prelude: yup... the following is a very longwinded rant. you might want to avoid it. it basicly sums up my feelings on the current "hype" around mathew jonson right now. it also touches base on why tom d cox & JT should just slit their wrists now because they are truly on the cutting edge of this music. god forbid something gets more attention than they deem worthy, or its all hype. but if they were on that tip before the hype, well then hell, it must suck now.
/begin rant i really dont know where to start with some of these comments. as far as the whole "best record of the year" thing.... in my opinion it IS the best record of the year. or at least, so far. i feel its got plenty of energy, and emotion, as well as more originality than ive heard out of many or most of the people making music from detroit or anywhere (strictly speaking of techno) currently. find me techno that sounds as clean, with the kind of edge that he brings to the table and ill shut up. i know i just woke up and all, but im racking my brain to try and find something made from 313 or even related to 313 that is as exciting to me as mathews stuff right now. the only thing that comes to mind would be the james t cotton stuff, the kenny larkin lp on peacefrog, or (big shock here coming from me) matthew dear's stuff. mind you, im sure there is more, but its not coming to mind. mathew jonsons stuff right now is a breath of fresh air to me. its everything i wanted from the UR camp to have sounded like for the last 3+ years. i bring up UR for a couple of reasons. the first is that i feel most of mathews stuff that he played at the shelter (and in new york a couple weeks later, though the detroit set was far superior) was highly influenced by UR. the sounds used, the drive behind them... sounded VERY influenced by mad mike & co. i havent really been into alot of the records on UR. and the main reason it that most of it sounds like it was made in the same sitting and released as 12"s over the last 5-8 years. im not dissing on UR, i just would like something more i guess. there are exceptions here, but thats just my opinion. the second reason is that, for the record, all mathew wanted to do on monday night of the fest was to go to the UR party. i was the moron who talked him out of it, only becuse i seriously thought the line for that was going to be 7 blocks long and also that it was in southwest (i was wrong on both these counts). i was kicking myself pretty hard for that whole week that followed. i really wanted to be there, and he wanted to go WAY more than i did. anyhow, i keep hearing all this "hype sucks" and "theres alot of hype around him right now" and "hipster techno" crap. you know what? i dont listen to this music for a popularity contest. some things get people talking, and some things are created by a hype engine/publisist. mathews stuff is being talked about because the people who ARE into his stuff want to tell everyone about it. no one is trying to one up anyone by saying theyre into mathews stuff right now. i dont see all kinda of articles on him. i dont see ads for his next itiswhatitis record (which by the way will also most likely finish top 5 for me this year... completely mindbending stuff) in spin.... or any other publications. fact is, had you heard his live show, it would be damn hard for you not to tell everyone you know about how good it was. the testement to just how good his show was is that it happened 8 weeks ago and people are STILL talking about how incredible it was. i dont think i have gone 2 days without talking about his music or that live show since! thats not hype. thats people being into something. thats people discussing an artist BECAUSE the expirience was unique. i dont know of anyone who was at that show that was able to get out of the shelter while he was on. there were people dancing there that normally wouldnt even be swaying. people were seriously GOING OFF! and i havent seen a room move like that in detroit in a very long time. so, get over yourselves (points at J.T. and Tom Cox). the only thing thats more annoying to me in this side of the music world is the techno eliteism that people like you seem to always bring up in these threads. so what if something is hyped up and your not so into it. theres plenty of music that gets discussed in here that i dont think is worthy of all the pages of discussion that gets devoted in here but you dont see me going around dissing it just because some chinstrokers like yourselves are trying to be on some cusp because youd rather listen to your damn moodymann represses. i bought em when they came out, and i was talking about them WAY more than i hear people talking about mathew jonson (or hell, matthew dear even!). that doesnt make me better than you, so quit thinking youre better than anyone who honestly thinks their music is interesting. ITS NOT A POPULARITY CONTEST! so, please, quit trying to make it into one. and yes, were all going to be sick to death of decompression by the end of the year. the same way we (or at least i was) of hearing jaguar. doesnt mean its not great. and hell, i like the b-side as much as decompression. same as the sub-static record. the "behind the mirror" track was a big moment in the live show, and im assuming the b-side is another point from the show. oh, and just to clarify: when i refer to his "live show", im referring to his LIVE SHOW. it wasnt laptop noodling. and every peice of gear he had up there was being used to its FULL potential (though he didnt use the machinedrum too much, as he was more busy with the 909). the reason im bringing this up is that i seem to rememeber a model 500 live show about 7 christmas' ago where most of the gear wasnt even plugged in. so, explain THAT to me! i would rant more, but im out the door to see kooky scientist & todd sines at ps1. the hype around these guys is TOTALLY INCREDIBLE right now! oh, and seeing as how i dont have a steady internet access means at the moment, it might be a couple days before i reply, so if i end up bringing the subject up after it had been dropped like 2-3 days from now, im sorry. because im sure you 2 are going to come back with some pretty trite arguments to explain once again why youre cooler than everyone else. yours truly, derek.
