>Sigh!
>
>Lay off this "lets not categorize" biz. I am really fed up with people
>trying to bag others for simply asking certain music categories.
I wasn't trying to *bag* anybody. If you want to subdive music into a
million categories, that's your biz. But when somebody asks if DJ Krush
is considered trip hop, I have to ask the inevitable *considered trip hop
by whom*? Some may. Some may not. Unless there is a decisive music
categorization board that can rule on such distinctions, it depends
strictly on you and nobody else.
Is Sting pop or nu jazz? Is DJ Shadow hip hop or trip hop? Are Pink
Floyd rock or ambient? Is Roni Size jazzstep or jump-up? Is
Mood-to-Swing deep house or disco-house? Ask yourself if those are the
categories you want to place those specific artists in? Also realize
that artist do experiment with different "styles".
>Categorizing is important because in all aspects, it is a STYLE.
I don't indict that sometimes we need categories at times to communicate,
but getting wrapped up in that often leads to very narrow views of music.
At the end of the Coldcut + DJ Food Fight mixed CD, they throw in a nice
little sample about the category of music they play
symphonic-punk-disco-something-or-other. Funny stuff. Rob Swift even
included a whole sample from a Bruce Lee movie about styles. He says
that he doesn't teach styles, he incorporates it all.
Also, who decides what category it belongs in? Muzik? Urb? Your local
radio station? MTV? ASCAP? Is there only one right category? Can there
be hybrids of categories?
Can DJ Krush be intelligent-minimalist-illbient-jazzy-trip hop? Does he
only have to fit into one?
>As for the potential anti-pigeon-holing activists proclaim "good music
>is good music, period." might need to consider that whilst you are
>listening to a song you like, you are in essence categorising.
Speak for yourself. When I listen to new music, I listen to the mood and
feeling(s) it evokes in me. I recognize that its got certain elements:
ambient, breakbeats, distorted bass lines, whatever...That doesn't mean
that I automatically slap an overall label on it. If I did, my mixing
would probably be very linear and boring.
> I am sure you
>don't waltz (mind the pun) into a music store and pick out any record
who is
>a new artist you haven't heard of, you buy it, and decide to play it on
>the same night you DJ, and boom you have picked a record which is
actually
>classical music.
Actually, I do. I make a point of listening to records by artists I'm
unfamiliar with. That's how I've discovered most of the gems in my
collection. I remember I was at a store in Washington, DC when I picked
up and listened to a LP by a man named Matt Cooper (Outside). WOW! I
had never heard production so clean and at the same time all over the
place. I bought it and it gets regular play by me to this day.
I also try to listen to white labels. A lot of times they are incredible
tunes that could not clear the samples in it.
Regarding classical music, I heard a DJ Rap tape of her live at Fever
where she actually mixes in the piece from "2001" with some dnb.
Classical music at its best.
>Oh, the pigeon buster might defend that it is a good
>tune and that's that, but everyone has left the dance floor thinking
>you are a real dork...
I don't buy records for others, I buy them for myself. I don't worry
whether a tune will rock (mind the pun here too) the dancefloor or not.
I mix records that I like together and try to create a continous mood.
Quite frankly, what people think of me while while I'm spinning is
irrelevant. If they don't dig what I'm doing, it's not personal. I go
out and listen to bands that I really don't care for. I don't hold it
against them personally, and I don't think they would reciprocate those
kinds of feelings either.
Oh yeah, I am a "real dork" in real life anyway... :)
>Everyone, I mean everyone, sooner or later pick tunes according to
>artists, according to the production, who remixed it, what it has
>released before thus categorising in there little minds consciously or
>subconsciously, "oh yeah, new release of Photek, oh good -drumNBass-
>shit they've done before, oh, and DJ Premier remixed it, must be fucking
>good-breakbeat -mix, gotta listen to this one!!!!!!!!"
Listen to Coldcut. They make and put out very diverse music. Even that
nasty bastard Armand Van Helden can't really be categorized -- he puts
out shitty house, speed garage, and as we heard in "Sampleslaya", even
hip hop.
>So for listeners who ask questions of what music it is, pat you on the
back, you are
>journeying on a road which will lead to many fulfilling and inspiring
>moments.
...or a compartamentalizing of music according to social constructs such
as "style" and "genre".
>Oh, and if I put two categories of good and bad music in my record
>store and nothing else, I am sure I will get customers who still ask for
>drumNbass records or question me as to my right for slamming the
>artists I consider no good.
Where would Wax Doctor fit in your store? DNB? Jazzstep? Breakbeat?
Ambient breakbeat? Jungle? I'd argue it could fit under any and all of
those categories. That's the point, music is not monolithic and should
not be categorized in such a way. If you really care about your
customers, then put up all of those categories and sort out the records
in multiple bins in any and all slots that apply.
>Anyway, DJ Krush's breakbeat/hip hop influence has led him to create
>his own unique interpretation of his years from DJing. His most unique
>style is his scratching, a dark tormenting sound creating the ghetto and
the
>streets of NY at night. Not considered trip hop really, although jazz
>is a big influence for him. DJ Vadim works much like Krush, spare and
>direct beats...
Is that yes or no to *trip hop* then? Inquiring minds want to know,
y'know...
>If you reply to someone, please answer the question, not slander with
>another question. Makes you look really boring that way.
I didn't slander anybody. Reread what I wrote and you'll see that I was
trying to get clarification to the original question. Here is what
happened:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
On Sun, 24 May 1998 01:55:40 PDT "Hugh Barrett" writes:
>I know how much everyone hates the term trip hop, but I was just
>wondering if DJ Krush is considered to be among those dubbed trip hop
>artists
The obvious question is: as defined by *whom*?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I wouldn't call that slandering.
Peace,
Pedro Cevallos
-- http://www.cat.net/~cevallos/_____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]