The Logic Off Topic list

hi...

i haven't posted here before but have been lurking for
sometime. thought this was an interesting thread to
debut on! ;)


quotes from john in < >...

<But basically i find most trance and techno heads to
be pretty small minded.>

i don't know if this is true. i spend time on the
underworld forum and most folk there talk about all
sorts of music that they are into rather than just
'trance' or 'techno'.


<The reality is, a bunch of computer geeks got a hold
of sequencers and the lack of depth to their
musical abilities and depth of their computer
abilities left them with default minimalism.>

... i could be wrong but i get a whiff of 'muso
superiority' sneaking in here? ;) there's several
reasons for minimalism in dance music (and other
genres) i would guess the most important of which is
the concept of space. (as an aside, bruce gilbert [of
wire] released an album which was music for a dance
performance [not 'dance music']. he said that he
deliberately left a third of 'the music out' to allow
it to be filled with the dancer's movements). for me
this applies to most of the music which i like (which
runs across plenty of genres), i don't get off on a
musician's ability to solo, play 'clever chord
sequences' or sing over octaves (ie: mariah carey).
for me, the song (or in dance music: 'the
track'!)rules.


<In general i find almost all of the little sub
genres of techno laughable.> 

... i agree with you on this one. is this the dance
music media playing with us?


<In fact disposable music was considered good in the
90's...>

... surely there's a place in your heart for a bit of
light-hearted pop every now and then john? :)


<Because lots of kids dance to trance does not mean
that the bulk of it is good.>

... well, yes... but you can take that stance with
anything (a lot of people here in the uk read the sun
newspaper)


<I find your comment that you wouldn't play this or
that out at a club very typical. Why not? You might
break a "club rule"????>

... this is a tricky one... i can see why a 'trance
dj' would play only 'trance'. if a track does not
conform with the audience's expectations (and
limitations of what their 'musical tolerance') they
won't dance to it. most promotors won't take risks
with djs like that. (sad but true).


<Don't you have different spontanious moods thru out
a night? Can't you be true to yourself rather than
true to a invented genre??>

... for me this is a valid point. i'd like to set up a
club night at some point in my life which is a lot
more varied than most. the question is would it work,
would the punter's like it enough? the best moments
i've had in clubs are generally when the dj plays
something 'he shouldn't (weatherall dropping 'white
lines' etc) but i don't know if there are many people
out there who would like a club like that. (as an
aside, i'd recommend checking out francois kevorkian's
'essential mix' cd for variation. the guy has been
going for twenty odd years so i guess he has a lot of
music to choose from! it's good that dj's like this
exist...)

<I watched a couple of friends pump out dance singles
in a weekend just to get the 1000 pound checks.
And they were considered very credible, lol...., if
you only new how little they cared!>

... that's f***ing terrible! on the other side you
have artists like global communication/reload/jedi
knights (all different aliases of tom middleton and
mark prichard... ambient/techno/house/whatever!) who
take time crafting their material, who really care
about their art. still that's nothing new i guess!

<A good song or good music has nothing to do with
whether it has this or that in it! Vocals no vocals,
analogue or digital. Remember when all the techno
producers blathered on and on about analogue???
Good music is about lawless juxtaposition and
essence.>

... completely agree with you on this one.

<I like rebellious music, music without laws. Music
that uses, or doesn't use, any tool at any time
without being restrained by some pointless attempt
to fit into neat little (and i mean very little) sub
genre boxes.>

... could you name some names here john? (i'm
genuinely interested!)

<I say To hell with all the little conservative sub
genre stuff. How bout really being free and just
playing and writing anything you feel like at any
time, instead of playing with self imposed rules to
make the conservative kids happy???> 

... well i'm up for that (he say's going back to work
on the one out and out trance track he's ever
written... don't worry john, then it's time to finish
off that waltz-time trip-hop acid piano ballad! ;)

take care people

alx


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