It's funny - I've seen a lot of Howie B bashing now, but reading about
Skylab & Howie B I have to give the big thumbs up to both of the albums
(#1 & Music for Babies, repsectively). Here's the key: on these albums, a
close listen informs you that the person making the music is paying close
attention to each and every bar, trying to move things around within
overall structures much more than you see in a lot of releases (that
nevertheless still sound fantastic). When I listened to Music for Babies
I was incredibly impressed, I really thought that Howie WAS taking it to a
higher level, and furthermore I didn't really think that it was as cold &
mental as it was describe here. That's DJ Spooky's mix album (haven't
heard his own efforts yet)....
It's also interesting that the notions of art & electronic music have
finally collided here, because in general I think that the abstraction
that comes from trying to whack out beat music (artful manipulation, if
you will) is so diametrically opposed to the intention of most of the
music we discuss, that is to create a groove, that the best artists are
the ones who abandon overwhelming concerns about song form & the like and
manage to find the grooves that are destined to do everyone's heads in.
And here, Howie does fall short - his experimentation seemingly has had
the effect of alienating and dissapointing a few people. I nevertheless
appreciate the experimentation, because it's more interesting to listen to
in a living room setting. It won't get old as quick as some of the other
releases do, because when you listen to it three months down the line,
you'll catch something that you didn't the last time you listened. That
STILL happens with "Throbbing Pouch".
Lastly, even the music that is 4/4, AABA etc (predictable or DJ-oriented) -
how good has it gotten over the past year? It's amazing, people are
putting out so much good stuff these days I don't know what to buy
anymore. I guess that's what Howie's reacting to - to set yourself apart
it's becoming increasingly necessary to create something more than 'a good
groove'. First, it's gotta be a album full of them - and then, ????
Sorry for a bit of the abstraction, I've been thinking about this for a
while and having been waiting for the opportunity to post. I'd be
interested to hear what others think about music, electronic abstraction,
etc, either how it relates to Music for Babies or otherwise.
Jay B