re: [microsound] the rise and fall of the .ms dynasty

[rj valeo <rj@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>  > > , skip to the next track, repeat process 6
> >  > times for EP, 12 times for LP.
> >
> >  yeah, i know this from the whole sortiment of any record shop. going to
> >  the headphones with 10 things, buy 1 ... or 2.
>
> this is more than enough for me. i dont surround myself with music all day
> (especially because i spend a good part of my life with making music myself)
> so how much 'good music' does one need?

watch out, diatribe ahead -

years ago, back when wax trax actually released good music, there was 
an interview with alien jourgenson  in alternative press (or some 
*hip* mag at the time) and they asked him why he started writing 
music. his answer was (get this) - he was tired of listening to all 
of the crap that was out there. he knew he could do better - and, in 
some respects, he put his money where his mouth was and put out some 
really great material.

he focused on the product, not the process. the process (which 
included as much jack daniels and lsd as he could get his hands on) 
was a life style. think about it - process as a life style. playing 
guitar is a process - doing sound design is a process... a life style.

i am afraid has what happens in good 'ole rock 'n roll (the people 
who focus so much on being a good player that they forget to have a 
soul when composing) is invariable happening to the .ms (microsound) 
community. so many people focus on how they do it (create their 
compositions and or sounds) that instead of having quality (the 
compositions) they are a novelty. novelty in the sense that it's a 
gimic, or a new trick. once it's listened to, you have experienced 
the entire thing. there isn't too much to go back and rediscover 
because it's all right there in front of you - nothing is hiding in 
the crevices, nothing is buried in the mix because it's just one 
little sound placed in the left speaker with nothing else going on - 
repeated for 5 minutes. it's something that just about any person on 
this list could do with a sound editing program and about 15 minutes.

the thing that sets music apart for me, is when the composer does 
something that not only does the listener not expect, but does it in 
a way that the listener has no idea how it was done, or when, or 
better yet, why. timeless music - music that defies not only 
classification, but one in where the process is vague or hidden to an 
extent, or not even able to be deciphered at all. mystery, not 
novelty. it will keep you listening because you don't know how, or 
why or when. it keeps your interest because it's deep - because on 
each listen you get something new out of it.

or, it could simple be damn good *music*.

everybody has their own line, their own proverbial measuring stick 
that things are put up against. one of the biggest problems in a 
genre such as this, is that most of the people who listen to this 
stuff are also the people who create it. it's the people who create 
it that can appreciate it. is that good or bad? not too sure, it just 
seems to be the case. it's elitist. not maliciously or by design, it 
just so happens that people who don't write and compose it are *less* 
likely to understand it. hence, a movement where most of the 
participants (consumers) are also the creators. this, in turn, lends 
it self to clicks and cults. like .ms or IDM or ambient.

clicks and cults.


rj

--
rj valeo
rj@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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