> > In a sense, though, this does have a fair bit to do with >> techno. A part of the story of techno (and IDM, for that >> matter) has been the effort to get respect for the genre, >> which raises questions about whether it needs respect, whose >> respect really counts, whether disrespect from certain groups >> is more valuable, etc. As for records, I like them. They're >> tasty. =] > >The only extent to which I agree with this is that *some* techno musicians >may be concerned about it while they compose. Most don't care at all though. >Why on earth should a detached subculture look to established arts for >guidance or approval? It's mad. I mean it's cool to see the London >Sinfonietta do AFX, but on the aggregate I'd rather let them come to us.
absolutely true, but this sort of bid for respectability goes across many forms of music. the beatles adding classical musicians started a trend that may have partially resulted in the creation of prog. after leaving the police, sting turned to jazz musicians and classical influences as a sign of his "maturity". linda ronstadt and pat benatar went into singing "oldies". r&b singer natalie cole was catapulted into greater sales, recognition, and respect by recording the songs of her dead father. metallica teamed up with an orchestra. even in hip-hop, i think it was nas who played with an orchestra on a tv awards show. venetian snares and murcof have taken breakbeat and idm into another realm by incorporating strings. now in techno we have the example of jeff mills rescoring his work with orchestra. but it does work in the other direction. kronos quartet were obviously classically trained but along with various classical and avant-garde composers they chose to play "purple haze". there is also apocalyptica covering metallica and other metal songs using 4 cellos. i think the london sinfonietta or alarm will sound doing AFX counts as well - those eggheaded establishments giving the underground music props by desiring to use it, as opposed to the underground straining to be taken seriously by attempting to incorporate old-world elements into their sound. i don't think we'll see any more than that however - for classical or jazz or academic/avant-garde musicians to adopt the structures of techno or rock is practically unthinkable. d.
