IDM Mailing Archive

Thus spake GamePrg.:

quoted 3 lines I still like IDM though..

> > I still like IDM though.. >

NB. This article may or may not be a complete waste of your time and/or bandwidth. Continue at your own discretion, I will rant incoherently for a while. The current thread on IDM/ADM is pathologically ridiculous. Categorising music by genre is either a masculine trait inherent in all human life or a genial ploy of the marketing powers-that-be. I will not deny that classification and categorisation of things is futile or useless, but building one's identity or community via these fabricated constructs is. The terms IDM or ADM (or any other acronym you might think of that describes this list's contents), whether they refer to a style (or styles) of music or the community at large who listen to music that can be classified under the abovementioned style(s), are oxymoronic word-constructs. The music one listens to should be one's own, and I do not mean that you should materially possess the music in one form or another. I mean that the music one listens to should be emotionally, intellectually and even physically satisfying. An occasionally rising thread on this list concerns the 'essential IDM record'. It does not exist, because IDM/ADM/whatever as a genre does not exists. There are no artists that could be referred to as 'proto-IDM'. One could argue that the records and artists that were discussed in the beginning of IDM should be those that defined the category, but that would surely limit the scope of discussion even though the artists in question have undoubtedly progressed in thought, talent and style. Next time you listen to a record that was recommended on this list, pause for a thought. Really, REALLY listen to the record and ask yourself five times 'does the music really give me something or do I just want to belong in another group, another target market?' I have seen a sort of a lemming- effect a couple of times with one starting 'I bought (record X which belongs to a genre that is being pushed at the moment) and it is awesome! Go buy this now!' And it starts to cascade. After about twenty articles the thing has blown away and another starts. Excellent music is timeless. Seldom a day goes by that I do not grab an old record from my shelf, listen to it and think 'there is an idea on this record'. Most music discussed recently on this list have truly become what electronic music has always been accused of: soulless and unemotional. They are just the latest thing to pull coins out of your pockets through your ears. If I really think like this, what am I doing on this list? Because there are still tidbits of good information flying around, and every now and then someone is selling an old record that arouses me from my dormant state. Because this list (in general) reflects at least partially my taste in music. But I do tend to think with my own brains, not collectively like the custom is within lists of this kind. I do not seek to change things around here, and I do not wish to voice my opinion against any particular style of music, subject or person. Actually, there is one thing I would like to change. I would like to see the I back in IDM back on the list. In agreement with some of the recent articles, I think most of us lack the ability to verbalise our emotions when we listen to music. Thus, the thread on music that makes one weep was very near to my heart as well. That kind of a reaction is very personal and comes through subjective, not collective experience. Exactly what I am looking for when I listen to music. EDM - Emotional Dance Music? -- nuutti-iivari meril?inen -> gordon@diversion.org : diversion communications technostructuralist + information architect + media designer