To c g: I understand, if somebody ripped on Carl Craig or Kenny Larkin I would
probably do the same.
Specifics of why Freeform fails to 'complement my imagination', as requested:
I originally got into techno because it was these weird sounds, presented in a
fast-moving, funky format that fit with my ADD-addled ideals (everything's too
slow! everything needs to be choreographed and sped up to 45! Otherwise I'm
bored. Bleah.)
Freeform fits the "weird sounds" requirement, obviously, but his drum patterns
are just too out-there for me and for some reason his compositional style
fails to excite my mind. For example, Jega makes me want to get up and DO
SOMETHING (Phalanx is my track of choice for my morning wake-up call).
Even very slow-paced music, which I've grown to appreciate, gives me
motivation. The patterns and sounds of Freeform fail to motivate my base
desires in any noticeable manner, something which I demand of all music. If I
can't "dance" in some way or another (thinking creatively, slacking off,
playing a game, or physically dancing) to a song, I am left unmoved by the
music, and that's what Freeform fails to do: move me.
It's the same with a great deal of AE's music as well: Amber works for me but
most of their tracks seem far too lax in the "expression/representation" dept.
to make me 'get on up.' Freeform, along with Ae's later stuff and similar
musical experiments inspired by techno, seems to focus too much on playing
with sound in a purely clinical sense to light up my bulbs. I demand some form
of representation in my art, whether it be blatantly obvious from the
production or up to me alone to determine for myself.
I can't grasp what Ae (currently) or Freeform are trying to represent and it
just annoys me. The same with a lot of contemporary jazz, modernist classical,
and such: They're just playing with musical/sonic rules. As a performer and a
producer I can appreciate what these people are doing from a technical
standpoint but it comes out more as science than art.
As a friend of mine likes to conclude his arguments, when losing: Where's the love?
Hope that helps,
Tom