IDM Mailing Archive

Hey, I just wanted to let you know about the new track (.mp3), called "infection," I just put up on my website. A house beat at the beginning slowly mutates, by way of additive rhythms, into something totally unpredictable. I mean *totally*--Saturday I notated the more complicated sections for a live-performance version (sax quartet and electronics), and then blew a couple of hours trying to play some of the individual parts on keyboard. I couldn't do it! These rhythms are not kind, but they feel right... it takes about 3 minutes for the track to get to that point, but when it does, your feet will not know what to do--but they want to do *something*. It's a strange sensation, very disorienting, and I really like the irony of an uber-regular beat becoming *this* irregular, or a stereotypically "un"intelligent dance beat doing something very intelligent. I'm very curious to hear what some of you think: http://www.duke.edu/~jharkins/infection.mp3 9 5 9 4 5 4 3 7 7 3 5 5 9 7 7 9 5 4 4 5 4 3 2 3 3 5 4 ... 8 8 8 4 8 4 4 8 8 4 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 4 4 8 4 8 4 8 8 8 4 ( ^^^ actual series of meters toward the middle of the track! Each is only 1 measure's worth. Programming nightmare! But there will be more like this from me in the future, probably with less irony and more playfulness...) J PS Sorry for dredging up the old topic--I wanted to say this at the time, but didn't think it was worth a message with no other content. Anyway, if the straight boys out there think it's hard to find women who like this music, you should try looking for (openly) gay or bi men. Maybe it's a function of living in North Carolina, where there's very little of our music going on--maybe things are different in a proper city, but IDM fairies seem awfully scarce to me. And lesbians? There must be some, but I haven't seen any traces. ________ \ / | "I don't want more choices, H. James Harkins | I just want nicer things!" jharkins@acpub.duke.edu | \/ | -- Edina Monsoon "The sky is big enough to let all the clouds pass." -- Kobai Scott Whitney

quoted 8 lines Date: Mon, 29 Jun 1998 12:02:23 -0400 (EDT)

>Date: Mon, 29 Jun 1998 12:02:23 -0400 (EDT) >From: H James Harkins <jharkins@acpub.duke.edu> >Subject: (idm) NEW .MP3 > >Hey, I just wanted to let you know about the new track (.mp3), called >"infection," I just put up on my website. A house beat at the beginning >slowly mutates, by way of additive rhythms, into something totally >unpredictable.

http://www.duke.edu/~jharkins/infection.mp3 I thought you were exaggerating at first since the track seemed to be only thump thump for so long.. at about 3:00 or so the melodies start to fuck around the beat as if they were working off of another time signature, although they still are grounded in the old house 1-2-1-2-1-2 booty hoppin beat. But not long after that the beat seems to break apart and fragment too. I was definately interested and was paying attention the whole time, something IDM is supposed to do I guess. Its an interesting track, and actually seems danceable almost all the way through. I'd be interested to see it deployed on a crowd of mad dancers like the one at the Crag/Atkins show I attended the other night - to see whether or not the crowd would be seamlessly sucked into your new grooves or whether you would lose them entirely as soon as that first extra beat is inserted (or skipped or whatever you do) My girlfriend spins a lot of Laika, especially their many alternate time signature tracks. It's interesting to watch people bobbing their heads to funky groovy 7/8 tracks, some of them actually "getting it" and moving their heads and bodies in assymetrical septagonal patterns instead of squares and zigzags and such. But still, many get lost and trip over themselves (as much as you can trip bobbing your head, but you know what I mean.) I'd say, however, that your track suffers from a severe lack of bass and kick (i.e., funk) and seems somewhat timid as a result. It's very midrangey. Considering the conceptual bent you seem to have towards the track (breaking down four on the floor into alternative structures) it would be interesting to me to hear the track be much more bold and slammin in its house phase. Then when the "shake-yo-cerebrum" part kicks in it would have much more of a punch as well. Hey I like that ... "shake-yo-cerebrum" ... better than Brain Dance, don't you think? -Cf