What do I listen for? Well, Leslie summed up most of it.. theres only a
couple things I'd add.. or shift emphasis on...
- A rhythm that surprises me.. because its made out of the sound of dripping
water (you guys know which sample im talking about right? its
unforgettable), or because in a segueway, triplets turn into eighth notes
when the song changes time signatures, and it seems like they could never
possibly meld until they do. I'm a sucker for syncopation - I love track 6
on tosca/suzuki, because the melty piano chords are syncopated so strangely
that I still dont think I could play them on time even after the 100th
listen.
- Combination of sounds that shouldnt go together and do. The RZA really the
best I've ever heard at doing this... sounds of the wailing wall, or soprano
arias underlying rap lyrics and stuff. I wish hed drop the gangsta theme and
step over to the AJ side of things.
- A political or social message. I dunno why, and obviously not all the time
- half the stuff I listen to is about drugs, absolutely nothing at all, or
some combo of both, but I dig it when music makes me nod my head in more
ways than one. 4 example, I really dug DJ Shadows stuff a couple of years
ago because he seemed to be commenting on pomo alienation and all that... -
nothing totally new, but still. Same deal with David Holmes's foray into
NYC. AJ's not as good for this as straightforward rap or reggae, but it gets
in through the samples. With Dubya's proposed tax cut giving me an ulcer, I
think Ill be digging the political stuff even more these days.
- If something can make me dance like an idiot the first time I hear it, Im
really happy - but generally those songs dont last very long as favourites.
Usually what gets me going is a tempo that slowly increases throughout the
song, and once I realize the trick... just doesnt seem to have as much
effect.
- E
-----Original Message-----
From: Leslie N. Shill [mailto:icehouse@redshift.com]
Sent: 02 March 2001 02:35
To: Raymond,EL
Cc: acid
Subject: Re: differance
El Raymondo,
it appears that we agree on this topic! The lack of any suitable and easy to
pronounce name is, quite frankly (and Georgely and Gretaly!) a bonus for the
music we all seem to love so much. Of all the genres and sub-genres that I
have come across here things like 2-step, real easy to say but kind of blah
as music in my humble opinion, (nah, not so humble!), but i happen to love
it that so much of what i have come across here does not fall into any easy
descriptive realm except that it's good, or BAAAAAAAD or sumthin like that.
Yeah, please give me great beats, intricate rhythms, sensual moods, unusual
samples, twitchy turntablisms, over the top basslines, enduring
arrangements, sheer danceability, breaks and makes, sweet segues and some
outstanding vocalistics and i am one happy camper, call it whatever you want
to if you feel compelled to go beyond the sobriquet acid-jazz, but i just
want more of it, unclassifiable or not.
so, gang, what are the three elements of any piece of music that you hear
that make you gravitate toward that music? for me they are:
1/. a really good bassline and bottom end (modern music floats on the
bassline for me!)
2/. tight rhythms and beats, either well-played or at least imaginatively
programmed)
3/. interesting arrangements.
how about you, what do you listen for?
leslie/The Power of Sound
----- Original Message -----
From: Raymond,EL <mailto:E.L.Raymond@lse.ac.uk>
To: 'Leslie N. <mailto:icehouse@redshift.com> Shill' ; acid
<mailto:acid-jazz@ucsd.edu>
Sent: Thursday, March 01, 2001 4:07 PM
Subject: differance
hey kids!
I've been watching this thread with amusement.. my fave so far is 'ambient
speed core???' Giggle.
But seriously, why are we sitting here thinking up names when meanwhile so
many AJ djs make a point of saying that their music transcends definition?
I'm thinking of one DJ Kicks cover that pontificates on how Kicks, in his
quest to confuse boundaries and overturn expectations, deliberately tries to
make music that cannot be classified. & an old sample on a DJ Shadow song
with a clip of an interviewer pressing shadow to define his music and
finally, he comes up with something preposterously meaningless like
'electronic metal hip-hop experimental countrified funk' or some shit like
that. Or how about the rhetoric surrounding coldcuts new weirdo digitizing
mixing thingamabob.. something about how they are constantly seeking to
transform the nature of authorship and DJ'ing, and this is their latest
venture. Those are the only three specific (though vaguely described)
examples I can think of, but I know theres more.
So, yeah, AJ does have some general characteristics, and some aspects of it
are stable and definable, but fundamentally? I think the spirit of AJ is
permeable, shape-shifting, contradictory, surprising... all things good and
edgy and challenging and flucuating. Trying to define what we listen to is
an excercise in humour.. for listeners sake, I hope it never ends.
; D
- E
----------------------
'Starvation is God's way of punishing those who have too little faith in
capitalism.'
- J. D. Rockefeller, Sr.
-----Original Message-----
From: Leslie N. Shill [mailto:icehouse@redshift.com]
Sent: 01 March 2001 18:48
To: acid
Subject: genre calling
My dear friends and music lovers, the harder we try to name what we love
musically, the further we get from anything real and the closer we get to
institutional tagging (UGGGH and BLECH!) Acid Jazz works pretty well for me
and the information I derive from this list and the various contributors
(you know who you are!) is very valuable to me and it goes well beyond any
wordy definition, people seem to know what they like and, more importantly,
what is GOOD and that makes the difference not the name of it. While not
having a clear tag might make things harder to find in a record store, just
acid jazz is really fine as far as I am concerned! A lot of the best music I
have connected to via this list is beyond specific definition anyway and I
kinda like it that way!
leslie/The Power of Sound
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Fri Mar 02 2001 - 15:34:50 CET