On Tue, 27 Mar 2001, EggyToast wrote:
quoted 3 lines I think the Polygon Window album is one of Richard James' more cohesive> I think the Polygon Window album is one of Richard James' more cohesive
> works, which probably explains why some like it and some don't. Some like
> Richard's work because he's "all over the place" (err, was), and others
Right, and those people are the ones that are rightfully doomed to
listening to a lifelong supply of John Zorn and Bill Laswell albums.
quoted 3 lines pick out the "best" things and plops them together. I think his "side> pick out the "best" things and plops them together. I think his "side
> project" as Polygon Window didn't fit this scheme - it sounds like an album
> created from one or two main ideas. Of course, I could be wrong too.
Might I propose that (IQ factor aside) even compilations can be sequenced
effectively? I mean, to treat it as a mere assemblage of unconnected
contributions is to cement its "for novices and completists only" status.
For instance, a film director will often choose to cut a scene that he/she
really likes, just because it interrupts the flow of the larger work.
How often do you think this happens when a label puts together a comp?
I'm not suggesting that it's necessary to makes these sacrifices (or even
really pragmatically feasible), but the fact that you can often tell is
kind of a bummer.
quoted 2 lines I'm sure we can look forward to the US version of "...i care because you> I'm sure we can look forward to the US version of "...i care because you
> do" in about a year, with two or three more tracks.
Didn't Sire already license this? In which case, their license would have
to expire (or be bought) for someone else to reissue it in the US.
A little off topic, but I just re-listened to the first Maurizio Bianchi
re-release box set (ArcheoMB 1) and I want to officially eat crow on my
previous verdict. Although some of the CDs fall towards the noise-cheese
end of the spectrum (I mean, merely entitling an album "Symphony for a
Genocide" dates about as well as naming a movie "She's All That"), the
last two are timeless in their analogue warble. Whereas his earliest
recordings seemed to embrace the pure shock ability of his electronics
"system", these use its distinct, homebrew vibe to soak the air with a
more spacious, mysterious sound. There's still a sense of decay
underpinning the proceedings, but it takes on a melancholic feel, as with
ruins or anything that has failed to withstand the ravages of time. It's
odd to find any emotion that might be mistaken for sentimentalism in any
genuinely experimental music, but an interesting comparison could be made
with the less maudlin Boards of Canada material.
The box set, sadly, is out of print (so you probably won't get the
illuminating inserts that provide a larger context for the material- for
instance, Conrad Schnitzler is cited as a big influence, which makes
total sense to the point that I'm annoyed that I didn't pick up on it
myself). However, the individual titles are available separately- their
titles are _Regel_ and _Mectpyo Bakterium_ and I recommend them
wholeheartedly.
-rob
ps- does anybody else think it's funny that Boards of Canada evoke
nostalgia in an audience that is decades off from a mid-life crisis?
pps- people shy away from his "later" works because he found God (and
Yamaha DX7s)
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