Re: [microsound] popularity of new music

[Øivind Idsø <ezueled@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

taylor deupree wrote:

> i can't believe some people are all up in arms and upset just because
> markus popp licensend a track of his to a commercial... does that
> make his *music* any worse? no..

To clarify my own position (just in case ;-) : Oval´s music doesn´t get bad per
se (that whole "selling out" thing wasn´t part of my argument, and Markus Popp
has hardly sold anything other than CDs), but you have to admit that the track
featured in the ad does get recontextualized. Whether or not this new context
is for the better or for the worse is debatable (and subjective, like
everything else), but another dimension is added to the track (though not to
his entire oeuvre) regardless of what it used to be.

> when oval's music starts getting really bad (some argue that it
> already has).. and if it's a result of 'selling out' or some other
> subjective point then maybe we can all look back at this tv
> commercial as the "beginning of the end"... but come on, one stupid
> commercial and 30 seconds of oval shouldn't ruin the entire genre..

I agree completely, and I doubt very much that "the Oval ad" will blow
microsound into the mainstream. For most people (that would be those who don´t
care much about music, and there are plenty of them, or those that care about
completely different musics) I´m guessing the sound of Oval in that commercial
was just another sound effect or whatever and hardly made a significant impact
to their musical/sensory apparatus. I still remember the vividly clear comment
from a young girl sitting next to me in the cinema when the Levi´s ad featuring
Biosphere´s music was playing..."That just isn´t music", she said. I suspect
that´s what most people think.

With regards to Oval´s music: it´s as good as it´s ever been, IMO.

> is the music SO eletist and precious that we are afraid to share it
> with anyone else?

To be honest: microsound (in it´s "purest" form, like your own ".n" or
Microstoria or the Maschinelle Strategeme comp) isn´t music that most people
listen to or know how to relate to, which kinda makes it elitist. Precious? I
don´t think so, as most things are up for grabs these days. According to one
modern doctrine it´s not a question of whether or not it´s True (which
would/could make the argument against Oval/ad a question of absolute integrity,
about protecting a certain microsoundish truth), but whether or not it works. I
guess this applies to advertising, too, as long as the ads aren´t shown every
single minute on every single channel. I just can´t take that, not even if
Oval´s made the soundtrack; I think I still like to choose when and where I
hear music, though I don´t think this constitutes purism.

/Øivind/