Re: essential loop recordings

[Andre LaFosse <altruist@earthlink.net>]

Yo Tim,

Tim Nelson wrote:

> Should Kim's question be rephrased to specify that
> "Essential Loop Recordings" must competitively earn
> their inclusion by featuring the first known example
> of a particular technique, must feature specific
> equipment and/or must be widely known? Or should we go
> with the "what were five albums from the 90's that
> influenced you and your looping" aspect? I think
> either way would be valid, but they'd be very
> different lists!

I'm simply interested in knowing what it is about a particular work that
someone feels is noteworthy or important to them - i.e., why is it
"essential?"  I don't want to create a jury board that a recording has
to pass before it can be posted on a web site...  but I do think it's
worth engaging in enough of a discourse so that people know why they
should check something out in the first place.

For instance, lots of people have mentioned Torn's two mid-'90s CMP solo
albums, and I agree - those are pretty definitive works, they made a big
impact on a lot of loopists, and they showcase some particular
approaches to working with loops by one of the most historically
significant practitioners of the craft.

Lots of step-time '90s "electronica" has been mentioned, and I share
that attitude as well - it was quite an era for that general zone of
music making, and I know my own looping is much more indebted to Warp
Records than to Hypnos or Projekt.

So by all means, Terry's welcome to suggest his own records as essential
if that's how he feels about it.  But if someone describes a work as
unique or unprecedented for its era - which is how Terry has described
two of his albums - then I'm interested in a discourse on the subject. 
If I don't hear what he's talking about, maybe I'm missing something. 
Maybe one or the other of us has an inaccurate sense of the order of
things.  That's why I like to discuss and debate these things.  It's
nothing personal to Terry or anyone else - it's how we learn, right?

So is his 1985 album "Entering The Silence" an Essential Loop Recording?
 I dunno.  Was it the first album with looping to be released other than
one by Robert Fripp?  No.  Was it the first album of all solo guitar
looping to be released by someone other than Fripp?  I don't know.  Is
there anything specific about either the technical approach he used, or
(much more importantly, in my opinion) the way the actual music sounds
that was substantially different from what Robert or other loopers were
doing at that time?

These are the things I'm interested in hearing about and discussing, and
I welcome any discourse on it I can get.  

That's more posting in one day than I've done in months...  

Carpally tunneled,

--Andre