Re: [microsound] citadism?

[david turgeon <david.t@xxxxxxxx>]

> >  > yes. and i totally agree: the gramm track on the scape comp (which is
> >  > otherwise a total snoozer) is great, great, great. gramm has a full-length
> >Sean...my English isn't good enough to catch stuff like "snoozer"...I'm
> >guessing it's bad. Care to elaborate? I was thinking of buying this comp
> >(heard a couple of short, but good, Real Audio from it and it sounded quite
> >interesting), but now I'm not so sure.

since i made the original comment about the 'staedtizism' comp, i'll
take this opportunity to explain my sentiment towards it, as it is
mitigated.  i think that overall it's far from bad, & i must say that
the sound itself is quite appealing.  it's also quite interesting that
mr. betke got some "outsiders" (to rococo rot, mannequin lung...) to
sort of "fit" into the sound more usually defined by pole himself, kit
clayton, or the aforementioned gramm.  that said...

the compilation, as a whole, seems to suffer from a lack of ideas. 
either the artist sort of bends their style to the "urban dub" sound
without really adding to the subject (which is a shame as outsiders can
sometimes be more innovative than insiders), or then there's a smell of
left-over...  vladislav delay's track isn't even 5 minute long!  pole's
track i must say i liked, for its reggae feel (less goofy than burnt
friedman although his track is quite nice too.)  kit clayton i can't
even remember so i'll posit that his track was neither especially good
or bad; but he's clearly not the compilation type & his "nek sanalet" &
"repetition & nonsense" cds are still two of the most beautiful things
done in the genre.

as a whole, the compilation is interesting in that it's not concerned
with process (as was "clicks + cuts") but with getting to a certain
result.  the only problem is that "urban dub" (as, i believe, mr. betke
himself (calls|used to call) it) is quite a difficult genre to emulate
(as is drill n bass, hence my otherwise dodgy comparison), which might
explain that the contributions were left to a relatively tame state ("i
managed to get the sound, i won't screw it by adding this extra noise!").

on the upside, as a chiller, this cd is great.  it is _very_ mellow &
perhaps this justified sean's comment of a "snoozer"...  though i must
say falling asleep listening to that is probably far from disagreeable.

david