You know what my problem REALLY is with this whole line of thought?
It's a line of thought you pretty much only get from Techno music
fans, and it directly ties technological advance and "the future" to
the development of Techno music. It's a certain attitude towards
Techno music. I hate it. It's nonsense IMO. The futuristic and sci-fi
themes in Techno are romantic and appealing, but they aren't reality.
Techno can be sound-design music, but it doesn't need to obsess about
re-inventing sound. Techno is now music, it's not from the future and
it doesn't predict the future. All this talk about the end of music,
running out of genres...what a load. I really wish Techno would get
comfortable in it's own shoes, and put composition, songwriting,
creativity.. ie MUSIC first. Despite the delusions of some, it isn't
fundamentally different from most genres of music out there, yet by
and large Techno fans keep insisting it is and ostracizing themselves
and their music from the rest of the music world, and keep
prioritizing things that in no way represent good music. I am really
turned off by the idea that Techno music has to keep up with
technology, that it is some sort of technology in itself, that
innovation equals progress equals good. It is an overarching theme
that for me explains why so much Techno and electronic music sucks, it
has misguided priorities, embarrassingly naive priorities. When it
comes down to it, Techno is just a particular style of synthesized
music. As in ANY other genre of music, technology and "new" sounds
have absolutely nothing to do with what makes a particular song good
or not. Stylistic progression is one thing, but many Techno fans
essentially dream about reinventing music. It's music as a science
experiment. That's fine, but that's bringing audio engineering and
audio theory into music, and it is not to be confused with music.
Emphasizing the audio science is annoying to me, as a music fan, and
it's especially annoying when people confuse it with music --
resulting in people acknowledging music is great, but then dismissing
it for not being "innovative"...how stupid, how wrong-headed,
delusional, pretentious, and self-defeating to look to music for a
technology fix. Music is a means of emotional expression. What makes a
great song is really poignant expression, emotional power, and good
writing. While in Techno music you might incorporate a little science
experiment in sound, it is a very distant second to the
expression...Of course pretension and art go hand in hand, but I am
tired of the BS. My vision for the radical next step in Techno music
-- a re-prioritization that puts all that hokey
futuristic/innovation/"newness" crap out of the discourse, that
separates the music from the audio theory and scientific
delusions/obsessions, that finally makes Techno comfortable to just be
music. FFS!!
