OK dokey,
>
> people (cultures) are no longer separated by distance because of
> technological advancements.
Individuals may be more easily connected across the globe but it doesn't
necessarily follow that those peoples' cultures are automatically more
connected on a more general level or that there is a greater sense of
co-operation and understanding in the world today.
>>>> Christina has a Latin background,
>>>
>>> Mexican people are part Aztec (South American Indian) and part Spanish.
>>
>> What, ALL of them?
>>>>
>
> I did not say all of them, read your history 101 books.
Well, you basically did- read your sentence above. Anyway, I was just
having a bit of a go here- I just didn't really see what the cultural
specifics of Mexico's background had to do with the original argument that
Cyclone was making regarding popular music. I don't have any History 101
books to read but I do understand a little of the colonisation of South
America over the centuries, but then I don't see what it has to do with this
issue- it just seemed that you came out with a pretty random statement about
Mexico's population.
>>
>>>
>>> Missy Elliott is R&B/ Urban radio not techno.
>>
>> Says you.
>
> Says the music industry and 99.999% of everyone elese who watches that shit
> on MTV and
> hears it on Urban radio (I'm talking about America not Papa Neu Guinea).
Well OK- I was just being silly again here, however I wouldn't say Missy
Elliot is "Techno" compared to Derrick May but it IS a matter of degree
-Missy Elliot (and by her I mean her whole production crew) uses extremely
modern production techniques in the arena of pop/Rap music- she seems to
have a very open minded attitude when it comes to influences and has
absorbed (successfully) a lot of elements from more "underground" electronic
forms. This, in my book, (and I suspect this is what Cyclone was getting
at) makes here infinitely more "Techno" than someone like Samuel L Sessions
who is producing track after track after track of fairly basic 'Techno"
based on a very simple blueprint- no innovation, no true creativity- just a
façade of "futuristic" sounds. It's the old "is Techno a specific sound or
is it a set of ideas and principles?" argument.
>
>>> If you like pop music be sure to check out the latest Billboard charts:
>
> Who are you talking about? my comments were not directed at any one in
> particular although
> this is what I have observed from the collector types.
> In fact I really don't keep tabs on what people post on mailing list.
Ok- perhaps this is just something I mistook in your style of writing- I
think Ken Odeluga said something a while back to the effect that it is very
easy to pick up on elements of people's personalities on the net which
wouldn't normally show themselves in real life, i.e. if we were having this
conversation face to face or on the telephone these misunderstandings would
never happen. It seemed pretty much like you were slating the guy who sold
his records as beeing someone who was more concerned with collecting vinyl
thatn the music contained on the discs - if that wasn't the case then fair
enough but your comments were made as a direct reply to his post so it was
easy to make the mistake. Apology offered here.
>
>> Now you imply that people can't like
>> popular music AND Detroit Techno.
>
> That wasn't what I was trying to imply.
> If you like pop music I would think the Billboard link above would be
> helpful in staying atop
> the latest Top 40 artist.
Hmmm, that doesn't sound very likely to me- based on the combative style of
the rest of your e-mail and then dropping that comment in reply to someone
like Cyclone who is (I think) a music journalist and is obviously pretty
well versed on the subject- if you didn't MEAN it to come across as sarcasm
then it certainly did to me.
>
>
> Pop music in 1989/90 was Paula Abdual, MC Hammer.
> Even though Inner City achieved some chart success in the US and radio play
> depending on which market you
> lived in 'Love Take Me Over by Area 10' does not reflect American Top 40
> music from that
> era.
Basically here- well, that record is a great pop record in my opinion, in
the sense that an act could do a cover version of it today and would stand a
good chance of having a hit- the basic song structure and vocal and lyrics
would be well served by a modern production- what I was trying to say here
was that Techno started out as being a pretty wide church and that church
definitely included pop sensibilities- the fact that Paula Abdul and MC
Hammer were about at the same time had very little to do with my argument.
>
>> Derick and Juan and Kevin admit to being heavily
>> influenced by both Kraftwertk AND Heaven 17, Depeche Mode and other
>> Popular bands. There are many other examples from around that time but
>> I wouldn't expect somebody who can't tell the difference between Wiggin
>> and some DrumCode track to understand.
>
> Well those bands were not techno,
Well I didn't say there were at all- I said they were POP- they helped to
influence the originators of the sound we call Detroit Techno.
> my comparison of Wiggin and Drumcode were
> based on
> the similarities in composition.
I would have to disagree on that one- Wiggin is an incredibly funky track
with an indefinable element of greatness- and this isn't a misty eyed, rose
tinted spectacle view of the track- I instantly recognised it as being
special when I first heard it many years ago- I don't see/hear that same
INDEFINABLE sense of quality in the DrumCode stuff and others like it.
> A lot of people not just myself believe that the first techno was the older
> Transmat, music from
> "Techno! The New Dance Sound.." compilation the older stuff by Juan Atkins
> like Cybotron was electro-funk, techno took shape when you started to hear
> the more 4/4 influince of Chicago house.
>
I'm just not entirely sure what you are saying in this sentence- is it that
the "first" Techno was actually more around the time of the early Transmat
releases rather than Juan's early work as a lot of people now say? I think
I might agree to a certain extent- it's a bit difficult to tell after all
there years though- a records release date doesn't always reflect when
tracks were actually composed so apparently "obvious" links and influences
aren't always as concrete as they might seem at first_ doubt Juan thought he
was making a new form of music called "electo funk" when he was doing his
thang all those years ago though :) Perhaps it could be said that Transmat
were instrumental in crystalising the various elements which were floating
about at that moment in time and so could more readily associated with what
most people would consider to be "Techno".
Anyway, to sum up:
1- Sorry for picking you up wrong on a couple of points
2-I think Techno is more of a set of ideas and principles than a set of
sounds and so Missy Elliot can be described as (a little bit) Techno :)
3-Other people don't
4-I've used up my alloted 313-list ranting space for about the next 2 years
so I'm outta here!
Cheers
Jason
