the rise and fall of the microsound dynasty

[jean paul l'asthme <jplasthma@xxxxxxxxx>]

i agree completely with the idea that most microsound
stuff doesn't leave an indelible mark in my memory.
i haven't heard much, i suspect, and i have heard 
things that i've really fallen in love with, but most
of the microsound music i've heard is really just like
one big long masturbatory guitar solo.

a lot of it is like a resume to be sent out to
lucasfilm so that its creators can do sounds on the
new star wars films.

the music that REALLY affects me sends chills up my
spine, shuts me up/sits me down/drops my jaw. but
most of it makes me just stroke my chin, wonder what
program is being used, contemplate possible sound
sources, skip to the next track, repeat process 6
times for EP, 12 times for LP.

and the redundancy factor in so much electronic music,
scratch that, the redundancy found in much music, is
truly alarming...  sure, i enjoy vladislav delay and
pole and i even like a lot of the people biting their
style and perhaps bringing something new to it 
(tennis- europe on horseback , tomas jirku- 
immaterial), but what's the point in using the works
of others as a template for your own sound?  in a 
'genre' (an icky dirty foul word in my opinion) that's
supposed to be as forward thinking as microsound or
idm or whatever, i wonder sometimes if the lenses on
the telescopes yielded by these alledged innovators
are being fogged by a mist that tries desparately to
lure you to where the adulation, Wire photo shoots and

ultimately the $$$ is.

i like music that transports me to a place that i
never knew(non-microsound example, arvo part's 'tabula
rasa' this music electrifies my body, sends me back
to the big bang and loops right around to the end of
time; microsound example, fennesz 'endless summer'
takes me to places i always thought postcards made 
look tired and stale).  this kind of music is a sort
of nourishment, and right now, if i had only 
microsound to feed on, i think i'd go hungry,
otherwise
it's like smoking a cigarette to ease your appetite,
sure that kim cascone record or that pansonic album
makes you think about some very futuristic factory
or operating room where there's no humans allowed and
everything is all white and shiny, and in its own way
that's it's own kind of cool, but it isn't lasting for
me..., but isn't the beach nice with the sand beneath
your toes, the sky above you and the water as lovely
as anything's ever been?

also, one more catty complaint... this list is very
clique-y, and to a certain extent i think tolsma is
correct about the self-congratulatory nature of this
list...  with as self referential as some of this
music
is, complimenting one artists' work is almost the same
as complimenting your own.

with a lot more love than you'd guess,
gregory




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jean paul l'asthme: 'unstuck your eyeglue'*
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