IDM Mailing Archive

On Fri, 01 Nov 1996 Gilbert ViDela critiqued:

quoted 5 lines I own HAT and Semi Accoustic Nature. I find them both to entertain me, but I

> I own HAT and Semi Accoustic Nature. I find them both to entertain me, but I > don't know why as they sound (as most of the RI stuff) like a bunch of half > assed noodling around with analogue gear. I love MONO tm btw. Do any of you > enjoy this "noodling" around programming thta seems not to make any sense > what so ever (But that's a good thing he said).

Man, I wouldn't have it any other way. If Uwe Schmidt made predictable, repetative songs then I would expect to hear/read criticism from another perspective. Why stick to a patterned style of songwriting when you can just fuck around with experimentation? I'd have to disagree with you on itemizing his more recent works as `noodling' though. Why not try, `non-classifiable'? Maybe what you're hearing is not a sound you're used to... but is that a bad thing? Again, why do what's already been done? And on Fri, 1 Nov 1996 Mark Turner added:

quoted 8 lines I personally enjoy all the RI releases up to BROWN. While they all sound

> I personally enjoy all the RI releases up to BROWN. While they all sound > similar in instrumentation, Atom Heart is stylistically restless enough to > give each release its own individual character. On BROWN, HAT, and MONO TM, > though, the "noodle factor" is way too high for me. There are no tunes to > speak of, not much of a consistent groove, and there's no discernable > progression like there is on, say, the live album (B2). Although I may warm > up to these three after a few more listens, for the time being I've had about > enough "noodles" in my musical diet.

I hate to pick on just one thing you've said, but `consistent groove'? What, like 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4? Bleah! Schmidt's already done that, and now he's moving on. BROWN in my opinion is a masterpiece. Soooo strange and wonderful. Very non-European/non-traditional stylings. Lotsa jazzy feel with quite a bit of Latin spicing. Ambient freakiness abounds. Noise. Intelligent use of `stereo'. Filled with weirndess indeed. No `tunes' on this one my friend. Definitely worth the unusually long wait after the U.S. customs fuck-up. HAT is a collaboration between three people: Inoue, Hosono, and Schmidt. This album sounds like one person recorded some music and then sent it on to the other, who then added his own bits, and then sent it on to the third, and then back again (wherever) for the final touches. A very old DIY idea - tried but true. Very neat. MONO TM is basically Uwe Schmidt vs. Matthew Herbert (aka DR ROCKITT) - I betcha didn't know that. When I first heard this album, I was taken aback at the sudden style-change incurred by Herr Schmidt. Then I read the liner notes/crdits and it all made sense. This is like one of those super hero team-ups that you never ever even thought would come together. And on Sat, 2 Nov 1996 Tim Zeigler concluded:

quoted 1 line I'll second this notion that Atom Heart has run out of gas.

> I'll second this notion that Atom Heart has run out of gas.

Run out of gas? You're missing the point - he's running on an alternative fuel than from which everyone else is used to. Uwe Schmidt is the epitamy of what the `I' stands for in IDM. sag. .`--). | ' ? ? -' christopher miller O.' evil@digital.net ' on: "Brown" by BROWN (aka... well, you know)

I said:

quoted 6 lines I personally enjoy all the RI releases up to BROWN. While they all sound

> > I personally enjoy all the RI releases up to BROWN. While they all sound > > similar in instrumentation, Atom Heart is stylistically restless enough to > > give each release its own individual character. On BROWN, HAT, and MONO TM, > > though, the "noodle factor" is way too high for me. There are no tunes to > > speak of, not much of a consistent groove, and there's no discernable > > progression like there is on, say, the live album (B2). Although I may warm

quoted 1 line up to these three after a few more listens, for the time being I've had about

> > up to these three after a few more listens, for the time being I've had about

quoted 1 line enough "noodles" in my musical diet.

> > enough "noodles" in my musical diet.

And then Chris Miller said:

quoted 3 lines I hate to pick on just one thing you've said, but `consistent groove'?

> I hate to pick on just one thing you've said, but `consistent groove'? > What, like 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4? Bleah! Schmidt's already done > that, and now he's moving on.

I'm not saying that every release has to be four-to-the-floor. I was just listing some examples of what factors appeal to me in a piece of music. Any one of the qualities mentioned (tune, groove, progression) would have made the music more interesting to me. I should also mention that I have been buying Atom Heart releases since the early Fax and Pod ones, and have enjoyed *every one* until recently. So while I do appreciate his eclectic output, I think his most recent releases fall into the category of "fucking around." If someone wants to defend "fucking around" as legitimate experimentation, so be it. But a piece of music is not above criticism just because it happens to be intentionally experimental. Personally, I would like to see Atom Heart experiment more with different instruments and/or textures, rather than trying to get more complicated with his programming. Fucking up the rhythms to the point that there *is* no rhythm is an intellectual exercise but artistically a dead end. IMHO. ;-) -- Mark Turner mturner@netcom.com

Mark Kolmar wrote:

quoted 6 lines I suspect that abandoning groove in an ambient/techno context would yield

> I suspect that abandoning groove in an ambient/techno context would yield > wonderful results. Layer different meters, approach rhythm in a painterly > way and disregard or subvert the 4/4 grid. It's difficult to avoid the > usual rhythmic patterns. So the art-music scene has been working a > half-century to devise various ways to organize coherent rhythms which > don't center on pulse.

I agree with this - it seems that there is little experimentation with more complex rhythms and time signatures in the majority of electronica out there, despite the rhythmic innovation spawned by jungle. There are several tracks within the idm arena, though, which hint at more complex grooves: 1. Gescom - Key Nell track F2 2. Aphex Twin - Vaz Deferenz 3. Basic Channel - Radiance II 4. Squarepusher - Significant Others One significant feature of several of these tracks is the use of triplet sixteenth and triplet eighth notes, which are rarely used in electronica - they pop up occasionally as a snare fill on jungle tracks, but are hardly ever used to form a consistant rhythm. Can anyone think of any other tracks that use triplets extensively? GD