Support |
At 11:44 PM -0500 8/11/97, John Pollock wrote: >'Kay, my mind's open... Show me any example of a DJ's work that can make >me feel like, say, Ry Cooder's solo on "Lipstick Sunset" or Amos >Garrett's on "Midnight at the Oasis"-- please! Phrased this way, it's an absurd DJ vs Guitarist competition with arbitrary standards of merit. It just begs another round of my endless and now tedious refrain of "what is the point?" But rephrased, it becomes much more interesting. And becomes a chance to learn from each other. How about if you spend some time explaining to those who are not familiar with Ry Cooder and Amos Garrett why these particular musicians are especially moving to you? Maybe you could teach us something about their music so that we could maybe learn to appreciate it in the same way you do. Hopefully we can learn something that will give us new insight to our own music. I know nothing about Amos Garrett, and only a little about Ry Cooder. What I heard of Ry Cooder apparently didn't move me the same as you, so I probably missed something. Maybe you could teach me and others what that was? And by the same token, those interested in electronic music of various sorts could possibly explain to others what it is about that music that appeals to them and moves them in a particular way. Teach us about the elements of that music that make it creatively satisfying, so that those doing different sorts of music might learn to appreciate it and possibly gain new insights to their own music. Part of the deal is we give each other some respect and not trod on the differences we find. Also: we must realize that it is entirely possible that we *won't* understand the other sort of music, and that it might not move us, but that doesn't make it a less valid form. It's just different, and for whatever reason, doesn't connect with us. It does move someone else, and that has to be ok. And: our teachers might fail; we might not be ready to learn. Still, the opportunity to learn from the unfamiliar is valuable, and deserves respect. Now I'm not remarkably qualified on the electronica front, (after all, I've played guitar since I was 7 and spend most of my time playing jazz and blues) But a lot of music I've heard there has really turned my head around and opened up new ideas. A lot of this has already been mentioned here, actually. So some things to check out, homework if you will, would be dj spooky, dj shadow, dj krush, Buckethead's Day of the Robot w/dj ninj or his current group with dj disc (a little guitar crossover :-) ), the orb, future sound of london, aphex twin, underworld, orbital, meat beat manifesto, and even David Torn's what means solid, traveller. Some older stuff that really mattered to me includes Ministry, skinny puppy, the beastie boys, public enemy, front 242, and kmfdm. This acually represents a very wide range of music, but even so, totally misses entire categories of "electronica." Others will hopefully be better able to add good examples. >For that matter, point out the killer bassoon solo... I like the way bassoon sounds, why are putting that one down? After playing guitar all my life, working for a guitar company, and generally being with it forever, I would be quite happy to spend a year listening to bassoon! >Seems to me there's a profound difference between generalizing about >instruments and generalizing about people. Motley was talking about >instruments. Choosing a musical instrument is a very personal decision. Putting down an instrument means putting down someone who made that choice. That's why some of us get so worked up about it. Looping obviously appeals to a wildly divergent group of people, with some stunningly different interests and backgrounds. Yet somehow we all have looping as a common thread. We should be exploring that! So much to learn from each other, so little time here. Let's not waste it on foolishness. kim ______________________________________________________________________ Kim Flint | Looper's Delight kflint@annihilist.com | http://www.annihilist.com/loop/loop.html http://www.annihilist.com/ | Loopers-Delight-request@annihilist.com