---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
From: Mike Brown <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>It wasn't "supposed to", it *did* sound hip and sophisticated,
yet quirky and
>fun and danceable, which added to its appeal. The technology also was
>limited.. 6 and 8 bit samplers with hardly any memory, bathed in
reverb.
i know i personally dont have any problems with people utilizing
limited technology. it works for theo parrish, numerous hiphop
producers, and many others. i like the way old lo-fi samplers
sound. plenty of good music was made with them.
>Smash Records' idea of what Yello tracks are essential is up for
debate.
>Likewise with the numerous Art of Noise compilations that omit
their finest
>moments or remix them into oblivion.
i do have a few yello records, and while theyre not my favorite
music, theyre not bad at all. something like jan hammer's 80's
synth music really sounds dated to me, though not necessarily in a
bad way.
>Also remember that music experiences revivals. In 1991 I thought
all Kraftwerk
>sounded horribly dated.
granted, im realtively new to electronic music (started listening
in 1996) but i cant imagine thinking Kraftwerk sounding dated.
they had their own little thing going on that was independant of
what every other musician at the time was doing. the fact that its
been ripped off to hell and back doesnt make it sound any less
great: none of the rip offs have anything on the original, IMO.
the sound of their synths is definitely dated, but plenty of
people still use the same synths so it cant be too dated sounding.
i dont think the age of sounds of equipment make a music sound
dated. obviously the beatles/jimi hendrix/etc used the height of
late 60's technology to make records that still sound good today.
>5 years ago we would've said pretty much all 80s
>synth-pop and anything that remotely sounded like it was
extremely dated, but
>look at "electroclash" or "wave" or whatever they're calling it
now, Miss
>Kittin and Ladytron and Felix and all that. Suddenly it has
credibility
>because techno producers aren't afraid to use an actual melody
once in a
>while.
once again, as i am relatively new to electronic music, i dont
relate. i was into industrial music from around 1992-1996 or so,
and i was always a fan of 80's synth pop then, even over the newer
music i listened to at the time. of course now when i hear people
ripping it off in an inferior manner, i get mad cause id rather
just hear the still good originals.
>So I wouldn't write off AoN or Yello or Tangerine Dream or
anybody else as
>sounding permanently dated and more novel than truly clever.
Well alright,
>maybe YMO... :)
i love tangerine dream! and i love walter carlos! i dont think
music like that sounds dated. i think if anything you can pinpoint
the year it was made if you knew the general time period already.
but if you look around, plenty of people are still using the same
synths and techniques to make good music, so if you took someone
who was generally unknowledgeable about electronic music, and
played old synth records back to back with new synth laden detroit
music, im pretty sure that they wouldnt be able to tell the
relative age of each record at all. what does that man? that the
old music sounds new? or that new music sounds dated? it depends
relative to the listening experience of the listener. what doesnt
depend on the listener is that the music is still good no matter
what it was made on or when it was made.
tom
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