There was a very interesting and emotional thread about Terre and his
philosopies/lack thereof that got a response from Mr. thaemlitz himself. I
myself, upon careful reconsideration of his writing, find him bombastic and
incomprehensible. I like his music, tho.
At 3:25 PM -0400 4/10/98, Andrew Minett wrote:
quoted 66 lines Post-Genre Discussion:
>Post-Genre Discussion:
>All of the ongoing talk about genres on the list has prompted me to post my
>thoughts about the issue. I must note, however, that Terre Thaemlitz's new
>'G.R.R.L.' (Comatonse/Caipirinha) release is the true inspiration behind it
>all. Terre, whom I've only discovered in the past couple weeks, takes genre
>noodling/composing to the next post-modern level. First the packaging is
>brilliant. A white cover with the title, G.R.R.L., in big black bold
>letters and below, a diagram showing sillohuettes of a pink man and a blue
>woman, both colours converging in the centre with a purple man/woman?
>(Before continuing I will note the well-known fact that Terre is a
>transvestite and has been for years. Much of the conceptual thinking of his
>cd's clearly coincides with his lifestyle.)
>The songs on G.R.R.L. are literally charted into tongue-in-cheek genre
>monikers like: Abstract Drum & Bass; '80s Chicago; and my favourite,
>Improvisational Lounge! Some are even applied with two genre descriptors.
>The impression I get, and this is somewhat influenced by Terre's excellent
>liner notes--a very funny mix of serious theory and philosophy--(Examples:
>"G.R.R.L. embraces Space Jam as a powerful deconstruction of the cultural
>fabrication of desire, as exemplified by its lackluster appeal despite
>shameless over-financing and over-promotion" and "G.R.R.L. assures the
>audience that each track is produced with 110% cyncerity") is that Terre
>maligns genres but sees their purpose in the marketplace. Our society is so
>bloody used to the three second sound-bite that instead of just listening to
>a record we listen to it beforehand through media-influenced notions of what
>to expect. And when the sound isn't conforming to those expectations it is
>often dismissed as poor.
>I for one do not adhere to this ideology (If I did, why would I have bought
>the G.R.R.L. album). Unfortunately many people still do. It really sucks
>that a lot of electronic music is 'this genre' or 'that genre' and not
>merely music. Whatever the truth of the situation, I believe that Terre is
>the shit. Having recently had the chance to hear his 'Couture Cosmetique'
>album (if you like your ambient closer to the subliminal, check this album
>out), and read its very well-reasoned and conceived liner-notes I really
>hope that more idm-style producers, or musicians in general are as deep and
>serious about their music. I know of a few myself: DJ Spooky, Panasonic,
>Autechre, and Nonplace Urban Field/Bernd Friedmann. Well those are my
>thoughts; feel free to comment/flame/drink/smoke/classify/opinionate/smile
>: )
>
>Digression of Sorts:
>I also listen to music which clearly contains less introspection than the
>above, but really when it comes down to it, this stuff is mostly filler.
>
>Mini-Review:
>Picked up Richie Hawtin's Concept:96 (M_nus/Plus 8) yesterday and having
>listened to it 5 times through already wish I hadn't passed up on those
>Concept 12"s I saw all lonely in the bins last year. The 808 and what
>little else used shouldn't be able to create the cd's breadth of sound.
>Expert tweaking?? Who cares! Now I feverishly await the arrival of the new
>Plastikman album (name?). I say with confidence that Concept:96 is a
>must-buy for any Plastikman fan, minimal-techno devotee, or liker of fine
>music! BTW, if you are holding off because you own the 12"s: don't. The
>shop-owner informs me that she thinks the cd is a totally different, and
>welcome, experience to the vinyl releases (of which she owns all twelve).
>++Genre-based recommendation included at no-cost to the reader++
>
>@nd..(..)..."purveyor of plentiful parentheses"
>np: music in my head
>
>######=============^=============######
>Andrew Minett, resident pusher of FREAKONESEES
>Floating out of London, ON on 94.7 FM
>Every Wed. from 2 to 6:30 a.m.
>tune in on the web @ http://www.usc.uwo.ca/chrw/main/chrw.ram
>"It's just like a right strange dimension."
> -Richard D. James
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