IDM Mailing Archive

quoted 5 lines wells said:

> wells said: > i don't give two shits about monkeys clicking stones. i'm all for > experimentation and if that's what coldcut wants to do, let them. i find > the entire natural rythym idea very, very lame. the video is gad-awful > stupid, and the music is basic and pointless. dull, dull. BUT, you say,

THE

quoted 2 lines MONKEYS CLICKING ON STONES IN PERFECTLY IN SYNCH WITH

> MONKEYS CLICKING ON STONES IN PERFECTLY IN SYNCH WITH > THE BASS DRUM.

Perhaps you don't understand what they did. The normal process of making a music video is to make a song, then cut a video *afterwards* to synchronize with the song. What coldcut did was make them both at the same time. They (allegedly) used *ONLY* VIDEO equipment to make the track, and released it *exclusively* as a video, not as a sound recording. The sounds are in synch because the video of the monkey clicking the stone IS ACTUALLY THE SOURCE OF THE SOUND. It's not a bassdrum "synched" to the monkey. That sound is the exact same sound that was on the videotape of the monkey. All the video clips appear to be from nature TV shows. I've always been fascinated by how nature TV show editors *add* sound effects to their clips. For example when a little praying mantis is eating a leaf, you hear little "clickitycrunchity" sounds, as if they actually had a tiny microphone on the bug! It's often faked in the studio afterwards, probably even using some of the same sound effects sample CD's many IDM artists use. Many of Natural Rhythm's video samples appear to have this kind of faked audio. I think by cutting up the video and turning it into a hybrid video and musical peice, they (for me) make a funny, thoughtful work of art which questions man's perceptions and representations of Nature through modern technology. I especially like the way they show a "indiginous" person among the animals, using the same 19th century colonial taxonomy that many nature shows and natural history museums use. I personally found it extremely interesting to watch. Yeah, if I heard the song on the radio or something it would seem pretty simple and plain. But it's NOT A SONG! It's a VIDEO. It's ART! All that artspeak stuff above. I actually thought all that stuff whan I saw it. All you thought was "uh... duhh... lame....". If you know anything about how video editing is done and how music videos are usually made, you'd be impressed. Most of the time, the band and the video director are total strangers and don't communicate much. Coldcut is trying something *new*, they are experimenting. Natural Rhythm is a first step toward a newer, more tehnologically-saavy way of developing the now-stagnant art form of the music video. And on a personal note: I find your attitude toward experimentation and towards other people's opinions pretty fucking closed minded. You've only heard one Coldcut track and you write them off as "lame". If you don't like to experience the *experiments* of artists, then I don't know what the fuck you're doing on the IDM list. BTW, Coldcut is also noted for their legendary remix of Eric B and Rakim's Paid In Full. If you're very very young or you live in a hole and have never heard it, then I *strongly* recommend you go hear it. If you have heard it and don't like it, then I suppose you *are* hopeless. -Chris Fahey

(...)

quoted 2 lines If you know anything about how video editing is done and how music videos

> If you know anything about how video editing is done and how music videos > are usually made, you'd be impressed. Most of the time, the band and the

(...) I heard it took them about to years to collect all the video samples, cut them up and mix them together. ------------------------------------------------------- M a t h i a s V e r r a e s ET.phone.home@ThePentagon.com To me, truth is not some vague, foggy notion. Truth is real. And, at the same time, unreal. Fiction and fact and everything in between, plus some things I can't remember, all rolled into one big "thing." This is truth, to me. -------------------------------------------------------

The guy didn't like the video, and he wasn't impressed with the music that went with it. Can we get over it now? I'll admit that dismissing Coldcut on the basis of this one "piece" might not be the most open-minded way to look at the world, but you can't fault someone because they didn't enjoy it. A lot of you have been very condescending, ie, "Perhaps you didn't understand it," or "Don't you get what is so impressive," etc. That's not terribly open-minded either. I happen to think it's the best video I've seen in a long time, along with the Orb's "Asylum," which is just stunning. I'm glad that people are starting to be more creative in music video, because it's been in a rut for a long time and it's an artform I really like. -- Adam J Weitzman -- Individual, Inc. -- http://www.individual.com -- "I'm writing an unathorized autobiography." - Steven Wright