IDM Mailing Archive

1999-02-10 19:40Michael Stein| I'm reading Simon Reynolds' _Generation Ecstasy_ (that's the US title), | and he rather

From:: Michael Stein <mstein@MasterChart.com>
To:: 'idm@hyperreal.org' <idm@hyperreal.org>
Date:: Wed, 10 Feb 1999 13:40:24 -0600
Subject:: (idm) RE: Simon Reynolds and The New Prog

| I'm reading Simon Reynolds' _Generation Ecstasy_ (that's the US title), | and he rather harshly compares IDM to progressive rock, in that it is a | reintroduction of traditional notions of musicality into what was | previously a 'base' genre --propulsive but simple dance music, in this | case-- that was severely in want of structure, melody, complexity, and the | deliberate incorporation of influences from 'high art' genres like jazz | and classical. I find this comparison a little hard pressed as Prog rock was about people like Yes and King Crimson showing off how well they could play and look. Everything was big and overblown artwise, soundwise, and imagewise. There was absolutely no punk/DIY ethic to this at all. IDM on the other is very much a post-punk phenomenon with musicians with no such sense of pretense. Even the big name artists like Ae, Aphex, Black Dog, Mouse on Mars, etc. make no qualms of the fact that they record on lo-fi equipment in their bedrooms and press a few buttons on a laptop (not that I'm undermining the skill behind this) while on-stage. Regards, Mike

1999-02-11 01:09martin burbridge> Even the big name artists like Ae, Aphex, Black Dog, Mouse on Mars, etc. > make no qualm

From:: martin burbridge <mbridge@imagicians.com>
To:: Michael Stein <mstein@MasterChart.com>, <idm@hyperreal.org>
Date:: Wed, 10 Feb 1999 20:09:21 -0500
Subject:: RE: (idm) RE: Simon Reynolds and The New Prog
Reply to:: (idm) RE: Simon Reynolds and The New Prog

quoted 4 lines Even the big name artists like Ae, Aphex, Black Dog, Mouse on Mars, etc.

> Even the big name artists like Ae, Aphex, Black Dog, Mouse on Mars, etc. > make no qualms of the fact that they record on lo-fi equipment in their > bedrooms and press a few buttons on a laptop (not that I'm undermining the > skill behind this) while on-stage.

unfortunately, i only have a laptop in my bedroom and have not been on-stage in many years, and thanks to the hypnotist i still don't remember much. so i don't know if i can comment on the equipment used, its fi, or its placing w/in the house or various showbiz style settings directly, but using a formula developed during last weeks idm math tutorial >> equipment/fi != PUNKROCkNESS which in plain speaking means that it doesn't realy matter what equipment you use, its what you do w/ it that counts. tho' generally it has been shown there is a tendency for PUNKROCkNESS to decrease as fi increases. PUNKROCkNESS is also inversly proportional to proG. as in: proG/PUNKROCkNESS = 1 but while boc are obviously as proG as genesis w/ flares billowing, autechre, more dour and mechanical, still appear to treat music as a primarily intellectual display of technique, rather than an emotional response. that is, its not exactly ska is it? black dog ended up about .5 proG until they split, now plaid have value approaching 1 (or .99999). under the microscope the traces of proG found in mouse on mars turned out to be in fact krautroK infected w/ traces of common dub. a simple mistake. these days Aphex is more commonly found bonding w/ MTv. this reaction is usually accompanied by a whiff of irony. this is also why labels such as v/vm, diskono, vinyl comm... are as PUNK as the first 3 fall lps, or KLf's "what year ist it and what fuckin' happened?" or something. dhr are as pUNk as the damned. this in its own way is all a part of the good things in life, imo. in weitzman's notation v/vm is shown to represent minus 20 autechre units squared. which is just another way of putting it. the boc lp is nice tho'. -martin

RE: (idm) RE: Simon Reynolds and The New Prog