> Ah, avoiding the question Mr. Sicko? :-) Not at all .. just couldn't answer the original question in one email.
> I've always wondered what it is about current generations that > have shown a tendency away from linear narrative, and more > towards repetition. Believe me, I would have loved to have had the freedom of style that Simon Reynolds or Kodwo Eshun had with their books--not that I write with that much artifice. Inventing new words and all seems distracting at first, but maybe that's a viable way to describe many of the sounds in the techno spectrum. I guess it's a matter of personal preference. I had to fight to keep even the tiniest flairs alive (like "jack to jack-boot" in Chapter 5). Part of that I believe is the fact that this was my first book, and that I was working with U.S. publishers and editors. > Song forms with strong structure, lyric, and melody were > especially useful when music technology (fidelity) was > much lower. Does the mere presence of bass-bins > allow us to enjoy bass-heavy forms of music? > > Aside from the purely social function that the > Electronic Music "scene" provides, why are we drawn > to repetitive music? Are our minds evolving to accept > these are valid artistic statements? Is it a reaction/ > reflection of the way we understand our world (bytes)? So what do we look for in techno? I think there are as many sonic parameters in the answer as there are moods and mindsets of the listener. Personally, I've always aimed for techno that has the prickling intensity of life ... literally electronic music that seems to have it's own life above and beyond that of its creators. I really think Warp was onto something with the whole "Artifical Intelligence" thing, but it got horribly misinterpreted as musical snobbery, and a lot of the tracks weren't as vibrant as others. Or others yet to come ... Not to exclude any artists on either side, but the uptempo and melodic work of Morgan Geist, Dan Curtin, Hanna, Jason Williams (Velocette), Ken Ishii, Co-Fusion, Titonton, much of the Plaid/BDP continuum and backtracking ... several early works by May, Atkins and Saunderson is always where I place my own personal "center" of the genre. Okay, I'm starting to ramble ... I'm cutting myself off before I use the word "pulsing" :) -Dan ____________________________ Dan Sicko http://www.reverbmag.com http://www.techno-rebels.com ____________________________
