IDM Mailing Archive

At 02:43 PM 12/13/2003, Kurt wrote:

quoted 28 lines The REAL Mxyzptlk <therealmxyzptlk@comcast.net> wrote:

>The REAL Mxyzptlk <therealmxyzptlk@comcast.net> wrote: >>Subject: Lawrence: The Absence of Blight >> >>I just can't play this in the background when I'm doing my final papers for >>school. >>It sucks me in. What a fine, fine record. > > >In the past year I happened to get back into contemporary classical music. >the shocking thing i discovered was how slack-ass my listening habits had >become listening to electronica. which is to say, if you listen to a piece >by Grisey or Sciarrino or Stockhausen (to name a few that got me excited >this year), you can't just flip it on in the background -- you really have >to sit and listen with intense focus or you'll miss what's going on almost >completely. > >so it's funny to read this post and be reminded of how many of my favorite >electrnoica albums have been things I would typically flip on and then >listen to with moderate or intermittent attention. you could look at the >respected Mr. Mxyzptlk's post and see that it's kind of a humorously low >standard he is citing on behalf of Lawrence -- a recording so good you >actually can't write a term paper while listening to it. this would seem >to be about the least amount of attention you could possibly give to a >piece of music short of leaving the room and closing the door! > >what does it all mean? > >kurt

I'm not sure I have an answer - in fact, I'm quite sure I don't...but it seems to me that your point could assume a sort of monolithic "attention requirement" function from music which could be construed as predicated upon music as having one particular purpose or utility. If one takes the notion of ambient music in general (which might be thought of as music which can be in the background as easily as in the foreground of the attention), it brings forward the notion implied in your post - a dynamic between the listener and the music - without much comment on the music at all. Maybe we can take a page (har de har :-) from Literary critic Roland Barthes and see some musics as more "readerly" and others as more "writerly" - and often some musics being purposely created to be to one side or the other of the dynamic(?). What I meant to say was that this one - for whatever reason - sucked me away from my paper and would not allow me to "background" it. As I re-read my post, I see how what I DID say can be interpreted as that particular quality caused me to give the Lawrence record a "thumbs up". And I suppose that is indeed at least partially true. If "something" about a record didn't grab me I wouldn't be real interested in giving it a second listen - if I want that particular thing out of the piece I am playing. That could say just as much/more about "where I'm at" in my listening temperament as it does about the record in question, though. And it would be almost as uninteresting to post something about my status as a listener and how I want music to function for me (as opposed to saying something about the 'quality' of a certain record) as it is to crap on like I am now doing because I have been taking literary theory classes far too long :-) jeff --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org

quoted 3 lines your point could assume a sort of monolithic "attention requirement"

>your point could assume a sort of monolithic "attention requirement" >function from music which could be construed as predicated upon >music as having one particular purpose or utility.

yeah, i guess my post leads in that direction. i do appreciate the different roles music can play, and the general wisdom of judging each kind of music on its own terms. perhaps i'm just noticing how much of electonica is geared towards casual or background listening, and that needn't be construed as a negative judgement.

quoted 4 lines Maybe we can take a page (har de har :-) from Literary critic Roland

>Maybe we can take a page (har de har :-) from Literary critic Roland >Barthes and see some musics as more "readerly" and others as more >"writerly" - and often some musics being purposely created to be to >one side or the other of the dynamic(?).

would you care to say a little more about what that would mean in this situation? I'm not familiar with his argument. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org

At 07:58 PM 12/13/2003, you wrote:

quoted 20 lines your point could assume a sort of monolithic "attention requirement"

>>your point could assume a sort of monolithic "attention requirement" >>function from music which could be construed as predicated upon music as >>having one particular purpose or utility. > > >yeah, i guess my post leads in that direction. i do appreciate the >different roles music can play, and the general wisdom of judging each >kind of music on its own terms. > >perhaps i'm just noticing how much of electonica is geared towards casual >or background listening, and that needn't be construed as a negative judgement. > > >>Maybe we can take a page (har de har :-) from Literary critic Roland >>Barthes and see some musics as more "readerly" and others as more >>"writerly" - and often some musics being purposely created to be to one >>side or the other of the dynamic(?). > >would you care to say a little more about what that would mean in this >situation? I'm not familiar with his argument.

Hmmm...any post I could make which attempted to encapsulate Barthes would A.) fail and B) bore most people to tears. There is, of course, a lot of "pre-history" needed (i.e., critical history against which Barthes reacts) to see what exactly he means, but the point I was trying to make was more along the lines of "music which is more often thought of as an objective standard" and thus "functional" in a sort of "set"/closed fashion as opposed to "music which is more open to subjective evaluation/structuring" and thus operative on more "polyphonous" user-determined levels. Admittedly, the analogy is stretched and happened to pop out mostly because I have been somewhat awash in theory this term. So as not to dodge the question altogether, I'll just post this link and let someone else try to encapsulate Barthes on this notion. I'm sure they do a better job than I would and I'm not sure I would say it quite this way - but what do I know? http://www.iath.virginia.edu/elab/hfl0250.html jeff --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org

Every so often I selfishly ask this great community for their advice on a variety of music to try and check out.. usually its motivated by a yearning for finding new great music.. also i've noticed that my music listening, and buying/downloading definately goes in waves.. I'm at a bit of a low ebb at the moment but now i have a turntable I have access to EVERYTHING.. so please help me inspire some new purchases.. what exactly is good to be listening to at this time of year.. I have quite a lot of stuff and definately find it easier to enjoy the more melodic relaxing pieces but i've just started to appreciate more recent Autechre (confield and draft) so my choice is probably wider than ever before.. though i have to say i dont think much evokes teh kind of icy, misty chill of winter better than some swampy sounding melodic stuff with a delicate beat or two.. I think for one i MUST buy a copy of biosphere substrata :) Old and new then.. what should we all be looking out for over the holidays and perhaps in our christmas stockings? Cheers :) Jim --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org

---recommended: murcof 'martes' glitchy minimal techno with classical samples (strings, voice, piano) would fit nicely on mille plateau luke vibert 'yoseph' can't go wrong with the lukester. less sample based than his usual, but still melodic and funky with plenty of acid basslines. jan jelinek 'avec the exposures, la nouvelle pauvrete' more varied than his past releases. some tracks have ambient vocals. on the warm and engaging end of the clicks-n-cuts spectrum. from last year, (but new to me): d'arcangelo 'broken toys' corner' nothing grounbreaking, but a pleasant trip in a classic idm kinda way snd 'tenderlove' thanks to who ever reminded me to get snd's latest when i asked for 2step garage rhythms without the cheese factor. stark and minimal but funky, too. ---recent stuff that disappointed me: plaid 'spokes' i like the first track (even spring) a lot, but over all i'm left a bit cold. lord knows idm could use some more chord changes, but not just for chord changes' sake. it's better when they make sense emotionally. chris clark 'empty the bones of you' sounds like it was made by a young person. in _vibe_ i'd say it is close to while's 'lock' which is that dark, influenced by autechre's tri-repetae era, kinda vibe that was popular a few years back (think skam circa 2000). this album is more glitchy and atmospheric than while's but rubs me the same wrong way. not sure why chris was being compared to squarepusher and aphex (on pitchfork's review). ---interesting recent release which is probably hard to find outside of LA: cockamamie 'too' real bass, real drums and bells (although edited and looped) with a ton of compression. ---downloads: lot of mention of the strepsil mixes (darned if i wasn't able to dl the latest one) but the ones by skkatter (www.skkatter.net) are pretty sweet on the idm/electro tip on 12/15/03 4:17 PM, James R Bamford at jim@jimtreats.com wrote:

quoted 2 lines Every so often I selfishly ask this great community for their advice on a

> Every so often I selfishly ask this great community for their advice on a > variety of music to try and check out..

quoted 2 lines Old and new then.. what should we all be looking out for over the holidays

> Old and new then.. what should we all be looking out for over the holidays > and perhaps in our christmas stockings?

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Okay... cold wintery stuff. I'd say go for: Xela 'For Frosty Mornings And Summer Nights' Very nice release which alternates between dark tones and bright melodies. Neo Ouija's had a pretty good year. I just got the new Verbose, and I'm liking that so far, too. Richard Devine 'Asect:Dsect' I'm really impressed with this one. Aleamapper really didn't do anything for me, but this one is really strong. So much percussion. Mmmmmm... Monolake 'Momentum' More stuff that mostly focuses on rhythm. This is really really excellent stuff. Check out Linear and Excentric, to name two of the standouts. Soundmurderer + SK1 'Rewind Records' Nice comp from Rephlex celebrating the Rewind label. More mad Amen breaks going on here, with a toaster all over the tracks. Check out Soundboy. For the first second, you'll be saying 'Hey... that's Come On My Selector', but man, dig those rim shots. Tight. Lowfish '1000 Corrections Per Second' This is every bit as strong as Lowfish's other two full lengths. Stronger? Really wonderful stuff that will satisfy your analog fix. Black on White on Black is probably my favorite of the disc. I suppose these aren't necessarily just for this cold festive season. Just stuff that's really caught my ear lately. Later, Alan Quoting a75 <a@adrien75.com>:

quoted 2 lines ---recommended:

> ---recommended: >

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