At 01:13 AM 7/5/2001, you wrote:
quoted 3 lines Well I dunno I wasn't saying it was a bad thing. But I am from Michigan>Well I dunno I wasn't saying it was a bad thing. But I am from Michigan
>and it just seems like all of a sudden everyone I know and people I don't
>are all into IDM all of a sudden
I haven't been following this thread, so if I say something which has been
said or drop in a non-sequitor, I'm at the mercy of the list (and we all
know neither sin has been committed here in the past).
I find it's REALLY easy to fall into our little sub-genre pockets and "lose
context" with the wider population of music consumers; as a result we start
to believe that Autechre/Aphex ,etc. are names commonly dropped in your
average household. Probably being a tad older than your average
list-person, I've fallen victim to and seen this through ALL kinds of music
fashion through the years. It's especially easy for me as I rarely do "real
world" shopping anymore nor do I mess with the radio much at all. You hear
something on a commercial or have some contact with a few like-minded
individuals and start to think that the whole world is anxiously awaiting
Slag Boom Van Loon So Soon or something (not to say YOU are guilty of this).
I'm forever trapesing (when I DO these days) into record stores
and assuming the counter-jockeys are going to speak my language if they
"look the part" or have something palatable spinning and appear to be
getting into it - and I'm forever reacquainted with the reality that MOST
people have no idea as to the nature of IDM - or whatever odd
subgenre/fad/fashion might be your obsession. I'm also often guilty of
making the category mistake that it's the "youth" who are more
hip/receptive to stylistic innovation/coloring outside the lines/whatever
when it comes to music. And I'm more often than not greeted with the
reality that MANY off-the-road music buyers are many times people like
me...in my mid-40s, married and long-time music geeks who have WIDE musical
horizons (at least relatively wide, next to radio guided listeners. Excuse
the stereotypes, please :-). I'm well aware that IDM-l is
predominately populated by mid- 20s males, but I think there are a good
deal of people who you might not expect to be into the genre - and
conversely, many MORE whom you might expect to be listening, but who are
miles away and will probably not venture much closer. I just don't see IDM
riding a popularity crest in the near future in terms of a broad picture.
Lots of people making the music SEEM (note stress) often to be impelled to
stay beyond the ken of what many people consider listenable. At least I see
a bit of elitism involved in the whole venture. It is an interesting
process watching the whole tension between the predominant, accepted trends
in music and the maverick, oppositional ones. Eventually, the oppositional
gets (to some measure) absorbed and becomes dominant. Although I can see
some IDM *influences* emerging in popular trends, I'm betting that the
"inner core" stuff will just become more obscure. Whatever. (if you can't
tell, it's coffee time :-)
jeff
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