I just played a laptop show last night and I agree with you. Laptop shows
are a little rediculous to watch and I personally feel rediculous doing
them. There is definately something to be said for live performance. In
order for a show to be a truly live performance there must be some kind of
engaging performance for the audience. Sitting in front of a laptop is not
very engaging. Aaron's mentioning of Mouse on Mars and Matmos are very
appropriate examples of what an engaging show can be like when performing in
the experimental electronic realm of music. I think people will get tired of
the whole laptop gimmick after a while.
quoted 83 lines From: Aaron D Meyers <adm226@nyu.edu>
>From: Aaron D Meyers <adm226@nyu.edu>
>To: "Rafael U." <rafredy@hotmail.com>, idm@hyperreal.org
>Subject: Re: [idm] IDM concerts
>Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2002 13:28:29 -0400
>
>Well, I've been feeling pretty jaded about this stuf lately. Most of
>the time, in my experience, there is someone behind a laptop doing god-
>knows-what or messing around with faders or eq on their mixer. That
>stuff is not fun to watch. However, I don't have much of a problem
>with this if its in a kind of dance oriented atmosphere.
>
>A lof of the time I find that the performer doesn't drop enough of a
>hook or beat for dancing to happen. Either that or its just sort of
>ambient stuff. In the case of ambient stuff, I can deal with it
>sometimes if I have a comfortable place to sit down and its especially
>nice if there are some decent visual projections. However, experience
>has taught me that I get really tired of those kind of things if I
>can't sit down. Maybe its because I'm flat-footed and my feet get sore
>easily or maybe its because I'd much rather listen to that kind of
>stuff on headphones in the comfort of my room rather than standing
>often without breathing space.
>
>But then there is the upside of live IDM. Acts like Matmos and Mouse
>on Mars that bring in live instruments to mix with their laptops. For
>me, this is the kind of thing I'd like to see more of. There just
>always seems to be more energy in these shows. Laptops just have a
>very alienating nature. The person HAS to stare directly into their
>screen. It's as if they are permanently distracted from the audience
>they are performing for. With a guitar or keyboard, most of the time
>people don't have to keep their eyes on what their hands are doing, but
>I've never seen someone using a laptop like this. And its not even the
>case that people playing traditional instruments are always or ever
>engaging the audience with their face or otherwise, but its still a lot
>different from the laptop performer who might as well be alone in a
>room with their laptops.
>
>Which is another thing: interplay. Another thing acts like Matmos and
>MoM have going for them. And the sense of spontanaity. Alright...
>sorry if that rant wasn't to cohesive, but I hope some of these
>thoughts might lead to further exploration in your article.
>
>-Aaron
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Rafael U." <rafredy@hotmail.com>
>Date: Thursday, April 18, 2002 1:03 pm
>Subject: [idm] IDM concerts
>
> > hi, i'm working on an article about IDM, i'm peruvian so i've
> > never had the
> > chance to be on a live show. that kind of music it's new here,
> > there's just
> > a few people who kows about it and who listens to it, so there's
> > no IDM
> > scene around here, and therefore they are no concerts. so if
> > anyone could
> > describe me how it's a typical live show, considering that most of
> > IDM it's
> > computer music, i'll be very gratefull. i'll like to know, also,
> > how does
> > the musicians and the audience seems to behavior, seeing it form a
> > sociological perspective.
> > thak you again.
> > cheers
> >
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