Hello,
I disagree with some points you made. I'll try to explain why in a respectful manner. Sorry about the length of this post. I couldn't answer seriously otherwise.
quoted 3 lines I just got finished listening to the new Funkstorung as well, and for me> I just got finished listening to the new Funkstorung as well, and for me
> it begs the question that I must ask: Does the fusion of IDM an Rap really
> work all that well?
Here, I agree. I don't think that Appetite... is a good record. According to me it's their weakest yet (and I've heard everything, from Acid Planet to MAS). The "fusion" here is very reminiscent of trip-hop in its heyday. Nothing more than an ill-digested set of influences, with a neo-colonialist edge. As you say, a "fascination". You can't simply "take" a rapper (and a wack mu'fucka like Triple H), have him deliver some rhymes over a disjointed rhythmic soundscape and expect it to be any good. It demands more than that.
quoted 5 lines I generally really like Funkstorung, and have consistently enjoyed their> I generally really like Funkstorung, and have consistently enjoyed their
> work pretty much up to this point. I have noted obviously their fascination
> with infusing hip-hop/rap elements in their music with such tracks like their
> remix on the East Flatbush project and Add'l Prod., both of which I think
> succeeded only moderately well.
Their remix of East Flatbush is "pretty" but it lacked a real understanding of hip hop. (Unlike Autechre's, awesome.) The Wu Tang one was far better, payful and irreverent (a rare and much needed attitude when dealing with the Wu). Reunited is a "posse cut", ie an attempt to channel individual lyrical energies into a united but powerful flow. Funkstorung, through production shift, managed to show us the stylistic antagonisms behind the united front. I found it very clever. It was a real point of view.
The fusion both times I felt to be tenuous
quoted 2 lines at best. It always seems forced, or strained. Like an element that doesn't> at best. It always seems forced, or strained. Like an element that doesn't
> belong.
Well, I thought the very interest of attempting a "fusion" was to organise the confrontation of generic elements that don't belong. Maybe I'm wrong but I suspect a puritan ideology expressing itself here.
(Of course, there are loads of other IDM artists who incorporate
quoted 2 lines hip-hop elements in their music as well, Autechre being no exception, and> hip-hop elements in their music as well, Autechre being no exception, and
> each time, from what I can hear, to questionable results.)
Loads of IDM artists come from Hip Hop, Autechre being no exception.
quoted 2 lines The problem is I think they are just two very different genres of music> The problem is I think they are just two very different genres of music
> listened to for very different reasons.
In fact, I agree. IDM is the realm of pure beings, made from undiluted thought, relentlessly communicating with the essence of beauty and honesty through the complex and gorgeous channel provided by god-like sonic architects. Rap is some kind of muddy pond where dirty fuckers gather to yell at booty-shaking thong-wearing hoes, isn't it ? You're so right (and righteous). The implicit meaning of your point is pathetic. Besides, the reasons why you listen to music can't define it. A genre is more than that.
A good rap track can have steady
quoted 3 lines beat (usually a typical 4/4 or otherwise), a funky baseline, hopefully an> beat (usually a typical 4/4 or otherwise), a funky baseline, hopefully an
> original sample, and an MC whose rhymes flow in tandem with the beat and
> rhythmn. (When it's done well, that is.) And that's fine.
Oh, my... You know nothing about the developments of that music. Moreover, you know nothing about the potential developments of that music. If you despise it, why don't you say it straight up ? No one can blame you for not liking it. But please don't try to justify it pseudo-rationaly. You're oversimplifying things for rhetorical purposes.(I know, that's what I did in my post about Jazz.)
quoted 4 lines Rap, however (primarily in it's current state of stagnancy) isn't> Rap, however (primarily in it's current state of stagnancy) isn't
> concerned with any of these things (as neither is most anything mainstream),
> probably because simply it doesn't need to be. It will all make it onto MTV
> just the same.
You're talking about "Rap" as a genre or what ? Do you think you can assimilate the genre and some of its historical avatars ? If your only access to Hip Hop is MTV, it's fine by me. But don't talk about it as a whole, then. It just looks silly.
And it just never seems to work when these two conceptually
quoted 1 line opposed musical cousins are brought together.> opposed musical cousins are brought together.
"Conceptually opposed" ? Because one is on MTV and the other in your bedroom only ? You see a concept here ? You can't success at showing the opposition from musical or conceptual points of view because you're not dealing with any of them. You're dealing with values, self-image and self-importance.
quoted 3 lines Having an MC rapping over Funkstorung's beautiful squeeches and> Having an MC rapping over Funkstorung's beautiful squeeches and
> squelches, disjointed rhythms and distorted melodies just doesn't work for
> me. Sorry.
Attack Funkstorung, not Hip Hop. It doesn't work because they found it sufficient to just produce a background. They did nothing to the voice itself. Its integration, properly designed, could have been interesting. Here, it's really "rap in IDM". It could have been rap with IDM.
quoted 4 lines And while the singing vocals weren't as jarring, I found myself groaning> And while the singing vocals weren't as jarring, I found myself groaning
> every time an MC chimed in over the glitchy squelchy rhythmic mayhem of
> Funkstorung, which is solely what I was looking forward to when I bought the
> cd. I found all the MC'ing to be an unwelcome addition.
I've seen them live and they played mostly tracks from Appetite... The MC was there, looking just like an unwelcome addition. As wack as one can be.
I think it grounds
quoted 2 lines the album's otherwise impressive sonics down in a way which I felt worked> the album's otherwise impressive sonics down in a way which I felt worked
> against it, rather than with it.
If you remove the voices, it's not that compelling.
quoted 2 lines You've probably surmised by now that I'm not the biggest fan of Rap.> You've probably surmised by now that I'm not the biggest fan of Rap.
> Well, it's really only modern day rap in particular.
Appetite for confusion. (See supra.)
The reason being is
quoted 3 lines that I think it has descended into nothing more than yet another commercial> that I think it has descended into nothing more than yet another commercial
> medium absorbed whole by the mainstream, and, in a striking bit of irony, has
> become the very thing that's initial inception was meant to defy against.
Oh, boy, how striking. Yesterday, I was taking a shower, and I was suddenly struck by this idea : when, oh when, will somebody come and tell the truth, the conceptual truth, about what people call "Rap" ? Thank you, savior.
quoted 4 lines Gone is the classic originality of the old school, where a clever sample, a> Gone is the classic originality of the old school, where a clever sample, a
> catchy beat and a good rhyme got you everywhere, and not just what hit single
> from a decade ago you can get the rights to, add a new beat, rap over it, and
> make millions of dollars from.
Block parties, fly girls, zulu posturing and Flash spinning. Spontaneity. Don't give me that childish chitchat about the old school, old timer. It's sad, OK, but 1- it's not new, 2- it's not true. 2 : do you want a non-exhaustive list of interesting RECENT Rap music ? Just ask for it and I'll post it. I want you to ask for it to be sure of your goodwill. Right now I'm not so sure. IDM is generally something you have to look for, it's not immediately available. You must have developed a way of searching - and finding. Try for once to apply it to Hip Hop.
quoted 8 lines IDM is one of the few bastions of hope I have left in a largely> IDM is one of the few bastions of hope I have left in a largely
> uncreative, cruel mainstream MTV world. It could be that my alarm in hearing
> more and more rap/hip-hop elements creeping into my IDM is the sign of the
> Mainstream finally making it to the shores of IDM it getting it's money
> grubbing hands on my music (shudder to think), and it in turn suffering a
> similiar commericial fate and losing it's potency, much like rap did. (The
> day I hear Ae or Funkstorung in a Mountain Dew commercial, I'll KNOW it's the
> end and just commit Seppuku.)
Come on baby, calm down, stop weeping and listen to you for a second. "The shores of IDM" ? You really believe it's outside this world, don't you ? Funkstorung have just remixed JEAN-MICHEL JARRE, for god's sake !
quoted 2 lines Of course, any artist should always be free to explore whatever creative> Of course, any artist should always be free to explore whatever creative
> avenues they wish in their music. But really, If I wanted to hear an MC,
Hip Hop is not about "hearing an MC".
quoted 2 lines then I'd go to down Tower Records and pick up whoever newest commercial> then I'd go to down Tower Records and pick up whoever newest commercial
> sensation is this week off the Top 10 chart.
Yeah, and when you want to hear electronic music, ie some machines coughing, you go down to the Virgin and pick up some Euro-dance ?
Jr