[The statements and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent
those of lander, opinions change daily with thought processes.]
[Please take into account, before continuing further, that I am in no way an
advocator for what is to come of ?IDM.? Who knows where it will go? We, as
a community, are the only ones who can change the present face, and the
current path, of ?IDM.?]
Your fellow ?IDM? List member: lander
The future of ?IDM? and of the ?IDM? List
I think that what the ?IDM? List needs is a greater sense of community. I
always thought the ?IDM? community to be very close knit. An area of the
artistic/musical spectrum that the mainstream artistic/musical franchise
could never touch, an area of the artistic/musical world that could
transcend the typical dilemmas of the mainstream market. I always thought
that the ?IDM? community was a community where the music was made for the
people who enjoyed it, by the people who enjoyed it, for the sole purpose of
enjoying it and learning from it, gaining something much more emotional than
mainstream market could ever offer.
Why not exploit the offerings of the Internet in order to create a greater
community effort as far as ?IDM? and its expenditures are concerned? Why
not create an ?online? community that heeds to the needs of everyone within
the ?IDM? community, because obviously, presently, it is somewhat of a small
community? Why not construct a masterpiece? Create a web site that acts as
a database for all the information relating to ?IDM?? People want to post
ads for CD?s they are selling. Then why not put up a guestbook style CGI
scripted database of classified ads for would be ?IDM? music buyers, all
from within the ?IDM? community? Create a forum for discussion between
?IDM? list members. Create a news page for the latest ?IDM? News. Exploit
the Internet for all it has to offer, however do not create a virtual
community bent on nothing but online resources, and a machine of robot web
crawling ?IDMers.? Create projects for ?IDM? list members. Compilation
albums, [more] remix projects, etc. Develop a record label from the ?IDM?
list utilizing all of the talent, hidden or already apparent, on the list.
Also, fully exploit other talents on the list, not just musical, but
artistic, and all other creative skills and talents. Literature, art,
music, programming, architecture, mathematics; use all of the talents the
list has to offer. Kill the corporate graphics machine. Kill large record
labels destroying the smaller less financially fortunate ones.
This, however, could exist only among a fully willing and volunteering group
of list members, or ?community? members, people who were willing to
sacrifice some of their time and services. Right now, looking at how the
list is progressing, or regressing, this seems perhaps impossible. If,
however, any one on the list would like to develop any such project or
projects further, then by all means contact me, for I would be willing to
devote some of my services to such a project or projects.
We (list members) must remember that the future of the ?IDM? List is only as
bright as we make it, and not only just its future, but the future of ?IDM?
itself.
Furthermore, I always thought that ?IDM? was a more personal type of music
than the more mainstream markets. Because of its somewhat small population
of followers, compared to other ?types? of music, this is evident. There?s
definitely something more personal about getting a hand-made, numbered copy
of the latest album you have bought than a mass-produced one. I also
thought that the ?IDM? community was not a community with the ultimate goal
of making profit, but with the goal of putting out ?good? music, and defying
definition compared to the more mainstream markets for music. Someone on
the list said that they felt that the list?s topics for music weren?t
specific enough, while others felt that the generalities of the ?IDM?
?genre? were their sole purpose for joining the list in the first place. I
agree with the latter, the greatness of the ?IDM? ?genre? is that it really
isn?t a ?genre? per say, and the music found within said ?genre? is so
diverse. This is why I am so drawn to ?IDM.? It is a ?genre? which
transcends the need for definition, and has no boundaries. Albeit the name
(?IDM?) may not be particularly fitting for such a ?all-encompassing?
?genre,? (my mother asked me if ?IDM? was an oxymoron) and is perhaps a
little deceiving at first glance, but what ?IDM? has to offer outweigh its
seemingly ?unintelligent? name.
Similarly, as far as being personal, I find it hard to believe that the
?IDM? community would let such corporate machines as the likes of W*** and
The Designers R******* take over much of its creative influence. I mean,
you can only put a bunch of arrows going in every which way on an album
covers so long before it gets too trite. And how many people does it take
to design a cover that?s just one color? To top it off W*** is killing the
smaller labels struggling to lay their name in the ?IDM? community. This
however, is a smaller problem than the future of ?IDM? music itself.
What I find puzzling about the statements made by list members, wanting a
more defined type of music to discuss, is that I, perhaps naively, thought
that ?IDM? was so diverse that it needed no definition. I mean, has ?IDM?
come so far that when you hear the constant ?tick, tick, tick? of a high
hat, coupled with strategically structured DSP effects, that the music says,
?You are listening to ?IDM??? Or is it that the music screams Autechre
influence? Neither.
This creates a fear in me that perhaps ?IDM? is becoming a more defined
music to some. And with that may appear cliches that plague many other
?types? of more defined music. Like the build up snare rush finale of
house, for example. Are we (list members) scared of new direction for
?IDM?? Is ?IDM? a ?genre? that is doomed not to grow and develop? Are
?IDM? artists and bands just one trick ponies? I doubt it.
Perhaps this all stems from the want for ultimate facts and ultimate
definitions to cling to. Only there are no truths, and there are no solid
facts. Like David in David and Lisa, telling the doctor about his grand
scheme to create radio controlled watches so that everyone knew exactly what
time it was all the time. The doctor calmly replies that not everyone wants
to know the exact time. And my friend told me that a solid fact is that the
sun is always 93+ million miles from the earth, and everyone can agree on
that, he's very wrong. The earth is in an eliptical orbit, thus the sun is
never any given amount of distance away, it's always changeing, not to
mention the universe is changing around it. Well perhaps we don?t really
need a fine definition for ?IDM? either?
Or maybe I'm really, really wrong here. Or maybe it's all gfine and good
the way it is. Who knows? I don't know. Either way, enjoy yourself, no
matter what you're doing.
lander
p.s.: did anyone catch the www.method.com webcast of lexaunculpt? i missed
all but the last two songs, got there half way through metroid, and it
sounded realy good. so if anyone got it and wouldn't mind sending it to me
e-mail me about it, please. thanks a bunch.
lander
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