Wow! I actually contributed something there. :-)
I think what Adam, Lazlo, and Jon all pointed out is still true: AoN, in
spite of recent embarrassments (or rather, because of them) clinch the
"what the hell is happening" award. I was playing the disc at work and
someone just looked at me, blinking, and asked what I was listening to.
It's either a miracle or a crime that such music still turns heads after
so long - a miracle that it remains fresh, and a crime that said co-worker
had never heard anything like it before.
Nods in this area should also go to Colourbox, if not just for "Hot
Doggie" then for "Pump Up the Volume" which probably did more for
house/dance music then anything before or since.
On the "D" removal problem: I'm torn on this one. While I agree that
sometimes I want to be ambient, there are those times when I want
something to totally floor me, pick me up, dust me off, and get me moving.
Front 242 *still* does it, Orbital (of course) could push me all over the
planet, and the first AI release is a real toe tapper. But, as Pete, et
al, have mentioned the Orb in this regard, I'm kind of puzzled. Does it
have that much of a beat, or is it a *groove*? And am I just dealing in
language here, or does anyone else see the difference? I mean, there are
certainly beat elements, especially "Little Fluffy Clouds" and some of the
mixes for "Perpetual Dawn", but I could sway to my death listening to "A
Huge Ever-Growing..." and not be happier even if the Brothers Hartnoll
came to my house to spin just for me. :-)
Dave, who needs to go home for awhile.
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| "There's something the matter with me" dmanning@cwis.unomaha.edu
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