Perhaps the deepest disappointment I've experienced with IDM (or whatever
we call it) is the lack of well done "empty" music. By this I mean the
use of space - empty space - not mere echo, reverb, or swaths of synth.
While groups like Autechre (to use the most obvious and easily obtained
example) create(d 'round TriRepatae) shimmering structures, songs that
almost crystallize into breaking, by creating rhythmic maelstroms with
beacons of melody shining through the dense, I find the opposite approach
generally non-existent. That is, using the "beacon" without the storm.
For example, in classical Eastern music solo and combined works (for
pipa, shakuhachi, zither, harp, etc.) are very affecting in their use of
few instruments and lots of "empty" space. I don't mean white noise, and
I know true silence is impossible, but the space where the instrument/s
are not in action. The classical Western canon seems more focused on
larger bodies producing a more full sound (although there are exceptions
to every rule). This parallel projects today - listen to (most) dnb from
NA and Europe and then plug in your far more subtle Japanese artists
(Bisk, Multiphonic Ensemble). Difference in approach is evident.
So, where are the purveyors of the empty IDM? Perhaps they are there and
I just haven't found them. Or perhaps Sven Birkerts gleans the truth
when stating "technology and inwardness are fundamentally discordant".
So it seems to my ears, as artists pile on as many tracks into each track
as they can, merely because they can. Excepting rare tidbits where
harmony is struck (and these are often SHORT tidbits - Richard Thomas'
work on _Invsble Sndtrks_, i.e.), can someone point out to me the
accomplished artists who paint a canvas with a single stroke?
J
np: space, the final frontier
Join The Party @www.cpusa.org
PS - To clarify: Porter RIcks reaches beauty to my ears by creating a
false background of aurally full and space-filling synths, Plastikman
does the same without the melody part, the Orb are far too busy, Arovane
ascends to being Autechre with slightly less force, Shankar gets it right
when solo dbl. violin, and Eno's early work is close but no cigar.
Vadim's _USSR Repertoire_ accomplishes it at (brief) moments. These are
the most common reference points I can communicate.
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