on actually writing music, and less on tweaking the latest
> max/msp patch.
>
I never liked this argument regarding electronic music (especially idm)
because the rules have changed (evolved) so drastically. When I think of
good songwriting, it's stuff from decades ago (respect to the Everly Bros,
Simon and Garfunkel, Beatles). And even during the rock eras of the 70s-90s,
finding a well written song with an original chord progression and an
artful, meaningful melody was a challenge. And just because a song was a hit
or popular doesn't mean that it was well written.
Somewhere along the way (I'm not sure which artists or producers to blame)
the emphasis changed from coming up with good songs to coming up with
exciting sounds. The song doesn't matter; the sound of the song is what's
important. That trend continues today especially with all the computer-aided
compositional techniques that are so commonplace in all this music that we
all love.
My point is that it was never the point or the goal for any of these current
electonic artists to write a good song. Sound design and arranging and even
mixing will all take priority over classic strong songwriting. You can go
find the most gorgeous song by Bola or Boards of Canada or Plaid or whomever
and it still wouldn't qualify as a good song by traditional standards.
I have a similar argument on why almost all classical music post Beethoven
is crap, but I'll save that one for another list.
np: VSnares Shiver in Eternal Darkness
I think Brian is right. Song writing is that what it is. You can't event a
bicycle there. Unique sound alone is not an interesting thing, too. It is
all about combining these two things together. You have to be somehow unique
if you want to succeed.
As for radiohead's electronic music I've heard rumors that they've purchased
a lot of warp stuff before writing the album and tried to generate ideas
from that. It feels like that for me.
Walkman
www.sutemos.net
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