IDM Mailing Archive

okay, so once again i had the chance to see electric company, lexaunculpt and solid eye ... here is my little review/commentary: this time electric company and lexaunculpt played separately.. which i think worked to their advantage -- though last two times i saw them play together (kuci and spaceland) they did come up with some rather brilliant collaborative moments (and much criticism from folks on this list). i hope they decide to play together at some point in the near future. electric company was the first performance i saw (kraig grady played as well, but i missed him). this time around, brad seemed to play a "slower set" than when i saw him with oval/jim o'rourke. i found it quite enjoyable -- though a number of folks i was at the show with were not that into to it. aside from the standard "what the fuck was that?!" from folks who are not into noisier stuff, there was one criticism that i feel the need to mention (misquoted, but the idea is there): "electric company seemed to be too much in the middle of noise and beats. i kept wanting him to either go more structured or noisy.. but not in-between." i have to agree with this, except that i rather enjoy that effect of electric company... perhaps im just an audio masochist and enjoy music that makes me feel on edge and disoriented. but whatever, to each their own :) i could compare the feel of it to the farmer's manual, vvm, phthalocyanine type stuff that folks recently have had a backlash against. can't wait to see him perform again. lexaunculpt was next -- and, yes. the hype is correct.. alex is the shit. very good tweeky beat driven stuff (very hip hop inspired). dont know what else to say about it.. other than he looked cute laying in his calvin kline type pose while performing. a very good, non suprising set from alex (he's always one to perform a solid set). and finally, solid eye came on. they really have not changed since i saw them a few years ago with illusion of safety and speculum fight. atmospheric/droney noise stuff -- somewhere between EAR and, as a friend stated, saucer full of secrets (pink floyd) style noise... i was more impressed with the real time tape manipulation (making tape loops on the spot and whatnot). thats all.. enjoyed electric company and lexaunculpt very much. and solid eye was pretty cool, but nothing new for me. oh, and the folks that put on the show normally host noise-style stuff. so, im sure, just like some idm kids were saying 'whats with that noise shit', they were saying 'whats with the rave shit and why are all these ravers here?' love, chris. __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [*<n/ff> <=rr*/a|>r] - wednesdays 7-8 pm riders of the plastic groove - fridays 9-midnight kuci 88.9fm po box 4362 irvine ca 92616 green eggs and ham info line: 714.647.7750

I love you to pieces, chris...and I was going to keep my mouth shut this time around so as not to hurt anyone's feelings (like I usually end up doing), but one again I'm going to interject my two cents. zimbo wrote:

quoted 6 lines this time electric company and lexaunculpt played separately.. which i

> this time electric company and lexaunculpt played separately.. which i > think worked to their advantage -- though last two times i saw them play > together (kuci and spaceland) they did come up with some rather brilliant > collaborative moments (and much criticism from folks on this list). > > i hope they decide to play together at some point in the near future.

I strongly disagree. IMHO, alex's music is for the most part extremely delicate and exquisitely programmed where Brad's live stuff is impulsive, spastic, overbearing and unstructured. It just doesn't seem to work for me. As for 'brilliant collaborative moments', alex is mainly playing pre-sequenced tracks off his computer and occasionally playing a melody or doing some effects tweaking, where as Electric Company consists of Brad abusing a bunch of un-sunk up noise makers. The parts I disliked the most of them playing together is when alex would have a nice little tune going and out of no where this big 'swooppppppppppxxxxnonxonxonxoxnoxnxonere' would come flying out the speakers at about 30 times the volume of everything else. Nice collaboration...

quoted 5 lines electric company was the first performance i saw (kraig grady played as

> electric company was the first performance i saw (kraig grady played as > well, but i missed him). this time around, brad seemed to play a "slower > set" than when i saw him with oval/jim o'rourke. i found it quite > enjoyable -- though a number of folks i was at the show with were not that > into to it.

I found it odd that the majority of the IDM contingent there (including zimbo too!) all ended up in the lounge area less then half way thru brad's performance, yet the theater remained quite packed with extremely 'hip' people for the whole set, most of whom left immediately afterwards. Then when alex went on, the place was mostly empty!

quoted 9 lines "electric company seemed to be too much in the middle of noise and beats.

> "electric company seemed to be too much in the middle of noise and beats. > i kept wanting him to either go more structured or noisy.. but not > in-between." > > i have to agree with this, except that i rather enjoy that effect of > electric company... perhaps im just an audio masochist and enjoy music > that makes me feel on edge and disoriented. but whatever, to each their > own :) i could compare the feel of it to the farmer's manual, vvm, > phthalocyanine type stuff that folks recently have had a backlash against.

After last night, electric companies live performance has, in my opinion, joined the ranks of dj spooky (doing his little 'deconstruction' bit), phthalocyanine, the mego guys live and alec empire (when he's being a dick). This exclusive group, IMHO, are people doing noisy shit that doesn't make any sense to me and take what they are doing way too seriously. If they could only laugh about it when people say that it's bad, then I wouldn't have as much of a problem. But usually their answer is 'you just don't have the intelligence to understand what I do', which is a joke.

quoted 1 line can't wait to see him perform again.

> can't wait to see him perform again.

I can...but I must admit, seeing him live twice (plus playing records and dats at KUCI) has made me want to find some of his CD's to find out if it's just his live shows that aren't to my liking.

quoted 5 lines lexaunculpt was next -- and, yes. the hype is correct.. alex is the shit.

> lexaunculpt was next -- and, yes. the hype is correct.. alex is the shit. > very good tweeky beat driven stuff (very hip hop inspired). dont know > what else to say about it.. other than he looked cute laying in his calvin > kline type pose while performing. a very good, non suprising set from > alex (he's always one to perform a solid set).

I agree 100 percent. Alex's performance was wonderful as usual. One of the songs he played almost brought a tear to my eye. I've been listening to his music for quite some time and have seen him play live 7 or 8 times...he never ceases to amaze me with the depth of his talent. On of the cool things is that his live setup is constantly changing. This time around he had nothing but a laptop running midi to his K2000, with everything coming out the one unit. Other times, he's also got his desktop computer running audio, effects units, a mixer and other gear. The first time I ever saw him play, he even had a friend along with a electric guitar (albeit extremely effected), a portable CD player with a CDR he made with dozens of small 'snippet' tracks (ala the gescom minidisk, but months before) and a ton of other strange stuff in the mix. Here is someone who's not afraid of trying out new shit and different methods of achieving his goals...and all the while, everything still ends up sounding great. Keep up the good work, kiddo. :-) peace out, brock

on electric company and alex performing:

quoted 9 lines As for 'brilliant collaborative moments', alex is mainly playing

> As for 'brilliant collaborative moments', alex is mainly playing > pre-sequenced tracks off his computer and occasionally playing a melody > or doing some effects tweaking, where as Electric Company consists of > Brad abusing a bunch of un-sunk up noise makers. The parts I disliked > the most of them playing together is when alex would have a nice little > tune going and out of no where this big > 'swooppppppppppxxxxnonxonxonxoxnoxnxonere' would come flying out the > speakers at about 30 times the volume of everything else. Nice > collaboration...

actually, this defines the first part of the set at spaceland and some of the kuci performance... but at spaceland, at the end, they performed some stuff that they wrote together (alex later informed me of this) -- and oddly enough, that was the stuff that *made my night*. quite good. and, at kuci, there were some amazing spacey moments between the two of them. i was pretty into it. sounded like shit in the studio, but when listening in the car and just zoning, it was quite nice! (the studio setup we have is kind of junky :)

quoted 5 lines I found it odd that the majority of the IDM contingent there (including

> I found it odd that the majority of the IDM contingent there (including > zimbo too!) all ended up in the lounge area less then half way thru > brad's performance, yet the theater remained quite packed with extremely > 'hip' people for the whole set, most of whom left immediately > afterwards.

this is partially true again -- except i was in the whole time for brads performance.. :) as was daniel (i think). i knew you kids left the performance early, which is where the "so, how much did you hate that?" comment came from :)

quoted 1 line Then when alex went on, the place was mostly empty!

> Then when alex went on, the place was mostly empty!

but when solid eye came on after, it seemed fairly full to me.. so, i dont know. it was a noise show that happened to include alex (though im sure some would object to me using the term "noise" -- whatever, i dig it). the audience there was more there for the experimental/noise style stuff i'd gather.

quoted 4 lines After last night, electric companies live performance has, in my

> After last night, electric companies live performance has, in my > opinion, joined the ranks of dj spooky (doing his little > 'deconstruction' bit), phthalocyanine, the mego guys live and alec > empire (when he's being a dick).

alec empire was shit (though he has some tracks i love). i really enjoy pthalocyanine live, and have seen him many times. i would have loved to have seen the mego folk. and spooky has his moments, but never are they that worth it to me.

quoted 6 lines This exclusive group, IMHO, are people doing noisy shit that doesn't

> This exclusive group, IMHO, are people doing noisy shit that doesn't > make any sense to me and take what they are doing way too seriously. If > they could only laugh about it when people say that it's bad, then I > wouldn't have as much of a problem. But usually their answer is 'you > just don't have the intelligence to understand what I do', which is a > joke.

funny, i never heard any of them say this.. moreso i have noticed they tend to laugh... but a lot of music i enjoy is made by folks that take themselves too seriously. echo and the bunnymen and current 93 are the major ones that come to mind :)

quoted 3 lines I can...but I must admit, seeing him live twice (plus playing records

> I can...but I must admit, seeing him live twice (plus playing records > and dats at KUCI) has made me want to find some of his CD's to find out > if it's just his live shows that aren't to my liking.

the electric company releases all mildly differ from one another -- my favorite still is the hidden cd that came with the Amnesia release (a more 'pop' oriented project of brad laners). on lexaunculpt:

quoted 3 lines Here is someone who's not afraid of trying out new shit and different

> Here is someone who's not afraid of trying out new shit and different > methods of achieving his goals...and all the while, everything still > ends up sounding great.

i really agree here.. but, "sounding great" simply boils down to taste. and thats where is spose we disagree on the noisier stuff. wee! chris

--Brock Suter <brock@alchemyfx.com> wrote:

quoted 1 line zimbo wrote:

> zimbo wrote:

quoted 1 line this time electric company and lexaunculpt played >> separately..

>> this time electric company and lexaunculpt played >> separately..

which i think worked to their advantage >> -- though last two times i saw them play together >>(kuci and spaceland) they did come up with some >> rather brilliant

quoted 1 line collaborative moments (and much criticism from folks >> on this

>> collaborative moments (and much criticism from folks >> on this

list). i hope they decide to play together >> at some point in the near future.

quoted 1 line I strongly disagree. IMHO, alex's music is for the > most part

> I strongly disagree. IMHO, alex's music is for the > most part

extremely delicate and exquisitely > programmed where Brad's live stuff is impulsive, > spastic, overbearing and unstructured. It just > doesn't seem to work for me. I agree with Brock on this. First of all, I would like to say that Alex's music has a stronger appeal to me. I really like music with great melodies, good beats and some experimental edge to it. I am very impressed with Alex's (Lexanculpt) work. I also like the new Electric Company cd and was a fan of the first two Medicine cds. But when Alex and Brad collaborated, their styles seem too different as Brock suggested above. You would hear Alex's part of the song which was melodic and very intriguing and then out of nowhere Brad would throw on some super loud shrilling noise which didn't seem to fit and was overpowering. I can see the collaboration working. But they need to work together instead of against each other, which is how it seemed to me

quoted 1 line As for 'brilliant collaborative moments', alex is > mainly

> As for 'brilliant collaborative moments', alex is > mainly

playing pre-sequenced tracks off his computer > and occasionally playing a melody or doing some > effects tweaking, where as Electric Company consists > of Brad abusing a bunch of un-sunk up noise makers. > The parts I disliked the most of them playing > together is when alex would have a nice little

quoted 2 lines tune going and out of no where this big

> tune going and out of no where this big > 'swooppppppppppxxxxnonxonxonxoxnoxnxonere' would come > flying out

the speakers at about 30 times the volume > of everything else. Nice collaboration... Agreed

quoted 1 line electric company was the first performance i saw >>(kraig grady

>> electric company was the first performance i saw >>(kraig grady

played as well, but i missed him). this >> time around, brad seemed to play a "slower set" than >> when i saw him with oval/jim o'rourke. i found it >> quite enjoyable -- though a number of folks i was at >> the show with were not that into to it.

quoted 1 line I found it odd that the majority of the IDM > contingent

> I found it odd that the majority of the IDM > contingent

there (including zimbo too!) all ended up > in the lounge area less then half way thru brad's > performance, yet the theater remained quite packed > with extremely 'hip' people for the whole set, most

quoted 1 line of whom left immediately afterwards.

> of whom left immediately afterwards.

As I said to some people at the show, I wish there was a little more structure to Electric Company's set. I heard some cool stuff going on during Brad's set. my mind wandered from liking it to what the fuck is that obnoxious noise. There were parts I liked and parts I didn't. I know Brad Laner is a big fan of Nurse With Wound and Throbbing Gristle. It could be he prefers leaning in that direction than going for a more structured set which I prefer. Maybe I am getting old and I have a smaller attention span to super harsh noise squelches or maybe i just prefer more melodic stuff like Alex's set.

quoted 1 line Then when alex went on, the place was mostly empty!

> Then when alex went on, the place was mostly empty!

yeah what the hell was up with that? They didn't even give him a chance. When I go to shows I at least listen to a LITTLE of the other artist's set. I try to keep open minded, I guess the "hip" people can't be bothered in that respect.

quoted 1 line "electric company seemed to be too much in the >> middle of

>> "electric company seemed to be too much in the >> middle of

noise and beats. i kept wanting him to >> either go more structured or noisy.. but not

quoted 1 line in-between."

>> in-between."

quoted 1 line i have to agree with this, except that i rather >> enjoy that

>> i have to agree with this, except that i rather >> enjoy that

effect of electric company... perhaps im >> just an audio masochist and enjoy music that makes >> me feel on edge and disoriented. but whatever, to >> each their own :) i could compare the feel of it to

quoted 1 line the farmer's manual, vvm, phthalocyanine type stuff >> that folks

>> the farmer's manual, vvm, phthalocyanine type stuff >> that folks

recently have had a backlash against. Damn it where is the Audio Masochist newsgroup!! :) Just kidding

quoted 1 line After last night, electric companies live performance > has, in my

> After last night, electric companies live performance > has, in my

opinion, joined the ranks of dj spooky > (doing his little 'deconstruction' bit), > phthalocyanine, the mego guys live and alec empire > (when he's being a dick).

quoted 1 line This exclusive group, IMHO, are people doing noisy > shit that

> This exclusive group, IMHO, are people doing noisy > shit that

doesn't make any sense to me and take what > they are doing way too seriously. If they could only > laugh about it when people say that it's bad, then I

quoted 1 line wouldn't have as much of a problem. But usually > their answer

> wouldn't have as much of a problem. But usually > their answer

is 'you just don't have the intelligence > to understand what I do', which is a joke. Intelligence = Strong threshold for harsh noise Damn it! All those kids that like that Terrorcore gabber stuff must be smarter than me :) --------no further replies below-----------------------

quoted 1 line can't wait to see him perform again.

> > can't wait to see him perform again.

quoted 1 line I can...but I must admit, seeing him live twice (plus > playing

> I can...but I must admit, seeing him live twice (plus > playing

records and dats at KUCI) has made me want to > find some of his CD's to find out if it's just his > live shows that aren't to my liking.

quoted 1 line lexaunculpt was next -- and, yes. the hype is >> correct..

>> lexaunculpt was next -- and, yes. the hype is >> correct..

alex is the shit. very good tweeky beat >> driven stuff (very hip hop inspired). dont know

quoted 1 line what else to say about it.. other than he looked >> cute laying

>> what else to say about it.. other than he looked >> cute laying

in his calvin kline type pose while >> performing. a very good, non suprising set from

quoted 1 line alex (he's always one to perform a solid set).

>> alex (he's always one to perform a solid set).

quoted 1 line I agree 100 percent. Alex's performance was > wonderful as

> I agree 100 percent. Alex's performance was > wonderful as

usual. One of the songs he played > almost brought a tear to my eye. I've been

quoted 1 line listening to his music for quite some time and have > seen him play

> listening to his music for quite some time and have > seen him play

live 7 or 8 times...he never ceases to > amaze me with the depth of his talent.

quoted 1 line On of the cool things is that his live setup is > constantly

> On of the cool things is that his live setup is > constantly

changing. This time around he had nothing > but a laptop running midi to his K2000, with > everything coming out the one unit. Other times, > he's also got his desktop computer running audio,

quoted 1 line effects units, a mixer and other gear.

> effects units, a mixer and other gear.

quoted 1 line The first time I ever saw him play, he even had a > friend along

> The first time I ever saw him play, he even had a > friend along

with a electric guitar (albeit extremely > effected), a portable CD player with a CDR he made > with dozens of small 'snippet' tracks (ala the gescom

quoted 1 line minidisk, but months before) and a ton of other > strange stuff

> minidisk, but months before) and a ton of other > strange stuff

in the mix.

quoted 1 line Here is someone who's not afraid of trying out new > shit and

> Here is someone who's not afraid of trying out new > shit and

different methods of achieving his > goals...and all the while, everything still

quoted 8 lines ends up sounding great.

> ends up sounding great. > > Keep up the good work, kiddo. :-) > > peace out, > > brock >

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chris said:

quoted 5 lines this time electric company and lexaunculpt played separately.. which i

> this time electric company and lexaunculpt played separately.. which i > think worked to their advantage -- though last two times i saw them play > together (kuci and spaceland) they did come up with some rather > brilliant collaborative moments (and much criticism from folks on this > list).

I think it works better this way. Alex's stuff is all pre-programmed, wheras brad's is mostly live so when they do something together it's basically brad tweaking out alex's stuff. I prefer to hear thier stuff sepreately, and I think brads set was fucking awesome (look for a repeat soon on my show). Some of the techno boys couldn't handle it, but it wasn't supposed to be idm or techno so it doesn't really matter. Although I'd like to see them collaborate on the material they wrote together, which is really really fucking good. so brock, where's that photo? -Daniel daniel@peachfuzz.net ICQ# 16654223 ============================================================================== Peach Space Disco For Fish Tacos PO Box 1902 8-10pm Wednesdays, KUCI 88.9fm Huntington Beach, CA 92647 www.kuci.org/~dbremmer www.peachfuzz.net ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Coming Soon - Sterile: Orange County's Intelligent Electronic Monthly www.peachfuzz.net/sterile ============================================================================== get happy.