At 03:55 PM 9/20/99 +0200, Aril wrote: > >i agree to the fullest! > >i´ve been hearing that BS for so long from people for example who are >against others having their pics >taken, as if that would have anything to do on wheither the music is good or >not, wheither it´s underground >or not or even as if the records would sell more because you have a picture >featured in a magazine... > >as long as you make the music for yourself and you never comprimise, it will >never be a sellout. > >aril
I have several points to raise about all this jeff mills sell-out nonsense Firstly, I think it is about time all the detroit people and others who are making such music with integrity finally got their pay day. There are many fan boys out there who think the minute someone makes money he is a sell-out, but i don't think that is always true- certainly not in Mill's case. Tell me the last time you saw Jeff Mills on the cover of Smash Hits, in a sit-com, selling pepsi or coke? I have never seen such things. Mills is making minimalist techno music that still has Mr and Miss Average teenager saying 'What is that god-awful crap? Put the spice girls on". Another thing is that people are doubting just how legitimate mills is as a minimalist artist, I can't see why people are doubting this man! Mills is da man, he sends all the kids trying to emulate his stuff on anything from pro-tracker mods to rebirth, even old casios! He is one of the authority on that minimalist style Mills is making good music, making his own style of music. The reason it sells is because it really is good, and people like it so much they are prepared to part with their hard earned money. I think we have to get this idea out of our heads that being successful finacially in techno is sell-out. There is always quality music and art that will make money, thats why you had Bach, Mozart and all the other greats hiring their services to all the courts of Europe's nobility. Is just happens that people with money, education and taste are willing to pay for music and art which they recognize as being worthy of their attention. But still, just like the nobility were appreciative of good music, so too techno-enthusiasts are appreciative of good music, however the total number of techno fans spending their cash on records, regardless of Mill's modest little fortune, is still F*** All compared to what pop music makes. This could suggest that he is not selling his stuff to people following the latest trend, but the real enthusiasts who are carefull to what they listen. I don't think the uneducated mainstram listener would really buy a techno record, especially when they think they can replicate the entire record by banging two garbage bins together. All of our techno heroes I think should not be equated with the politics of the punk-era's anti-sellout notion. I think our Techno heroes are like some kind of deposed nobility of honourable music makers, from the same tradition of all the great composers who have also come from ordinary working class backgrounds. They should rightfully be in the public's eye as the authorities on music, along with all the other true musicians from other genres. I think that Mills, and the whole detroit techno scene should be rolling in money, taking showers in it, they deserve it.
