Robert said: The only conclusions I can draw from this kind of debate is that our language is inadequate for describing music. Both Soul and Techno are inadequate labels because the words have emotionally/culturally loaded meanings, whereas the music just is - a techno track might inspire a similar emotion as a soul song but why is in the realms of musicology, which takes me way out my depth. ----------
Yeah, me too! But it's certainly interesting, when thinking about what makes a certain track do it for you. There can be the scientific angle of 'wow, amazing sound design and production', or the pure energy of a dirty, jackin, lo-fi Chicago track, or the aspirational, uplifting melodies of the classic Detroit techno number. It's interesting when thinking about new stuff, like, what is it doing that hasn't been done before? What is it expressing? It could be that it's slightly more transparent in vocalised music, also more directed as you say. Wow, what a thought - music describing music!
