---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
From: "Derek Plaslaiko." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>the fact that matthew is white has nothing to do with the soul of
his
>music. if you think that, then you better be thinking the same
about joy
>division, liquid liquid, francois k, or recloose, even.
i dont think it has anything to do with the guy being white. i
like all those artists you mentioned. i just dont dig matt dear's
records almost at all. that first spectral 12" i think it was was
alright, other than that i havent liked anything else. and its not
just me: we got one copy of his LP in at the record shop i work at
and it hasnt sold. we sell lots of "soulful" dance music made by
both white and black people (as well as asian and hispanic) but
not a soul (pun intended) has found something interesting enough
in his album to buy it. no one who buys the recloose or the
titonton or the alton miller records that we stock has been
motivated to buy it. i feel like theres a pretty good amount of
undeserved hype behind this guy, and i think that alot of people
can see through that. who cares how many stars rolling stone gave
him? all i know is that amp fiddler's music is not in any way
groundbreaking but we cant keep a single 12" with his name on it
in stock. people who are into hiphop and r+b have been buying his
records as well as all the techno and house heads who have known
about him for a little while now. matt dear's record will probably
sit there for months, if not forever. its too bad because i do
like alot of what ghostly does (like 75% or so, the other 25% is
kinda trying to hard maybe) but i feel like they picked the wrong
artist to get all hyped up about. the midwest product and dabrye
stuff is so much better on pretty much every level.
as for why it happens to be a white guy who gets the props from
mainstream music mags for his great "techno" record while other
people who make great records who are black dont get the props,
thats something that might need to be examined. a quick glance at
my little sister's one recent rolling stone mag revealed reviews
of these artists: crystal method (is it 1997 again?), LCD
soundsystem, michael mayer, and lfo. reguardless of your opinions
of them, isnt it a little strange that theyre all stark white?
tom
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andythepooh.com
