Everyone's been dissing him for being noisy and punk (at least from what
I've read), but I think this guy deserves some props.
I respect what he did on the "Down with the Scene" album, though I'm not so
into the manic breakbeats and noise hailstorms. What I probably respect
most was the way he used some classic punk attitude to stir up some
controversy. Sure, this is pretty superficial and has little to do with the
music itself, but it got him tons of press and lots of publicity (no such
thing as bad publicity).
Now he puts out his Mille Plateaux debut, PS I Love You, which I'm listening
to for the first time right now.
This is what I was waiting for, something much more mannered and aesthetic
than his preceding stuff. He's ditched the breakbeats and brought in a
bunch of quiet atmospheric ambience. Sounds a bit like he's co-opting the
label's trademark clicky/cutty sounds, but despite the sense of this music
being possibly derived, it ultimately results in a great album.
And looking past the Kid's music -- as it is often to easy/tempting to do --
I sit back and just shake my head at the thought of him using superficial
novelty to get attention before dropping the sort of artistic statement that
probably wouldn't have gotten nearly the attention this album is going to
get if not for his Moby-like reputation for being someone you love to hate.
Makes you realize how important image is when it comes to cutting through
the clutter that pollutes today's music industry.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org
For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org