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Re: [microsound] the landscape(s) of microsound



sound as landscape...

i think it's a constant theme, particularily here in canada.

....whereas most other countries have a clear cultural identity/identities,
canada, apart from quebec and a few other isolated pockets, doesn't really:
it's a multi-cultural mash-up of so many different cultures that the thought
of any clear or cohesive cultural identity is often simply inapplicable...

 (which in many ways is a good thing).

what makes us all 'canadian' is a unique relationship to the land, the
geography, the weather...a sense of space, of fairly easily being able to
find yourself truly 'in the middle of nowhere' (it's a strange and rare
feeling knowing there's NO 'human thing' within 100km - let alone 200 or
300km- of you)...

....on the way back from the airport the other day i had a pujabi cabdriver
give me a lenthy and complex explanation of the typical winter weather
pattens caused by the 'lake effect'... i knew i was home.

oh yes, the point being...whereas in most countries history/cultural memory
has manifested itself with a strong voice throughout the arts (germany's
anselm kiefer, italy's arte povera...detroit techno, whatever...the list is
endless)... i just don't think it's nearly as relevant here as the
land/space/weather. i'd argue that much canadian music reflects this
particular sense of space...and i'm including anyone from rush to gordon
lightfoot to  the ambiances magnetiques label, tomas jirku, godspeed, the
whole montreal scene...

ok maybe not celine dion

....of course i'm generalizing, but as a canadian musician/artist, i've
always been very aware of the weight history and culture bear in the work of
my german/french/american/czech/serbian/jamaican etc. friends. with the
canadian artists/musicians i know, nature and landscape seems to be what
replaces this.

certainly for me, anyway.

btw: to my mind, glenn gould's 'idea of north' (and whole 'solitude
trilogy') is a fucking mind-blowing example of the canadian mind-set...

anyway...hope i don't come off as sounding too 'rah-rah' canadian, but our
relationship to the land has always been a source of fascination for me.

cue 'hockey night in canada' theme.

go leafs.


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