>>>>> "cw" == Cyclone Wehner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
cw> I think the antagonism to the Swedish stuff arises from the
cw> fact that the likes of Cari and Adam have been so prolific -
cw> saturating the market and subscribing to a formula, even
cw> inadvertently. Also it's not material that you can listen to
cw> in different environments necessarily, like on a walkman in
cw> the tram/bus. As DJ tool material, it's OK, but maybe people
cw> are not using it very adventurously. Also I doubt if anyone
cw> aside from a trainspotter could recognise or name a track by
cw> either those guys or Christian Smith - it's very anonymous.
cw> It's not like there is a stand-out track like Jaguar, The
cw> Bells, etc.
I have the first Hybrid compilation, and it's some of the most turgid
and characterless techno I own. Before I bought it, I thought I
_liked_ that kind of dark, reverb-soaked minimal trance (I was a HUGE
fan of Reload Records before it got all sucky), but I realized I
didn't like it unreservedly, because every time I put that CD on it
immediately turns into sonic wallpaper. I've tried and tried to mix
with those tracks over the years, but it never sounds right.
Here in SF, the techno purists started really getting into the Swedish
sound about three years ago, and it really brought me down, because
that stuff, and the more stripped down variety of tech house, were all
that were getting much play. It led to very monochromatic evenings.
And I think that at least part of the reason that happens is because
those tracks lend themselves to being clicked together like little
Legos (to choose another Scandinavian export as a metaphor). Once
you're in that groove it's really hard to get out. I love hard,
minimal, loop-based techno, but I also like variety. Smart people like
Jeff Mills can make that music work in more diverse sets, but as we
all know there aren't many DJs of his caliber.
cw> Sure Surgeon and Ruskin and more so Ho subscribe to a more
cw> intellectual ethos but that said Surgeon insisted in an
cw> interview here that he has no affinity with the Mills/Hood
cw> cerebralism at all when it comes to techno and that it's more
cw> like having sex for him (his analogy) - a physical urge.
Oddly enough, I can identify with this. One of the interesting things
about minimalism is that it can lend itself to multiple
interpretations. While I did witter on about how great and coherent
_Force + Form_ is, what I like about it is that it makes me want to
dance. I appreciate what minimalists like Neil Landstrumm and Cristian
Vogel are doing, but they aren't generally as urgently propulsive as
the recent Surgeon stuff (with the exception of "Gigolos Trapped in
Retro Hell" from Landstrumm's _Pro Audio_, which is both perfectly
titled and totally slamming -- well, that and the Super_Collider
record, but that's something else altogether).
Not to pitch myself into the Lake of Fire, but while I absolutely and
unhesitatingly adore (most of) Mills' music, his writing / thinking
about techno suffers from a lot of empty pretension. It's obvious that
he takes music very seriously, but quite often what he's saying, when
the kinks are straightened out, just isn't that profound. And really,
when I listen to _Live At The Liquid Room_ or the various other Mills
sets I've snagged from the net over the years, I'm not immediately
struck by their cerebrality -- mostly because I'm bobbing my head like
an idiot. That variety of minimalism is propulsive and booty-moving,
and that's what I like about it.
cw> Ruskin's album Point 2 is very derivative of Mills, I feel,
cw> but as a DJ he is excellent.
Really? I won't dispute this (your ears are your ears), but I think
the sonic pallette of _Point 2_ is actually much more derivative of
_Force + Form_ (there are an awful lot of sounds in common) than
anything of Mills'. It's not Art in the same way that _Force + Form_
is, but at the same time it's got lots of little surprises that make
me appreciate it.
Forrest
. . . the self-reflecting image of a narcotized mind . . .
ozymandias G desiderata [EMAIL PROTECTED] desperate, deathless
(415)558-9064 http://www.aoaioxxysz.com/ ::AOAIOXXYSZ::
