IDM Mailing Archive

From: mr808@teleport.com Date: Sun, 4 Dec 1994 11:11:55 +0000 Subject: Goofiness, Raves, McLuhan

quoted 4 lines Date: Wed, 23 Nov 1994 08:22:02 -0500 (EST)

>Date: Wed, 23 Nov 1994 08:22:02 -0500 (EST) >From: Dave Walker <marmoset@garnet.msen.com> >To: Intelligent Dance Music List <idm@hyperreal.com> >Subject: freeke reviews #7

quoted 1 line They also join in on the year's goofiest trend (untitled tracks).

>They also join in on the year's goofiest trend (untitled tracks).

Given the utterly abstract nature of the music, what makes untitled tracks goofy? I think it's a healthy step in the direction of disassociating sound from vision, and enjoying music for music's sake. Song titles seem to me to be a consequence of the overtly visual bias inherent in Western culture. In the case of non-lyrical music, a title usually suggests an image to associate w/ the music. I ask, why force an association on someone by naming a song? For more on the relationship between words & image, see "Understanding Media" by Marshall McLuhan. "There is no melody in primitive or Oriental music because the road of song is a continuum known only to literate man." - Marshall McLuhan Techno and Electronic Ambience are a byproduct of the retribalizing of the West, catalyzed by other electronic media such as Computers and TV. The balance of the senses is finally shifting away from sight after the 2500 years of visual dominance (wreaked by the phonetic alphabet), towards a fuller experience of sound, smell, taste, and touch. On a related note, I attended a Rave in Atlanta last week, w/ performance (I won't go into how meaningless the VISUAL stage antics were to me) by Young American Primitive (I wish this guy could feel the music in his pelvis - then he might be able to write basslines worth dancing to, to go w/ what was otherwise good music) & excellent DJing by Gavin Hardkiss (the acied mix of Laurie Anderson's "Oh Superman" was the highlight of my evening). I experienced a great sense of tribe amongst everyone dancing, much as there is amongst DeadHeads at a Dead show. At 31 I was definitely the oldest person at the Rave. I was not surprised. In most people aged 25 and older, I see an inability to deal w/ the reordering of the senses taking place, whereas w/ many young people it is a part of their natural environment. Retro fashion (To the 30+ crowd: can you tell the difference between Mudhoney & Uriah Heep?) is an attempt to hang on to the familiar, to protect a threatened identity from the changes taking place in human perception. Oops, sounds like I'm rambling into my "Grand Unified Media Theory" again. Anyway, I encourage everyone to stop naming their music. PEACEOUT from WAYOUT MR-808 Now on my Sony: Maiden Voyage - GlobComm "The computer is the LSD of the business world" - Marshall McLuhan