"Why I Dug, Dig, and Will Continue To Dig IDM"
There are too many list members complaining about what they are hearing in
IDM right now, and not enough of them knowing why they don't like it. I
deliver the following to try to open a discussion on the list of where IDM
was when things were better, and where IDM should be and why.
So let's discuss.
--
The following is a mini-review of sorts, specifically of "turquoise hexagon
sun" from BOCs "hi scores" and "music has the right to children". Because
of the coloring of the packaging for both the Skam and Warp release, and
due to the appearance of the above track on both releases, I think it is
safe to say that BOC really thinks a lot of THC(sun).
Enough for me to consider it their swan song, at least for now, at least
for the purposes of this essay.
To continue, the following is a review of the aforementioned song in the
form of my visualization of the story it tells. You can listen along with
the time markings, if you like:
00:00 Opening bars Fish-eye perspective from our hero,
walking down an apartment hallway
towards a door where party sounds
can be heard.
Camera pans from doorknob to the
flashy action in the unlit party
immediately behind the door.
00:21 Party time Bass thumps, drunk laughing voices,
talking -- our Hero breathes
deep, intimate lungfuls of air as
he walks with confidence through
the crowd of people. This is his
domain; he is comfortable in this
setting.
Clearly, the volume of the party-
goers implies that our Hero is not
quite "at" the party, having either
drank or smoked a fair bit before
entering the throng.
The camera follows our Hero from
the side as he stumbles his way
into the fray, with a lazy grin on
his face.
01:01 Hey there Hi-Fives to everyone as the Hero
says hello to his chums and other
familiars. Hey, I've got a good
buzz on; let's dance, let's have
fun.
01:41 Wait a sec Voices die out as our Hero spots
his target of affection, focusing
immediately as her voice comes
through clearly above the din.
Camera follows his directional
cue by tracking his intended
target.
She is making smalltalk with her
present companion. She looks up,
glancing at him for the briefest of
brief moments.
02:02 Anticipation Love at first sight? Heartbeat
is racing now.
Cut to shot of Hero walking
(almost running) to the balcony to
get a better glimpse of Her.
03:04 Inner doubt Introspection as the Hero hangs
out on the balcony, nervous and
thinking of the Other. What to do?
What if she laughs at me? What
will happen?
04:11 Guts Voices cut in -- the Hero's course
is clear, now. He makes his move,
cutting through the people in his
way.
He sees only flashes of her face
as he bobs and weaves his way
through the thick mass.
Camera follows the confusion as
strobes fire between cuts of our
Hero searching frantically and what
he sees in slow-motion.
04:48 Where is she? As our Hero looks for his object of
desire, she suddenly disappears,
nowhere to be found.
Camera pulls back, focused on the
Hero's face, ultimately the face of
the loner. Crowd remains distinct
and unfocused in the background.
--
The strong imagery in this track, and in this release in general, is why I
bought Ae's "Amber" and AT's "SAW 85-92" all those years ago and why I will
continue to take the time to obtain and listen (deeply) to the electronic
music I collect.
Richard James promise of throwing lyric-less music out into the public and
letting each individual decide its meaning appealed to me then as it still
does now. This was the promise Eno realized with the sudden birth and death
of environmental ambient in the late 70s. And while I mock Thaemlitz in an
earlier message, tracks contained on his "Tranquilizer" and "Soil" are two
of the best examples of meaningful, soulful, sad, and joyful imagery
delivered via sound. My interpretation of his music may not take on the
political dimensions he intends, but his writing has certainly affected my
thought processes during subsequent listens.
Each track tells a story; the allegory is a rewarding culmination of
deliberate thought, not singly of the artist's vision, but also of the
imagination of the listener.
To me, a conversation between listener and artist, realized via repeated
listens, is the best and most optimistic result of IDM, justifying the use
of the word "intelligent" in IDM -- if the term still has any meaning.
It may even explain why there are those list members who still pine for the
"good old days" when we had the beated, beautiful electronic-pop ambience
of Orb, Orbital, Aphex, Ae, et al in the early 90s.
The Artist (via any medium) carves out a living by delivering a slice of
life, with all its emotional baggage, with all its causal history. I see
this sometimes in the works of electronic musicians, but this is happening
to a lesser degree as the field becomes more commercially viable.
The "Prodigy"s and "D'n'B" rip-offs of today make their trade with
unsubtle, in-your-face, pop bubblegum. They place no import on projecting
any meaningful images into their music, make no attempt to get you to work
for your enjoyment of the music, and hence they will have no anchor in
history -- here today, gone tomorrow. Good riddance.
If the dark days of electoacoustic mediocrity are upon us, I argue it is
not because of "drum n' bass" or XYZ taking over, but because a majority of
electronic musicians have either lost or never had the simple desire to
tell a story -- to open a meaningful, rewarding dialogue with the listener.
This is why I get into BOC + others, this is why I keep coming back.
Why do you come back?
Alex
__________________________________________________________________________
Alex Reynolds Distributed Support Specialist
Department of Biology School of Arts & Sciences Computing
University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA
email:reynolda@sas.upenn.edu phone:215.573.2818
PGP Fingerprint: E0E3 BB20 C1BC 3C0D 56A1 1FD5 5B9C 9E91 A7F0 F9B5
"The future belongs to crowds." -- _Mao II_, Don DeLillo