IDM Mailing Archive

quoted 2 lines seofon@wco.com (Seofon):

> seofon@wco.com (Seofon): > >but since disco/house is definitively not this-listy,

Ok im going to make a broad statement :) Why do many Americans on this list seem to be oblivious of the influence of the Chicago House and Detroit Techno scenes? Dont flame me just yet... I know some of you are on 313. There seems to be such a high-brow attitude on this list towards anything that really rocks in a club. For gods sake just about every artist you guys dribble about started off listening to electro and Detroit techno and Chicago House. Forget all these bullshit idm and intelligent tags, Aphex Twin, Autechre, black dog even squarepusher all started as TECHNO. Even though theyve all mutated into wildly different forms from what Juan Atkins originally called Techno (well maybe not Autechre), theyre still Techno, and if they say they are not theyre kidding themselves. I know they all listened to Detroit, Rhythim is Rhythim, and by todays standards early Detroit techno sounds pretty damn Housey. It seems to be trendy at the moment to have 'electro' influences, i wonder how long itll be before the american press decides to 'reveal' what happened in Detroit so many years ago, after trying to ignore it for so long. </rant> kF np: Rhythim is Rhythim : Kaotic Harmony (well its enough to fire up anyones emotions..)

quoted 9 lines And regarding the ongoning MTV/sell-out/etc. debate - as the message

> And regarding the ongoning MTV/sell-out/etc. debate - as the message > someone pulled from the '94 archives proves, this argument has been going > on for far too long. Yeah, schmoes like The Prodigy are going to be big > and will "bring techno to the masses", blah blah blah. So fuckin' what? > The "underground" ain't gonna go away. Labels like Spymania and Skam and > Chrome and all the rest of 'em will still exist in one form or another, > givin' us the good stuff. In fact, they'll probably work *harder* to push > the envelope as the mainstream appropriates more of the culture. Dunno > about you, but I think that'll be A Really Good Thing (tm).

Finally, at last someone says something sensible in this whole tedious debate. I can't believe you Americans get so worked up about this. In England dance music is the mainstream, and where does 90% of the underground IDM you guys worship come from? Every hip youth program has dnb jingles, as do adverts. snippets of Autechre regularly popup on BBC2 programme trails. Cheesy house music tops the charts, and so does non cheesy house music sometimes. For christs sake, shut up and learn to live with it. Whether it be underground or mainstream, whether a million MTV kids like it or not, good music is good music. Theres always going to be boring bandwaggoneers (here's a clue - ignore them) and theres always going to be exciting new music. You know what you like and thats what counts. Phew. ~~ Ben Coffer <ben@hybridgame.demon.co.uk> wrote: When

quoted 3 lines are people gonna realise that nearly *all* house music is completely

> are people gonna realise that nearly *all* house music is completely > and totally formulaic and most times constructed within a half > hourly tea break in the studio.

Mmm, this sounds familiar. Oh look its someone claiming that a genre of music is piss easy to create in only half an hour, and takes no skill in fact a computer could do it, now where did I put my guitar? BULLSHIT! Though I will admit that GC seem to be going pretty retro nowadays, just check the back of that Jedi Knights EP: "Remember when breakbeats where Rrruff" and so on. Still when the tunes are this kicking who cares? seofon@wco.com (Seofon):

quoted 1 line but since disco/house is definitively not this-listy,

>but since disco/house is definitively not this-listy,

I have to disagree here. I know the classic Artificial Intelligence album cover shows a guy sitting down, but there plenty of house music out there that shows great care in its production and, yes, even intelligence. Check all the recent GC releases, or Herbert, or The End records, or Classic Records, etc. We discuss plenty of dance floor oriented Techno on here and lets face it techno and house are basically the same thing. Some people just appear to be stuck in that ole Death b4 Disco attitude. Goddamn prog rockers! ~~ Finally, whats up with the IDM archives. They seem to be stuck in January 97. Updated daily, my arse! Erm, I missed a few digests cos our mail server broke down. If anyone feels like mailing me any or all of numbers 1005 to 1011 I'd be most grateful. Cheers, Andrew C.

quoted 5 lines From: "Lance C. McGannon" <mclance@nacs.net>

>From: "Lance C. McGannon" <mclance@nacs.net> >Subject: (idm) The GPR label is back!!! > >Check out this new GPR compilation: >. Digital Millennium: v/a 2xCD (GPR)

Yeah, I had a promo a few weeks ago but uh, forgot I had it. This is going back to the old-skool of IDM - when the list had started up for a year or so and there was some interesting stuff coming through. Basically, lots of smooth old synth sounds and drum-machine (rather than straight breaks) tweakage. Some of it is outstanding, but some of it dated and a bit lame. But even so, it all harks back to a few years ago - and it's all got a definite similar sound to it that I didn't really pick up on at the time. I'd reccomend this 2xCD mainly because it's a nice slab of IDM circa a few years ago, a little snap-shot of IDM history. However, it reeks (like _Parallel_) of a money-grabbing effort by GPR. If they're attempting a comeback, this is a pretty lame way to go about it. The Beaumont Hannant/YO3 tracks are just okay - I was never a big Bea fan, although I know a lot of old IDM'ers were. Highlights are the following:

quoted 1 line . Terrace: Midiology

>. Terrace: Midiology

Stefan Robbers' stuff always has an interesting (but subtle) twist and individual take to it. Always worth checking. This is nice.

quoted 1 line . Luke Slater's 7th Plain: Convex

>. Luke Slater's 7th Plain: Convex

Actually, not a good track. Sounds like an old Jelly Jam outtake. I was disappointed compared with the _Four Cornered Room_ type material they could've put on there.

quoted 1 line . Mark Broom: Gold Cheese

>. Mark Broom: Gold Cheese

Mainly notable for its pitch-bending Detroit chords - lots of Plaid percussion - I'm pretty sure this is the Broom era stuff where he worked with Andy and Ed.

quoted 1 line . Plaid: Scoobs in Columbia

>. Plaid: Scoobs in Columbia

Fucking wicked. Buy the CD for this.

quoted 1 line . Russ Gabriel: Reality Flow

>. Russ Gabriel: Reality Flow

Early tech-house from Mr. Gabriel if thats your thang.

quoted 1 line . Mark Broom: Seagulls

>. Mark Broom: Seagulls

Definitely produced with Andy/Ed - the percussion is all over the place like _Actor and Audience_.

quoted 1 line . Black Dog: Virtual

>. Black Dog: Virtual

This is actually a different remix from the version on _Parallel_. Not as beautiful but still extremely tasty.

quoted 4 lines From: Marie Kacmarek <marie@floatingcode.com>

>From: Marie Kacmarek <marie@floatingcode.com> >Subject: RE: (idm) Gotta have... House... Music > >Why is this not a forum for house music?

Because no matter how fucking sublime or beautiful a house track is, most people on this list won't even give it the time of day because it will have either a 4/4 or a vocal (either full or sampled) in it.

quoted 1 line Sorry, but there's some sublime, deep shit goin' on round these parts.

>Sorry, but there's some sublime, deep shit goin' on round these parts.

Word.

quoted 4 lines From: Suzi Ringmod <suziringmod@geocities.com>

>From: Suzi Ringmod <suziringmod@geocities.com> >Subject: Re: (idm) Trajectory Infinite > >np: guidance: abacus

...and here's a good starting point. This is the _Analogue Tracks Vol.1_ yeah? Smooth, summer-evening stuff.

quoted 12 lines In message <3.0.32.19970829171833.00798730@pop3.demon.co.uk>, argos

>In message <3.0.32.19970829171833.00798730@pop3.demon.co.uk>, argos ><artist@sub-con-geo.demon.co.uk> writes >>At 21:52 28/08/97 +0100, you wrote: >> >>>I own the promo of the big loada EP and it definitely doesn't >>>say "i'm the one and only dominator" anywhere on it... >> >>this makes sense now... >> >>honest, it does, i have had 2 differently-pressed promos, the first of >>which (i gave to a mate) has definitely got this sample on it, the white >>label i've got now does not, i gave away the other because it wasn't a good

I think the first batch of whites were the tests (Warp usually order quite a few tests) with the sample. This was spotted and the track was edited and more tests were done leading to the final promos Ben has. I don't know if Renaat was asked about the sample - I think Warp just decided it was a good idea to remove it anyway. Maybe he was though.

quoted 6 lines From: Christina White <cwhite@panix.com>

>From: Christina White <cwhite@panix.com> >Subject: RE: (idm) Gotta have... House... Music > >As for discussing house here, well I think you'll find that the barometer >lies somewhere between 'it sucks' and 'it's boring'. The most common >complaint being that it's too repetitive.

Basic Channel used to be discussed here quite regularly and I guess stuff like the Chain Reaction material would as well if the 313 list hadn't formed. Repetition doesn't equate with unintelligence so that argument is kind of off.

quoted 2 lines (In case you haven't noticed,

>(In case you haven't noticed, >a lot of the people on this list are just smitten with drum programming.)

Again - this is no excuse for not discussing something. I'd say that working on a soulful groove is just as intelligent a process as chopping up a break in Recycle. And again, it all depends on how that chopped up break is used within the track.

quoted 2 lines Personally I'd

>Personally I'd >rather get my shake on to house, than to talk about it.

For all I've written above, I agree with that in the main. But list members shouldn't be fucking dissuaded from buying house just because some kid on IDM denounces it as shit. Yeah, it all boils down to the "What is intelligence" thread that I don't even want to get near to. But I think the IDM category can get a bit narrow at times - and theres some good shit going on out there (be it house, hip-hop, techno - Detroit or otherwise) that more than qualifies. OnThisMorning: Phuture 303 : _Acid Soul_ || [CiM] || simonw@sol.ftp.com || -

Gonzi said:

quoted 2 lines Hmmm. What kind of risks are you taking when you already have a

> Hmmm. What kind of risks are you taking when you already have a > zillion dollars?

So by your very definition RDJ isn't adventurous and doesn't take any risks any more just because he's got a zillion dollars. I think you need a reality check or is that cheque. :) Brian said:

quoted 3 lines ya know, it's one thing to write a good review of a record (and in

> ya know, it's one thing to write a good review of a record (and in > this case I definetely agree with you), but did you really need to > single handedly insult half of the listmembers?

He didn't insult me. I don't subscribe to this so-called "underground" bullshit. I let the music speak for itself, no matter who it comes from if a track is good it's good... plain and simple. On another completely different matter anyone know where Stuart/mfr has disappeared too lately? We have some unfinished business to take care of. Not much idm content hey? Well i just got the new (in this country anyway) Ae Cichlisuite cd5. A nice effort from the boy's, but is it just me or have they fallen into a rut or working to a program?? One thing of merit (for Australian) idm-listers to note is look out for an upcoming Black Dog Tour of our fair land early next year. The hoopla is being negotiated as we speak. Stay tuned for more details soon, including the tour website, etc. Regards, John