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[idm] RE: Reynolds on IDM in 2001

8 messages · 7 participants · spans 2 days · search this subject
2002-03-16 23:30Michael Upton [idm] Reynolds on IDM in 2001
2002-03-16 23:32Re: [idm] Reynolds on IDM in 2001
└─ 2002-03-16 23:41Michael Upton Re: [idm] Reynolds on IDM in 2001
2002-03-18 01:18David George [idm] RE: [idm-m] Reynolds on IDM in 2001
2002-03-18 06:44Christopher Sorg [idm] RE: Reynolds on IDM in 2001
└─ 2002-03-18 07:53wells Re: [idm] RE: Reynolds on IDM in 2001
2002-03-18 20:46christopher [idm] RE: Reynolds on IDM in 2001
└─ 2002-03-18 22:58ugly and mean Re: [idm] RE: Reynolds on IDM in 2001
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2002-03-16 23:30Michael UptonI thought this was quite good. I really like Simon Reynolds' writing. from http://members.
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Michael Upton
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Date:
Sun, 17 Mar 2002 10:30:06 +1100
Subject:
[idm] Reynolds on IDM in 2001
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I thought this was quite good. I really like Simon Reynolds' writing. from http://members.aol.com/blissout/unfaves2001.htm - DRUKQS SUKQS 2001 was a tough time for the aging Anglo vanguard of first-wave IDM: Squarepusher reduced to parodying 2step garage to achieve even a mild frisson of novelty, Autechre alienating even their hardcore devotees with the ultra-abstruse Confield (which I actually quite enjoyed). Meanwhile Richard D. James had reportedly retired from music-making in order to probe the deepest recesses of computer programming, in the hopes of total aesthetic rejuvenation. Which made it doubly disappointing how so much of Drukqs sounds merely like a slight extension of the Aphex sound --- pretty splintered melody colliding with hyperkinetic breakbeats---circa 1996's Richard D James Album (which wasn't especially groundbreaking anyway). Tracks like "omgyjya switch" offer the same old drill'n'bass caricature of drum 'n' bass, whiplash beats evoking the torsions and impacts suffered by crash-test dummies. Clearly we too are meant to be stunned, concussed, by the splattery extravagance of ideas here. But the useless protean energy contorting these songs just reminds me of The Boredoms. When James slows the pace and attempts minimalist simplicity, though, the results are equally unimpressive: witness the series of short interludes in which he drops the digital arsenal and plays inane chord sequences on various acoustic keyboards---piano with reverb-pedal on full, a wheezy harmonium with clacking foot-pedals, and so forth. Let's just say he's no Erik Satie, no Harold Budd. There's a fab four-track EP languishing within this double-CD's busy bloat: "gwely mernans" is a gloomcore crypt of ambient gabba, the distorted kickdrum sounding distant and suppressed, its frantic pulse overhung by a spectral synth-melody that lingers like a pall of luminous vapor; "bbydhyonchord" glows and clanks like prime Boards of Canada; "gwarek 2" brilliantly pastiches avant-classical composers like Stockhausen and Nono with a collage of agonised shrieks, insectile percussion, swarming sounds, and quaint tape-effects; the madcap electro of "Taking Control" sees a robo-voiced James using his personal superlative "decent bit!" to herald a particularly demented segment of drum machine mayhem. And doubtless there's probably a fair few other "decent bits" scattered across this double-CD, if you can be bothered to excavate them. But like the legion of IDM producers he's influenced, James seems paradoxically trapped by the "infinite possibilities" offered by today's software and plug-ins (the computer-music equivalent of guitar pedals), resulting in infinitesimally detailed tweakage, but no song-shapes or moodscapes that actually leave an imprint in your memory, let alone your heart. - Michael - http://www.ampcast.com/jetjaguar --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org
2002-03-16 23:32LOWONICE13@aol.comIn a message dated 3/16/02 5:29:20 PM Central Standard Time, m_upton@myrealbox.com writes:
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Sat, 16 Mar 2002 18:32:38 EST
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Re: [idm] Reynolds on IDM in 2001
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In a message dated 3/16/02 5:29:20 PM Central Standard Time, m_upton@myrealbox.com writes: << But the useless protean energy contorting these songs just reminds me of The Boredoms. >> Oh and that's a bad thing mr. pretentious? --------------------------------- Raoul's Left Ear http://www.geocities.com/raoulsleftear/Intro.html ---------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org
2002-03-16 23:41Michael UptonAt 06:32 PM 3/16/02 -0500, LOWONICE13@aol.com wrote: >In a message dated 3/16/02 5:29:20 P
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Michael Upton
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Sun, 17 Mar 2002 10:41:06 +1100
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Re: [idm] Reynolds on IDM in 2001
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Re: [idm] Reynolds on IDM in 2001
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At 06:32 PM 3/16/02 -0500, LOWONICE13@aol.com wrote:
quoted 7 lines In a message dated 3/16/02 5:29:20 PM Central Standard Time,>In a message dated 3/16/02 5:29:20 PM Central Standard Time, >m_upton@myrealbox.com writes: > ><< But the useless protean energy contorting these songs just > reminds me of The Boredoms. >> > >Oh and that's a bad thing mr. pretentious?
Yeah, well, he's opinionated as all fuck (to use a tasteful phrase), but I like that. It's a healthy reminder that this whole music crit thing is totally arbitrary... He also bothers to comment on genres from the outside, which too few people reviewing the stuff we call IDM are willing to do. Michael - http://www.ampcast.com/jetjaguar --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org
2002-03-18 01:18David GeorgeExcellent, I'm glad he noticed "bbydhyonchord" - that track is pure funk... Loved what he
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David George
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Date:
Sun, 17 Mar 2002 19:18:13 -0600
Subject:
[idm] RE: [idm-m] Reynolds on IDM in 2001
permalink · <3C9549BE@mailandnews.com>
Excellent, I'm glad he noticed "bbydhyonchord" - that track is pure funk... Loved what he said about Creed too!! Dave
quoted 3 lines I thought this was quite good. I really like Simon Reynolds' writing.>I thought this was quite good. I really like Simon Reynolds' writing. > >from http://members.aol.com/blissout/unfaves2001.htm
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2002-03-18 06:44Christopher Sorg> I thought this was quite good. I really like Simon Reynolds' writing. > from http://memb
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Christopher Sorg
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IDM List
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Mon, 18 Mar 2002 00:44:17 -0600
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[idm] RE: Reynolds on IDM in 2001
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quoted 2 lines I thought this was quite good. I really like Simon Reynolds' writing.> I thought this was quite good. I really like Simon Reynolds' writing. > from http://members.aol.com/blissout/unfaves2001.htm
Jeez, he practically quoted one of my early posts on IDM last year. Compare: Me (speaking of DSP use): "I don't think the utilities *are* instruments(usually). As I've mentioned on this newsgroup before, I believe that they're more akin to filters in Photoshop. Often times these tools are more like the fuzzbox or delay pedal a guitarist uses." and "Perhaps audio is now suffering from a bit of "Star Wars" fever at this point, all wrapped up in special effects and having difficulty saying anything really interesting." Mr. Reynolds: "But like the legion of IDM producers he's influenced, James seems paradoxically trapped by the "infinite possibilities" offered by today's software and plug-ins (the computer-music equivalent of guitar pedals), resulting in infinitesimally detailed tweakage, but no song-shapes or moodscapes that actually leave an imprint in your memory, let alone your heart." That's pretty nifty, but he sounds so much cooler when he says it. ;) __________________________________________ Christopher Sorg Multimedia Artist and Instructor The School of the Art Institute of Chicago http://csorg.cjb.net csorg@artic.edu --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.314 / Virus Database: 175 - Release Date: 1/11/02 --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.314 / Virus Database: 175 - Release Date: 1/11/02 --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org
2002-03-18 07:53wellsAt 12:44 AM 3/18/2002 -0600, Christopher Sorg wrote: > > I thought this was quite good. I
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wells
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Christopher Sorg , IDM List
Date:
Sun, 17 Mar 2002 23:53:42 -0800
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Re: [idm] RE: Reynolds on IDM in 2001
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[idm] RE: Reynolds on IDM in 2001
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At 12:44 AM 3/18/2002 -0600, Christopher Sorg wrote:
quoted 5 lines I thought this was quite good. I really like Simon Reynolds' writing.> > I thought this was quite good. I really like Simon Reynolds' writing. > > from http://members.aol.com/blissout/unfaves2001.htm > >Jeez, he practically quoted one of my early posts on IDM last year. >Compare:
Do you want your prize delivered to your door would you care to pick it up in person. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org
2002-03-18 20:46christopher"I don't think the utilities *are* instruments(usually). As I've mentioned on this newsgro
From:
christopher
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Date:
Mon, 18 Mar 2002 12:46:40 -0800 (PST)
Subject:
[idm] RE: Reynolds on IDM in 2001
permalink · <20020318204640.75851.qmail@web12108.mail.yahoo.com>
"I don't think the utilities *are* instruments(usually). As I've mentioned on this newsgroup before, I believe that they're more akin to filters in Photoshop. Often times these tools are more like the fuzzbox or delay pedal a guitarist uses." "Perhaps audio is now suffering from a bit of "Star Wars" fever at this point, all wrapped up in special effects and having difficulty saying anything really interesting." ** this is true. and the photoshop filter analogy has been made before: -- Date: Sun, 08 Aug 1999 11:26:49 -0400 From: Dave Walker <marmoset@mich.com> To: idm mailing list
quoted 1 line okay okay, i give up. what's the DSP plugin?> okay okay, i give up. what's the DSP plugin?
If you've ever used Photoshop (or a similar program) for graphics, you've used the various plugins for sharpening, blurring, distorting, whatever the pixels on screen. Lots of audio software these days (ProTools, for example) allows you to, in a similar fashion, do transformations on recorded audio. DSP stands for Digital Signal Processing. Remember all those horrible CD covers that were basically photos that someone's little sister had taken, with about a dozen Photoshop filters applied haphazardly to them? Remember after a while that people came to their senses and realized that this stuff wasn't really impressing anyone who'd ever sat down in front of a photo editing application for a couple of minutes? Welcome to a big chunk of IDM in 1999. -- Mr. Reynolds: "But like the legion of IDM producers he's influenced, James seems paradoxically trapped by the "infinite possibilities" offered by today's software and plug-ins (the computer-music equivalent of guitar pedals), resulting in infinitesimally detailed tweakage, but no song-shapes or moodscapes that actually leave an imprint in your memory, let alone your heart." ** the problem now is that afx is not who i think should be being dissed on. there are so many opinions about the new afx album. when it came out there were 1-star ratings in all the magazines and people had listened to it once perhaps. there was talk elsewhere, here maybe, can't remember, about it sounding very -'demo-y' and 'unpolished', which means it wasn't ultra-DSP-ified (which would make sense, he purposefully is not focusing on DSP). but now it is called a DSP-wank. i feel afx and squarepusher and autechre (the 3 guys reynolds mentioned) are using the new technology for their own purposeful purposes. they really know what they are doing. i would like it if more people tried to understand it opposed to dissing everything by the 'established artists' (why is there the idea that they all have forgotten how to make good music rather than they are getting closer and closer to [or are just still close to] what they want? why is confield still called "ultra-abstruse" - once you hear it a few times everything is expected; you get used to it). then if they don't like the feelings it gives or whatnot, good, but to say it doesn't give feelings...? while he says "no song-shapes or moodscapes that actually leave an imprint in your memory, let alone your heart" as his conclusion or whatnot, all of the songs on the latest albums by these guys do just that. they contain some intense songs; how can i not remember them? while i'm here i want to remind people to try out freeform's latest "..vietnam & china" and phthalocyanine's on planet-mu. there's something happening! i wonder if the new Boards will be in unfaves2002.htm? also is it me or is the new global goon not as fun as he is usually? christopho __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Sports - live college hoops coverage http://sports.yahoo.com/ --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org
2002-03-18 22:58ugly and mean--- christopher <gravavarez@yahoo.com> wrote: > i wonder if the new Boards will be in unfa
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ugly and mean
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Mon, 18 Mar 2002 14:58:04 -0800 (PST)
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Re: [idm] RE: Reynolds on IDM in 2001
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[idm] RE: Reynolds on IDM in 2001
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--- christopher <gravavarez@yahoo.com> wrote:
quoted 1 line i wonder if the new Boards will be in unfaves2002.htm?> i wonder if the new Boards will be in unfaves2002.htm?
actually if you scroll down to the bottom, he has a list of "faves of 2002 so far!!!", Geogaddi is the 2nd pick on it. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Sports - live college hoops coverage http://sports.yahoo.com/ --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org