Has anyone ever considered putting an Electronic Music Guide together? I
thought All Music put one together, but I'm not too sure. I'm asking because
I purchased Penguin's Jazz and Classical Music guides when I wanted to buy
the "best " cds in those genres. In the end, those guides saved me a lot of
time and money to get a hold of some great music. However, when I got into
Electronic Music a few years ago, I had to scour various websites,
newsgroups, mailing lists, and deja.com to find out what cds and lps I
should buy.
I know that there will always be differences in opinion about what's "good"
and what's not. Even the term "good" is relative. However, over time, it
does becomes more obvious that a larger percentage of people agree that John
Coltrane's A Love Supreme or various lps by Duke Ellington and Miles Davis
are masterpieces. Can't the same be done for Electronic Music?
I guess another problem would be to decide which artists to include in the
Guide and how to describe or categorize their music. The Penguin guides have
the same problem, but they try to err on the side of inclusivity rather than
exclusivity. However the Penguin Jazz guide excludes most Fusion work, but
includes all of Miles' electric albums (Bitches Brew, etc.). That seems like
a contradiction.
Of course an Electronic Music guide should go as far back in time and
include as much as possible: Stockhausen, Kraftwerk, etc. However, what
about John Cage? Or all of the many obscure Fax, ambient, and noise artists?
The guide would have to be the size of a telephone book to include all of
these people. So, who gets exluded?
Also, intead of categorizing, perhaps the guide should simply list the
artists in alphabetical order. This may cause other problems, but I noticed
that the Penguin guide alphabetizes instead of trying to classify Jazz
artists in categories of Bebop, Hard Bop, Swing, Cool, Fusion, Latin, Big
Band, etc.
Finally, I think the biggest problem to overcome would be the sheer bulk of
Electronic music that's good, but out of print. Penguin lists out of print
material in case you're ever lucky enough to find a copy of something. I
like that idea. However, Jazz Guides never review the thousands of 78's like
the ones that Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie cut back in the 40's and
50's. Instead, Jazz Guides typically review a cd that has compiled these
78s. For example, Charlie Parker The Complete Savoy, Decca, Dial, Verve,
etc. That would leave out a lot of great music from various Electronic
artists who haven't had their old 12'"s and 7"s compiled onto a cd.
And there's yet another dilemma. Should only cds be listed in the guide? The
Penguin used to list lps and casettes, but they now restrict their guides to
cds. That means that even more great electronic music will be left out.
And how would you rate all of this? The four and five star system is very
controversial. I always disagree with Penguin when my favorite cd gets a
mere two stars. Oh well...
So, is an Electronic Music Guide a good or bad idea? I think it would be a
good idea, but I wanted to know what other people thought and if they think
one will ever be done. If there is one currently available (like the All
Music Guide to...?), where can I get it and is it any good?
Thanks.
--
shephrd@earthlink.net | "...thita NK;"
"...mechanically reclaimed by autechre..."
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