I didn't suggest that the environment _absolutely_ shapes the music that is produced there, nor did I suggest that the environment _absolutely_ shapes one's listening experience either. Just an influence. I'm sure I can think of various successful artists/records in the SF area that are dark and edgy (goodness, I am giggling even writing that hee hee) and probably every person living in every bright, sunny cheery city and town can as well.
Speaking of NY and NJ House, perhaps the fact that there is a huge black gay population there might have more to do with soulful house than the grim environment (or lack thereof - although the environs still shaped the sound a bit). Beyond that, NYC also has a very large contigent of kids suckled on people like Red Alert and a diverse downtown scene/record stores that appreciate the house sound. Also, as long as we're on the contrarian tip, I grew up in Queens. It was about as grim as a well-lit Walmart. I never saw a gun or anyone dying in the street. All of our lights worked. My neigbors said _Hello_ to me. Our house got robbed at least once every couple of yours, but hey, that's one of the fringe benefits of living in NYC - each time you get robbed, you add another lock to the door. Our front door looked like a Mr. T starter set after a while. I spent my summers in the woods of northern NJ. No grim there either. Yes, you can *surely* find poverty and social ills in NY and NJ, but it was nothing like what I saw in Detroit when I visited there in the mid-nineties. The core of the city was toast! That makes for a hell of a sonic background. Driving through town, the music I had heard for years and years made all the more sense to me. More than it did in NY, and more than it did in Boston. Also, as far as "hard arsed" music is concerned, I notice my age has something to do with it as well. There's only so much of that bang em over the head techno, balls to the face techno I can stomach. After years and years of listening and djing, I really appreciate a soulful groove, and often, a melancholy approach. Perhaps that's why I came back to Detroit techno after all these years. Not to imply that I'm not willing to explore wherever an artist takes me, but when I hear the bpms speed up on a new record I am hearing, I become a bit suspicious that it's a means to mask a lack of innovation. Not an absolutist argument of course, but that's sometimes how records pan out. It's like back in the hardcore days when the bpms went from 150 to 160 to 170 to hell - the music had nowhere to innovate, so it just got faster and harder. > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2004 6:46 PM > Cc: 313@hyperreal.org > Subject: Re: (313) Detroit and Geography > > > > > > i don't buy the geography argument. > new jersey and new york can be about as grim as it gets > (harsh climate, decaying urban enviroenments, social ills) > but they are both places known for uplifting soulful house. > > however, the biggest counterargument comes from australia -a > land of blue skies, beaches and cute furry animals. it makes > san fransisco seems chilly, wet and dark. > yet, australia produces some hard-arsed dark music. first up > the birthday party (a birthday party gig from the late 70s > early 80s makes an adam x set seem like lounge music.) the > industrial group spk (surgical penis clinic) from the early > 80s rate an honourable mention. early severed heads material. > the free party people, system corrupt, in sydney throw > parties on secluded beaches (lady jane) that are the image of > tropical paradise and yet play death metal. then there is the > bloody fist label - the name says it all. > james > www.jbucknell.com > > > > > > > > "sasha" > > <[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > com> > To > <313@hyperreal.org> > > 25/05/04 08:49 AM > cc > > > > Subject > (313) Detroit and > Geography > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > All this talk about where one is from has me thinking of > something that has been nipping at me since I made the trek > from East to West about 5 or 6 years ago; how the landscape > has such an important effect on the impact of music. > > For those of you not familiar with the US, the Northeast, on > the coast, in cities like Boston and NY (and Detroit) is very > industrialized. Here on the West Coast, especially in the Bay > Area (San Francisco - or should I say Pacifica, cause > technically, I'm 5 miles south of the city?), the land is > more open and people are generally more in touch with the > environment around them. Some places, like LA, don't have a > city center and seem like one endless suburb. So, the point > is that the West Coast does not generally feel like an East > Coast city. > > Anyways, upon moving from Boston to SF, I noticed that all > the music I had previously been into, like UR, the more > hard-hitting techno, etc, did not feel or sound the same to > me. The impact was no longer there. > Driving down the Pacific Coast Highway, and seeing the > towering rocks and blue ocean and blasting UR's X101 makes no > sense to me any longer. > Hard to feel like a techno rebel with all this sunshine and > blue skies around. Although I still can get into the jazzier > UR stuff, I avoid the hard techno bin at the local shop now. > House, funk, disco, environ, it all sounds better out here somehow. > > Not to imply that techno, especially Detroit techno, does not > have a universal appeal on some level, but it's taken moving > around to help me understand that music's appeal lies more > than in just the art. The cultural milieu, and the > environmental surroundings have an important impact as well. > > Anyone else experience this? > > - Sasha > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Ronny Pries [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2004 12:02 AM > > Cc: 313@hyperreal.org > > Subject: Re: (313) why lie on your bio (Tim Baker) > > > > aw, > > > > i was looking forward to a discussion regarding the digital > > distribution topic and you keep ranting about districts :) > > > > on a sidenote, not everybody knows that jackson, mason, ann > arbor or > > whatever are even close to detroit. the important thing is giving > > people who aren't firm with detroit and its surrounding (be > my guest > > :) a rough idea where you're from. > > > > i'd understand if you rant about me writing i'd come from detroit > > (*cough*) but hey, those few miles more or less you guys deal with > > aren't really worth getting upset, right? > > > > ronny > > > > > > ForwardSourceID:NT0000D3AE > > >
