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From:
Ben Hatchelt
To:
Date:
Wed, 31 Oct 2001 14:59:47 +0000 (GMT)
Subject:
Re: [idm] [rant] sorry, new aphex record blows
Msg-Id:
<20011031145947.25265.qmail@web12201.mail.yahoo.com>
In-Reply-To:
<027401c1621a$f566a0a0$a224fc9e@oemcomputer>
Mbox:
idm.0110.gz
nah, i don't really like it...it's too much like hard work to listen to...and i'm basically a lazy git! ;)
quoted 94 lines ----- Original Message -----> ----- Original Message ----- > From: David O'Toole <dto@qwsi.net> > To: <boston-idm@yahoogroups.com> > Cc: <idm@hyperreal.org> > Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2001 12:36 AM > Subject: [idm] [rant] sorry, new aphex record blows > > > > > > Last week I picked up the latest full-length from > Aphex Twin. > > Unfortunately, post-millennium, he has done > exactly what Autechre did: > > gone from being one of the major innovating > electronic artists of the > > 1990's to being a complete joke. There are > precious few tracks worth > > listening to on this record, and none of them > equal the melodic skill > > or production quality of his "middle period". > Aphex's little sample-reuse > > problem gives the "ambient" tracks a very samey > feel (vaguely oriental > > chimes in the vein of "Nannou") and the orchestral > piano pieces just fall > > flat. > > > > The rest of the album is tired, mediocre > drum-and-bass. The originality in > > drum arrangement, rhythmic composition, and sample > creation that graced > > most previous efforts is gone here---the drum > sounds are ripped from some > > old tracker's sample pack you might find on an > obscure Scandinavian FTP > > site. And that shrill, dissonant "sample-rate > conversion" effect is > > everywhere, hanging like a pall of smoke over the > melodies---the obsession > > with certain facile, sonically homogenizing DSP > effects that killed > > Autechre circa LP5 has finally snuffed out the > last of 90's IDM's original > > megastars. > > > > The awful truth for the elites who shunned > melodists in favor of more > > "difficult" music: the glitch disease was > terminal, the patient has died > > with the release of this album. Glitch-fetish and > DSP-fuckery sapped > > attention from the first commandment of what we > do---the idea that melody > > *is* music---and led the greatest electronic > artists of a generation into > > the sorriest work of their careers. Bouncing-ball > percussion and granular > > wank are as worn-out as The Cher Vocal Effect. > > > > Sitting in a dark, hollowed-out building somewhere > under the Manhattan > > Bridge last year, at a show where a friend and I > had played a set > > earlier in the evening, watching kids actually try > to dance along to > > the-latest-hot-shit-from-warp, realizing that he'd > been hovering over > > that PowerBook for more than an hour without > producing anything resembling > > melody, chords, or steady rhythm----I knew, this > can't seriously last. > > Well the iMac has crashed and all our Max patches > are lost. Our Metasynth > > license expired, the Kyma's power supply burnt > out, and glitch has > > imploded----in Helvetica Bold, leaving nothing but > the smell of burnt > > Atari logo t-shirts and an angular plume of smoke > rendered in cubist > > fracture courtesy of The Designer's Republic (with > a few symbols > > of Katakana thrown in for luck). > > > > "Drukqs", like Autechre's awful "Confield", will > probably have its staunch > > defenders among the elites. But don't be fooled--- > don't waste your time > > with this flaccid and uninventive record. > > > > > > > > > > >
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