IDM Mailing Archive

Well, it had to happen sooner or later: Robert Heartburn of the L.A. Times turns his attention to Our Subculture in the front-page story of today's (Sunday) L.A. Times Calendar section. Read it and weep at http://www.latimes.com/HOME/NEWS/SUNCAL/t000028455.html (URL probably only good today, I suspect) - Greg

H/H>Until the MTV announcement, techno was looked upon by the recording H/H>industry as simply one of several areas of potential growth. There was H/H>also talk that sales could be boosted by a new wave of lightweight pop H/H>(the Spice Girls), sunny teen rock (No Doubt), traditional pop (Celine H/H>Dion) or a soul revival (Tony Rich, D'Angelo). H/H> But the MTV statement started a buzz in the record company H/H>corridors and in the media about techno--probably because it is the most H/H>cutting-edge of the alternatives--that quickly escalated it to the H/H>forefront of the discussion. What Hilburn and Hochman are (deliberately?) ignoring is that electronica has a much wider potential profit margin than any of the other styles they mention. A bedroom-produced album has an innate economic advantage over one recorded expensively in a studio: it doesn't have to move nearly as many units to recoup the initial investment. On top of this, most (all?) of the artists being pushed as the future of mainstream music are signed to UK labels, and merely licensed to the US labels releasing their records. This puts the records in an even better economic light - the only initial investments involved are in actually pressing up the records and in promoting them. Probably the closest analogue to the big electronica push is the so-called second British invasion of the early- to mid-1980's. Bands like Duran Duran, Culture Club, and Men at Work benefitted from the emergence of MTV, yes, but their records were also cheaply licensed from overseas labels in a time when the record industry was in a slump similar to the one it's in now. I think it's obvious that electronica becoming the "next big thing" has nothing to do with the music industry becoming "hip" to "our" music - it just shows how desperate the industry is to stay in the black. C. -- C.Hilker (cspot@hyperreal.com) "He was mesmerized by the light-pictures, and the music sent him right into dreamland"

On Sunday, 30-Mar-97, Greg Earle wrote [about (idm) Gonzi's and cspot's final sign of the impending Apocalypse]:

quoted 3 lines Well, it had to happen sooner or later: Robert Heartburn of the L.A. Times

>Well, it had to happen sooner or later: Robert Heartburn of the L.A. Times >turns his attention to Our Subculture in the front-page story of today's >(Sunday) L.A. Times Calendar section. Read it and weep at

heh.. this was quite laughable.. "If the Prodigy bombs out, then techno is dead." If that's the case, then rock-pop would have been dead when New Kids On The Block came out :D was also hillarious when they actually mentioned mr.loser himself Bill Gates, and how he is killing the record-scene :)

quoted 1 line (URL probably only good today, I suspect)

>(URL probably only good today, I suspect)

actually, I got on it today (monday after easter) and it was still there.. If it's not there, I have it saved on HD if anyone wants it just ask. -- __ __\ \ Aurafix aka Hillie / PHD ^ DAMONES (aka Rare Guy) / /_\ \ http://www.clark.net/pub/buh/index.html \_____/ >> buh@clark.net >> < > .. >> .<>> >> > , m7= inducing mindwaves.. electronic techno muuusik controlled manually by a p h e x t wi n .. .. . . .

On Sun, 30 Mar 1997, Greg Earle wrote:

quoted 5 lines Well, it had to happen sooner or later: Robert Heartburn of the L.A. Times

> Well, it had to happen sooner or later: Robert Heartburn of the L.A. Times > turns his attention to Our Subculture in the front-page story of today's > (Sunday) L.A. Times Calendar section. Read it and weep at > > http://www.latimes.com/HOME/NEWS/SUNCAL/t000028455.html

Our local weekly had the requisite Electronica Is The Next Big Thing article this week. Funny how everyone in the media seems to crib from everyone else. Same list of suspect suspects held up as examples of electronica, most of which I've never heard of, none of which I would consider Techno or IDM. Underworld and Prodigy were there of course, but where were Orbital, FSOL, Black Dog, Autechre, or even Aphex Twin, all of which are available at most rekkid stores, and all of which have been making electronica for at least five years? It's like, if they were writing about Punk in 1977, and there was no mention of the Sex Pistols or the Ramones, and all they could write about was Bill Nelson's ill-conceived foray into Punk. It's a fucking crime, that's what it is. Che