IDM Mailing Archive

quoted 1 line I thought you wrote the review on Urban Sounds of the first Arovane single

>I thought you wrote the review on Urban Sounds of the first Arovane single

on

quoted 3 lines DIN? You know, the one that (unreasonably) said the 12" in question was

>DIN? You know, the one that (unreasonably) said the 12" in question was >picking up from where Autechre dropped the ball after 'Amber'? Perhaps I've >got my pointless trivia mixed up.

wow, people actually read that stuff? *and* they remember it?! i'm impressed. anyway, yeah, touche. but if i remember correctly, the review went on to predict -- and lament -- the flood of autechre comparisons that arovane has since suffered, and attempted to make the same point i made in my previous post, which is that such comparisons are both lazy and reductive. in my estimation, arovane has, through a series of consistently inventive and original releases, established his own voice. and it's a voice that is better served by a more detailed approach to commentary than by consignment to the bin of thoughtless autechre comparisons which, to my mind anyway, serve to obscure what's new about his music. my suggestion was that the particular approach to songwriting so closely associated with autechre -- tricky rhythms and thoughtfully articulated melodies -- may have entered a stage of development and "common concern" such that it's no longer very useful to keep attributing it to a single artist. it's like comparing every rock band to chuck berry. at some point this loses its descriptive power.

quoted 6 lines for a quick description, one in which the main goal is to get across a

>for a quick description, one in which the main goal is to get across a >general feel as opposed to a full-blown review, a comparison is far and >away the only way to go. "sounds like a cross between _amber-era autechre >and _cichlisuite_-era autechre" means far more to me than "it has some >cool beats in the hip-hoppy/electro side of things, plus some good >melodies and a bit of dsp tweakery".

my post was not a general condemnation of artist comparisons in reviews, it was a suggestion that the regularized way that *autechre comparisons* are tossed about has depleted the value of making that comparison. when i wrote about music i constantly made artist comparisons, and still consider them extremely useful (i also prefer them to endlessly hyphenated descriptors). but neither do i think that they're always appropriate, and i think they are sometimes even damaging. see above for more on this. sc onnow: as it happens, arovane --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org