IDM Mailing Archive

quoted 2 lines this "electronica" has been going on for quite some time. the media just

>this "electronica" has been going on for quite some time. the media just >recently discovered this.

We need to collectively get used to the fact that electronica is fast becoming part of the mainstream music vocabulary. I have no doubt that we are going to see a lot of artists drawing from the genre, and with varying degrees of success. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but growing pains are (uh) painful. As we all argued at length a while ago, it's only reasonable to expect that a genre can retain it's "underground" status for so long. Sooner or later, entropy takes its irresistable effect, and it works both ways. Depeche Mode uses guitars now. Smashing Pumpkins and Underworld went electronic. Locust and Seefeel do pop songs. Granted, much of this genre-hopping in the name of "evolution" is really pointless and sloppy, but it doesn't _have_ to be. (New Order, Underworld, Scala, and Golden Palominos all get thumbs-up from me.) As I understand it, the IDM list is a forum to discuss challenging/inventive electronic music, and is especially welcome since the genre is not well-covered in the media. I've noticed that IDM posts tend to fall into one of two categories: (1) trivial information about artists and releases, and (2) broad discussion and philosophising about the genre, its roots and future (which is often not IDM itself), etc. Both of these seem very much in keeping with the spirit of the list, yet the former type gets critiqued as trainspotter geek talk and the latter raises signal/noise complaints. I assert that the list would be incomplete without both of these elements, but recommend that people be a little more selective in their posts/responses _to_the_list_. Watch those Cc:'s. As far as this-listiness, I think the mainstream absorption of this-listy music is definitively within the bounds of discussion. E.g., since jungle/d'n'b is frequently discussed here, Bowie's noodling with it is as well, but since disco/house is definitively not this-listy, ergo neither is the new album by a band that shall remain nameless but that rhymes with "new schmoo". That seems simple enough, but does not discount the fact that IDM exists in a continuum, and a definition will/should never be clear-cut. While "all opinions should be respected" is a fine principle, we must attend to the spirit of the law and not the letter. Flamewars can be interesting, but if everyone's going to get into a snit every time the industry spits out some new eletronica derivative it's going to get mighty tedious around here.

quoted 2 lines anyone remember altern-8? the shamen? eskimo's in egypt? baby

>anyone remember altern-8? the shamen? eskimo's in egypt? baby >ford? eon? those were the days.

There's a serious sentiment going on here in that energy and "balls" have mostly been sacrificed, again in the name of "evolution". Prodigy may be both annoying and not-this-listy, but they're not where they are for no good reason.

quoted 4 lines I think they've gotten sick of having their hopes up over those "FA$T

>I think they've gotten sick of having their hopes up over those "FA$T >CA$H" messages on usenet and they decided to make some easy money the way >everyone else does -- at the expense of the thoughtlessly consuming, >MTV-watching public.

I'd blame the industry, not the public. PR is the engine: It gets the records in the stores, and it gets people in the stores and checking shit out, which is keen if you want to sell records. There's little doubt in my mind that it runs the show, and (regrettably) not talent or grassroots popularity. Ewe Too is marketable, techno is marketable: a PR dream come true. If people like it and buy it, though, there's not a damn thing we can or should do about it. Now, I got into Cocteau Twins and 808 State because of MTV and never regretted that for a minute. Most people I play electronica for think it's great, but I can't blame them for not having gone and blown $25 on some IDM disc they didn't know from Merzbow. Personally, I think IDM artists should bypass the industry entirely and network over the Internet.

quoted 1 line i think our motto should be "it ain't where you're from, it's where yo

>i think our motto should be "it ain't where you're from, it's where you're at."

Jon rules. --Seofon

our guy Seofon wrote:

quoted 2 lines Personally, I think IDM artists should bypass the industry entirely and

> Personally, I think IDM artists should bypass the industry entirely and > network over the Interne

There you have it folks. It's pretty much the only way to keep it "underground" Or do it the way Namlook does (limited # of releases) which sorta sucks or do it DIY like Taylor Deupree did with the secret #12, available from him directly. I am sure there are tons of artists that have their own way of keeping it "underground" and we should all to our best to support it. Indie rock did it for the longest time until Nirvane showed up. Let's not travel that path again (or do the best to slow it down)