IDM Mailing Archive

Having belatedly gotten Black Dog's "Spanners", I disagree mightily with vilexile's panning of the album. Granted, it's emotionally removed from "Bytes", which IMHO is the most cohesive IDM album yet, junking "Bytes" pensive brooding and highlighting BD's sense of humor. But it IS still inventive and engaging, a self-amused arabesque of wanton dynamic and tempo changes. Just don't bring your dancing shoes. Another hook thrown to the cognoscenti, related to the Best/worst release on WARP thread. Who do you think are the most overrated and underrated artists working in IDM? My vote for overrated has to go to Richie Hawtin. Perhaps I don't have the attention span for undeveloped riffs that Plastikman demands. Later. -- Computers are /\ Darryl Roy dsroy@rice.edu /\ Die in your thoughts useless, they //\\ ethno/trance/ethereal radio //\\ every morning and can only give \\// Sun 7-9 am 91.7 fm Houston \\// you will no longer you answers : \/ Picasso Don't rock, Wobble \/ fear Death : Hakakure

On Wed, 26 Apr 1995, Darryl Stephen Roy wrote:

quoted 2 lines My vote for overrated has to go to Richie Hawtin. Perhaps I don't have the

> My vote for overrated has to go to Richie Hawtin. Perhaps I don't have the > attention span for undeveloped riffs that Plastikman demands.

I like Plastikman, but I lent the CD to an emusic-making co-worker, and he said "That guy's lazy!", refering to the repetitive beats. :) I just thought it was funny. -Jim . . . . <skoop+@pitt.edu>:DaTaMaTiON.pRoJeKcT.95 ('repetition.is.a.form.of.change')

quoted 5 lines Who do you think are the most overrated and underrated

>Who do you think are the most overrated and underrated >artists working in IDM? > >My vote for overrated has to go to Richie Hawtin. Perhaps I don't have the >attention span for undeveloped riffs that Plastikman demands.

Jon Drukman summed up my feelings on Plastikman well in his controversial comments of several months ago (but let's not get into THAT again). As for underrated, how could it be anybody but Richard Kirk? Put "Lagoon West," "Harmonic Parallel," and "Exterminating Angel (Outro)" against *anybody's* three best tracks and see what you think. This guy gets next to zero press, probably because he's too much of a class act to say "outrageous" things in interviews or adopt bizarre habits - in short, he isn't willing to be a publicity whore. And can we not just have this turn into Overrated: Artist A Underrated: Artist B please? If you don't have anything to say about why you think an artist is over or underrated (or why a particular Warp release is bad, or what you like about a particular record cover), then why post? And don't let's start posting top ten lists again, as is starting to happen on the ambient list. Nothing gets the D key quicker. C. -- cspot@hyperreal.com (Chris.Hilker) "Blue ice cubes? How degenerate!"

quoted 3 lines And don't let's

>>And don't let's >>start posting top ten lists again, as is starting to happen on the ambient >>list. Nothing gets the D key quicker.

No offense Chris - but personally - I find top ten lists to be extremely entertaining. It is good to see what people hold as near and dear to their hearts - especially when there are so many people on here that take it so seriously. It is the first thing I turn to in DJ mags and I find it a good way not only so see where various people are coming from musically - but to see whose opinion you might trust in reviews, comments, etc. as well as catching up on release you might have missed. So you go on and use that D key miss thang - I hope people do continue to post top 10 lists. XX OO - Kevin Farnham - kevin@organic.com - - Organic Online - Hedonic Engineering - Select Media - - Graphic Design - Intelligent Lighting Programming - WWW Production -

On Wed, 26 Apr 1995, Darryl Stephen Roy wrote:

quoted 2 lines My vote for overrated has to go to Richie Hawtin. Perhaps I don't have the

> My vote for overrated has to go to Richie Hawtin. Perhaps I don't have the > attention span for undeveloped riffs that Plastikman demands.

I'm still not sure why Hawtin is grouped under IDM. It seems like one album in the AI series has left people's expectations a bit high. IMHO, Hawtin is essentially an acid-house producer who tries to be a bit more experimental and abstract within the acid-house genre. And more power to him, I say. While he is capabe of smoother, more Detroit-ish tracks (Dimension Intrusion comes to mind), his forte will always be 303 dancefloor minimalism...with a twist. Someone on this list (I forget exactly who) mentioned the gap between the IDM-list aesthetic and the Detroit-list aesthetic. I think it was a really apt observation, especially when applied to a guy like Hawtin. The IDM aesthetic seems to revolve around a lot of polyrythmic drum programming and melodic synth arrangements, whereas Detroiter's are more accepting of a bit of stripped-down minimalism here and there. Any thoughts or comments? - Matthew "I grew up thinking that techno music is actually something that you can't imagine. That is techno at its best. If you hear something that you'd never expect to hear - that's techno. If you hear something that kind of sounds like you've heard it before, then it's not techno." - Jeff Mills

On Thu, 27 Apr 1995, zig wrote:

quoted 10 lines As for underrated, how could it be anybody but Richard Kirk? Put "Lagoon

> >As for underrated, how could it be anybody but Richard Kirk? Put "Lagoon > >West," "Harmonic Parallel," and "Exterminating Angel (Outro)" against > >*anybody's* three best tracks and see what you think. This guy gets next > >to zero press, probably because he's too much of a class act to say > >"outrageous" things in interviews or adopt bizarre habits - in short, > >he isn't willing to be a publicity whore. > > Agreed. I would even put "Project80" up against anybody's three best > tracks. What's even more interesting is how Mr. Kirk has withstood the test > of time. Let's hope another 25.

Put me down for another 'agreed'. The man is possessed. He has a talent for flipping a song over on its back--bringing in that special element that totally surprises you. The rhythm changes, the sudden unexpected note that turns a nice chord into something scary, and the sheer density of harmony and percussion in his songs. At the same time, he is a master of subtlety. That little whooshy noise that comes in two or three minutes in "Come"...does that knock anyone else here out of their chair? That huge long melody that winds through practically the entire album. When it emerges, the effect it has is unprecedented. Speaking for myself, of course. :) And as if all this weren't enough, his music is just so fuckin COOL. It always turns into that wonderful thumpy shit; I don't know *what* he does to get it, but no one on earth can match it--and this is coming from a tremendous Namlook fan! ;) Those wonderful, omnipresent clicks, the perfect melding of rural, tribal elements with the creepy futuristic atmospheres and references--the last four minutes of Come are unbeatable. The entire album is a masterpiece. I was also surprised as the number of people who voted for Musik. (Is this okay? Should I take civics over??) I was too much a twit to be here at the time and cast my own ballot but it would easily have gone to Virtual State. Maybe I should finally bite the bullet and check out that mu-ziq album. elixenie