i will try to offer my opinion coherently....
i remember back in the early 90s, magazines like The Face or I-D were
heralding the new decade as the triumph of "sample culture", where artistic
expression was to be characterized by the mix-and-matching of different
styles and inspirations, drawing from the myriad of cultural and artistic
production across mankind's different cultures and ages.
Nowadays it seems that the opposite is true. It has been said that all the
possible combination of notes has been played, it is therefore impossible to
create any new musical arrangements. Popular music seems to be totally
dominated by fake-nostalgia bands re-hashing the late 70s, the early 80s - i
have even heard some bands that sound suspiciously like 90s revival bands.
To sum it up, it seems as if there is no new ideas concerning music.
I find that this is not true about "electronic music". Although there are
definite trends and cliques (glitch/minimal, detroit, grime, looped bangers,
you name it...), I firmly believe that electronic music in general (and
generally speaking) is, and has ALWAYS been about exploration, innovation,
progression. And this is where I place so-called computer music, laptop
djing, final scratch, ableton live etc. These examples are one tangible
evidence of the evolution of electronic dance music today; but the contrary
is not necessarily true - I am not saying that those who use hardware or
analog equipment do not innovate or are not innovators.
Having said this, I think that one possible direction in electronic music
can be to transcend the different "trends" and go back to that artistic
ideal that was hyped in back in the 90s, maybe by hybridizing genres and
styles, fishing from everything that has been done before. Just like good
djs who spin good music regardless of what style it is, musicians can do the
same. And they already do. Please excuse me, Im too tired to wrack my brain
to find some pertinent examples but I have noticed music coming out lately
(the last year or so) that I feel has gone beyond normal genre boundaries by
creating interesting hybrids and new future music.
I am aware that there is apparent contradiction in what I am saying: i talk
of generes within electronic music, music that I say is inherently
progressive and then I go on to state that one possible form of ground
breaking is to transcend these genres. But for me these 2 aspects are
complementary and not in contrast. You could say that electronic dance music
is innovative music, therefore mixing its different styles would necessarily
produce our holy grail, ground-breaking music.
my 2 euro cent,
fab
Stoddard, Kamal Scrive:
anyway, who will break the ground next with musical
work? and how will them do it?
That's the question, and the direction this convo should be going IMO.
I'm not sure I even have a quick answer for this one. I ould think of a
few folks I'd say *could* be the next to break ground, but the real
stumper is, "how will they do it?". Will it be via process(glitch tech),
aesthetic(neo-soul), cultural influence(afro-beat), what? What'll the
next something pull it's identity from? Will it just be a gimmick in the
end? And on a related but other note, do you think a sound has to have a
scene/movement associated with it's name in order to justify it as
breaking anything? Or is the artistic enough? Holla.
V12, I'd really be interested in your particular point of view here. :)
k
mwnb
