Re: Techno books

[Wibo Lammerts]

Cheers Philip

Op do 5 mrt. 2020 om 11:07 schreef Andrew Duke <
andrewdukecognit...@gmail.com>:

> Appreciated!
>
> On Thu., Mar. 5, 2020, 1:41 a.m. Philip McGarva, 
> wrote:
>
>> I scanned a bunch of magazine articles from back in the day. You can DL
>> 'em from
>>
>> https://drive.google.com/open?id=1s8rlhBW6Gq3SR8vLh43kUSaxNXR1GzNT
>>
>> There's also good info in the sleeve notes of compilation albums
>> including 'Techno 2' 'Beyond the Third Wave' '313 Detroit' 'Made in
>> Detroit' 'Time: Space' etc
>>
>> Enjoy!
>>
>

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Re: Techno books

[Andrew Duke]

Appreciated!

On Thu., Mar. 5, 2020, 1:41 a.m. Philip McGarva, 
wrote:

> I scanned a bunch of magazine articles from back in the day. You can DL
> 'em from
>
> https://drive.google.com/open?id=1s8rlhBW6Gq3SR8vLh43kUSaxNXR1GzNT
>
> There's also good info in the sleeve notes of compilation albums including
> 'Techno 2' 'Beyond the Third Wave' '313 Detroit' 'Made in Detroit' 'Time:
> Space' etc
>
> Enjoy!
>

Techno books

[Philip McGarva]

I scanned a bunch of magazine articles from back in the day. You can DL 'em
from

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1s8rlhBW6Gq3SR8vLh43kUSaxNXR1GzNT

There's also good info in the sleeve notes of compilation albums including
'Techno 2' 'Beyond the Third Wave' '313 Detroit' 'Made in Detroit' 'Time:
Space' etc

Enjoy!

Re: [313] techno books/postmodernism (was UR in Europe)

[Andrew Chuter]

To my awareness there has only been one book that has dealt exclusively with
Detroit techno. That is Dan Sicko's 'Techno Rebels'.

There are a handful of music or recording guides on the topic, but the only
other major book I know of that has discussed Detroit techno at length is
More Brilliant than the Sun By Kodwo Eshun.

Dan obviously has a long and direct contact with the scene. He takes a
historical, just the facts approach and is especially strong on the origins.

I was so glad to see this book come out for several reasons. One is that
there actually _exists_ a book about this music. It's so easy for things to
be
forgotten with the passing of time. Another reason is that I think many
people don't know the true story and this book, in its no-nonsense approach,
is the simplest way to set the record straight. Despite the books clarity,
there are still people who have read it, and think that it is 'just' a book
about Detroit's post-disco scene, or that it should have covered more on
'goa trance'. [see amazon.com customer reviews]

Sure, the book doesn't talk much about techno's later development in Europe
and elsewhere, but I think that is the book's strength. There will be plenty
of other people out there who will write those stories. The book doesn't
really talk much about the equipment and techniques. Same again.

The other thing we might want a music book to write about is the music's
structure and what it is like to listen to. Well, this is the difficult one,
isn't it?

I'm reminded here of something Brian Eno (I think) said. It was 'writing
about
music is like dancing about architecture'. Also, Wittgenstein said 'of that
which we cannot speak, we must pass over in silence'.

A moments reflection on this topic reveals to me that the best way to get an
idea of what the music is like is to actually listen to it, of course. That,
by the way, is not to say that reading about it is fundamentally flawed, or
not useful or desirable, just secondary in many cases to careful and
repeated listening.

Some obvious examples when we need writing about music is with reviews, when
we are trying to decide what to buy, when we are trying to explain to people
unfamiliar with the music, the kind of reasons we are on this list, or
perhaps when we are trying to make a more permanent record for the purposes
of history, as in Dan Sicko's case.

Since most (but not all) of the recordings are readily available, it makes
sense in the case of Techno Rebels to put in a good discography and leave it
at that.

Kodwo Eshun's book is very different, on the other hand. The subject matter
is mostly about D'n'B, dub, hip-hop, jazz, with Detroit techno one style
among many. I got excited about this book because it brought together a lot
of music, primarily black music, that I was really into.

[I'll talk about this book a little here, but forgive me, my copy is in
another country right now.]

In the 1st chapter Kodwo says something about most dance music journalism
being a mean and insubstantial list of names, labels and DJ charts. I tend
to agree. He goes to a kind of opposite extreme to Dan's book, I think
attempting to recreate the experience of listening in words. He also coins a
whole lot of new scientific sounding compound words (e.g.
technorhythmachine) and seems to be aligned with postmodern methods of
analysis. This, at least for me, is fun to read to a certain extent, but I
think it runs into the problems that are hinted at in Eno and Wittgenstein's
thoughts.

Jared Wilson wrote:
 Sent: Monday, July 31, 2000 10:21 PM
 Subject: Re: [313] UR in Europe
 Also check out More Brilliant than the Sun By Kodwo Eshun.  I would say
a
 much more sophisticated and postmodern view of techno, electro, jungle,
etc.
 Has an excellent section on UR.  I would recommend it over Techno
 Rebels.

Well, maybe postmodernism is more sophisticated in a way, but sometimes I
think at the expense of clarity and common sense.

A few months ago I read 'Fashionable Nonsense: Postmodern Intellectuals
Abuse of Science' by Sokal and Bricmont. I regard this as absolutely
essential reading to anyone interested in postmodernism. In this book a
number of leading postmodernists (Lacan, Baudrillard, Deleuze, Virilio, etc)
are roundly criticized for the following:
1) Holding forth at length on scientific theories about which one has, at
best an exceedingly hazy idea. The most common tactic is to use scientific
(or pseudo-scientific) terminology without bothering much much about what
the words actually mean.
2) Importing concepts from the natural sciences into the humanities or
social sciences without giving the slightest conceptual or empirical
justification...
3) Displaying a superficial erudition by shamelessly throwing around
technical terms in a context where they are completely irrelevant...
4) Manipulating phrases and sentences that are, in fact, meaningless.

I think Eshun is guilty of at least a few of these failures. The only way
out then is to say that his 

Re: [313] techno books/postmodernism (was UR in Europe)

[JARED WILSON]

I would disagree with this post.  Techno Rebels tries to write a history 
of techno.  I would agree that at points Kodwo does drift into a poetic 
phase, but More Brilliant... achieve what no other book on electronic 
music has done, to try and translate the perception of music into words.  it 
is an extremely theoretical read.


In the end I guess we will have to agree to disagree, I am glad that someone 
other than myself has read both books and can give a coherently process the 
information and not just regurgitate it.


I would suggest that if you are interested in learning some history of 
techno check out Techno Rebels, but if you are more interested in theory 
than check out More Brilliant than the Sun.


P.s. the tactics in the other book you mentioned about postmodernism are 
just modernist arguments against postmodernism.  I would rather talk in 
person about this than in lengthy threads:]


Thank you for the info

Jared Wilson
F.T.M. Records



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Re: [313] techno books/postmodernism (was UR in Europe)

[Mediadrome]

In a message dated 8/11/00 8:39:52 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:

 I'm reminded here of something Brian Eno (I think) said. It was 'writing

about

music is like dancing about architecture'. Also, Wittgenstein said 'of that

which we cannot speak, we must pass over in silence'. 

The word is ineffable.  

I liked More Brilliant than the Sun by Kodwo Eshun, but as a work of 
literature, NOT as an informative work describing music.

I don't buy the Eno  -  'writing about music is like dancing about 
architecture' line.  

Most writers about techno and dance music do not have the technical musical 
skill to write about the  music.   Their writings tend to be personal 
reactions and psychological impressions rather that an accurate description 
of the music, but that's what their readers usually want  - personal 
reactions and psychological impressions.Writing about music is difficult 
but it can be done.

mediadrome
 

Re: [313] techno books/postmodernism (was UR in Europe)

[kelli b kavanaugh]

 I'm reminded here of something Brian Eno (I think) said. It was 'writing
about music is like dancing about architecture'.

ok, 1st you say:

 I don't buy the Eno  -  'writing about music is like dancing about
 architecture' line.

but then you say:

Writing about music is difficult
but it can be done.

{the refute has morphed into a proof}

By the same token, dancing about architecture is difficult but it can be
done.  ;)

Conveying or communicating any artform in(to) another medium is always a
struggle - as it should be.  Or else the artist would have painted her song
to begin with.

Re: origin of above quote.
hearing it (possibly) attributed to brian eno prompted me to wonder who 1st
said what to me, is such a meaningful quote...
check out http://home.pacifier.com/~ascott/they/tamildaa.htm for the
answer(s).

hint:  there isn't one.


kelli

Re: [313] techno books/postmodernism (was UR in Europe)

[Mediadrome]

In a message dated 8/11/00 3:05:20 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:

  I'm reminded here of something Brian Eno (I think) said. It was 'writing

about music is like dancing about architecture'.


ok, 1st you say:


 I don't buy the Eno  -  'writing about music is like dancing about

 architecture' line.


but then you say:


Writing about music is difficult

but it can be done.


{the refute has morphed into a proof} 

BULLSHIT 
shove your word games dude

There's a difference between words as art/literature and words and a 
descriptive history.   (let's hear some structuralist crap about that so you 
can get the last word in)  

You want and example of of writing about music -  morph yourself to a  music 
library and look up Rosen's history of the classical sonata  - and try not to 
make a smart ass reply till you've read it. 

mediadrome

techno books

[Chloe Sasson]

Other good books about dance music in general:

Altered State (cant remember the author off by heart) Much like energy 
flash.


Dj Culture - Ulf P
Amazing book about the history of the DJ from the 1800s up to now. Highly 
recommended.


I have purchased both books from Amazon...


Cheers

Chloe

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Re: [313] techno books

[rol leider]

What were dj's doing in the 1800s?

Original Message Follows
From: Chloe Sasson [EMAIL PROTECTED]
...
Dj Culture - Ulf P
Amazing book about the history of the DJ from the 1800s up to now




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