Thursday, March 31, 2005
Dance Music In North America - According to the CBC
I just finished reading a great article on the CBC's website.
Anyone interested in music at all should check this out.
The comments at the end of the article are also quite telling, including a moronic (as in, 'uninformed') argument made by a 40-something from Newfoundland, about how 'electronic' (this, after the article clearly examines the problems with referring to all dance music as 'electronica') music has no character.
I personally agree with much of the article, and I think it's the type of thing music people in North America really need to ask themselves about.
I bought "Kish-Kash" (the Basement Jaxx record discussed in the article) for Morgan pretty much as soon as it came out. I love every second of that album, and I think if people would give up their hangups about dance music they could really enjoy this stuff.
I do understand, though, that sometimes I can be (I think everyone can be) a little snobby about what I listen to and accept as 'real music'. When it comes right down to it, I just want my music to be a little bit 'artistic'. Maybe you can ask Morgan to really try and nail that word down for you, but for my purposes, if music hasn't been (or doesn't feel like) it's been manufactured for me to consume, then I feel pretty good about at least giving it a try.
And I was trying not to say anything in direct rebuttal to our 40-something newfoundlander, there's one comment I can't let her get away with. First of all, making 'electronic' music does not necessarily mean that the primary auditory source was 'electronic'. Pick up a Daft Punk record if you want proof of that. Yes, often the sound is manipulated by a computer to add effects and blend noises and so forth, but even that is not necessary. It's actually possible to make 'electronic' music without every using anything digital to process the signal. In fact, much of the early electronic music was done "all analog", perhaps with the exception of a drum machine from time to time. There are very very few guitarist who can claim such a feat today.
And all her precious "real musicians" nowadays utilize ProTools and other computer tools to digitally 'touch up' their product during post-production. There are precious few musicians recording what they actually play/sing without modifying it - and most people wouldn't want to hear it if they didn't. It would sound horrible. And it often does sound horrible when we go see them live. (The fact of the matter is that it's hard to reproduce the intended 'feeling' of the more traditional types of moderm music (ie: rock) in a studio.)
I can think of many examples of 'eletronic' music (stupid term) that have moved me emotionally in equal proportion to any Dylan or Springsteen moment I've had.
I also agree with the article in blaming 'the labels' for the homogenaity of music that's easily accessible in North America, but I know a lot of people won't agree with me on that point, so I'll just leave it out there as my personal thought.
Anyone interested in music at all should check this out.
The comments at the end of the article are also quite telling, including a moronic (as in, 'uninformed') argument made by a 40-something from Newfoundland, about how 'electronic' (this, after the article clearly examines the problems with referring to all dance music as 'electronica') music has no character.
I personally agree with much of the article, and I think it's the type of thing music people in North America really need to ask themselves about.
I bought "Kish-Kash" (the Basement Jaxx record discussed in the article) for Morgan pretty much as soon as it came out. I love every second of that album, and I think if people would give up their hangups about dance music they could really enjoy this stuff.
I do understand, though, that sometimes I can be (I think everyone can be) a little snobby about what I listen to and accept as 'real music'. When it comes right down to it, I just want my music to be a little bit 'artistic'. Maybe you can ask Morgan to really try and nail that word down for you, but for my purposes, if music hasn't been (or doesn't feel like) it's been manufactured for me to consume, then I feel pretty good about at least giving it a try.
And I was trying not to say anything in direct rebuttal to our 40-something newfoundlander, there's one comment I can't let her get away with. First of all, making 'electronic' music does not necessarily mean that the primary auditory source was 'electronic'. Pick up a Daft Punk record if you want proof of that. Yes, often the sound is manipulated by a computer to add effects and blend noises and so forth, but even that is not necessary. It's actually possible to make 'electronic' music without every using anything digital to process the signal. In fact, much of the early electronic music was done "all analog", perhaps with the exception of a drum machine from time to time. There are very very few guitarist who can claim such a feat today.
And all her precious "real musicians" nowadays utilize ProTools and other computer tools to digitally 'touch up' their product during post-production. There are precious few musicians recording what they actually play/sing without modifying it - and most people wouldn't want to hear it if they didn't. It would sound horrible. And it often does sound horrible when we go see them live. (The fact of the matter is that it's hard to reproduce the intended 'feeling' of the more traditional types of moderm music (ie: rock) in a studio.)
I can think of many examples of 'eletronic' music (stupid term) that have moved me emotionally in equal proportion to any Dylan or Springsteen moment I've had.
I also agree with the article in blaming 'the labels' for the homogenaity of music that's easily accessible in North America, but I know a lot of people won't agree with me on that point, so I'll just leave it out there as my personal thought.
Comments:
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Hey Joel! I just had to say something after reading that Newfoundland woman's comment.
"I like music that is, call me silly, music"???
How could she just say that this isn't music? Let's look at a definition, shall we?
MUSIC: The art of arranging sounds in time so as to produce a continuous, unified, and evocative composition, as through melody, harmony, rhythm, and timbre.
Hmmm...I'm listening to Basement Jaxx right now and it certainly seems to fit that desciption.
"The lyrics don't tell a story" Umm...generalization? All the lyrics of every dance or electronica song ever written have never told a story. Not once. Anyways, what does it matter if lyrics don't tell a story? I must've missed that part in the definition...
"It's not music if all you have to do is press a button on your desk-top"
That's hilarious. What does that even mean?
It is a great article though. However, I still have to live by Eminem's immortal words: "Nobody listen to techno, now let's go!"
(that was for Morgan)
"I like music that is, call me silly, music"???
How could she just say that this isn't music? Let's look at a definition, shall we?
MUSIC: The art of arranging sounds in time so as to produce a continuous, unified, and evocative composition, as through melody, harmony, rhythm, and timbre.
Hmmm...I'm listening to Basement Jaxx right now and it certainly seems to fit that desciption.
"The lyrics don't tell a story" Umm...generalization? All the lyrics of every dance or electronica song ever written have never told a story. Not once. Anyways, what does it matter if lyrics don't tell a story? I must've missed that part in the definition...
"It's not music if all you have to do is press a button on your desk-top"
That's hilarious. What does that even mean?
It is a great article though. However, I still have to live by Eminem's immortal words: "Nobody listen to techno, now let's go!"
(that was for Morgan)
# posted by 
: 4:24 p.m.
: 4:24 p.m.
I just wanted to say that I have been having some of the same thoughts lately... yesterday, actually, I was listening to *ahem* -your- Stars album and thinking that they are such musicians. I had a great conversation with myself in my head about how music "on the radio" (that is how I describe popular music, I guess) isn't nearly as intelligent as a lot of stuff I listen to (e.g. Basement Jaxx).
If you think about classical music as an example of "real" music (and you should, because really, that is what people have been making forever, it is either the ART of putting rhythms etc. together (see Linz's definition) OR some sort of symbolic ritual tunes or whatever), then we see complex things happening. Not always, of course, often it is just easy-to-listen-to violins, but mostly, the composers were trying to really show off, you know?
So anyway, today I think it sucks that people get down on musicians who are truly INTO their art instead of just putting it out there so some fuck-off from wherever can have something "easy" to listen to.
And I just have to add (for LW):
"so put my tape back on the rack, run and tell your friends my shit is whack, I just don't give a fuck"
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If you think about classical music as an example of "real" music (and you should, because really, that is what people have been making forever, it is either the ART of putting rhythms etc. together (see Linz's definition) OR some sort of symbolic ritual tunes or whatever), then we see complex things happening. Not always, of course, often it is just easy-to-listen-to violins, but mostly, the composers were trying to really show off, you know?
So anyway, today I think it sucks that people get down on musicians who are truly INTO their art instead of just putting it out there so some fuck-off from wherever can have something "easy" to listen to.
And I just have to add (for LW):
"so put my tape back on the rack, run and tell your friends my shit is whack, I just don't give a fuck"
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