The song remains the same...
I'm a bit of a closet fan of electronica, in addition to my other musical loves. I wouldn't claim to be an expert, I've just found a few things that I love, such as Jet Jaguar and Can *. I like the piece that
Kraftwerk did for Expo 2000 (although perhaps in part because I was
there), but I find most of their stuff a bit out there for my tastes.
So anyway, I got up early this Sunday morning, and turned on Radio 1 because I was after something a bit mellow. They were playing this quite cool electronic piece. After making 2 espressos and preparing the weetbix, it occurred to me that the music didn't appear to have
changed. It could have been a CD skipping, unbeknownst to the Radio 1 robot, unattended by humankind, or it could merely have been a bit more of an experimental piece, with a long interlude of very similar repeating sounds slowly morphing over time. Anyway, after breakfast and dropping L* at work, I flicked back to Radio 1. Still going. And now, almost 90 minutes later, it's still going. It still sounds quite cool, but it's got to be skipping now.
CODA: So I called up; turns out the computer is on the blink and was
stuck doing whatever.
* And yes, I'm a bit gutted that Damo Suzuki has been playing Auckland and Wellington but not made it this far south.
posted by limegreen @ 10:24 AM
7 Comments:
That's a bit of a sad commentary on contemporary music, that a fellow with your smarts can't actually tell the difference between a piece of music and a computer playlist on the blink!
I don't think it's a comment just on music!!! I think art, perhaps partly in an effort to push the boundaries is trying to challenge any and all conventional notions. I did consider it was a computer on the blink within 30 seconds or so (I mean is it really different than a minute of guitar feedback tacked on the end of a 70s piece)(and I have some other work which I like where I'd say it goes for at least 30 seconds before other elements are slolwy introduced).
However, if an unmade bed can win the Turner Prize...
Or my favourite local example --> Sam Mahon allegedly had a pedestal with a button marked DO NOT PRESS. A couple of days into the exhibition someone finally did and it let off some pyrotechnics, as is his want. The gallery didn't ask him back.... [I think this one is great]
Or did you see the Ronnie Van Hout exhibition? Really didn't do it for me for the most part. But I'll suck up Bill Culbert or Max Gimblett or Ralph Hotere (which depending on a person's age may or may not be classified as art).
Actually, the best one is I have a remix as a B-side on an INXS EP. I rather like it, but if I turn it up too loud, it's hard to tell the "remix" parts from where the bass is making the needle jump...
In my defence, I was making coffee in other room, but I did preserve it for posterity (but didn't manage to convert it to a better format).
I remember the rave in your head....om-cha-om-cha. It was particularly good way back in the summer of....um...The Big Day Out, or something. That was the best electronic music I'd heard.
The rave in my head is still going strong heheh.
That would be the summer of 2000 I think. We should road-trip again soon.
I did see the Ronnie van Hout thing and it did about as much for me as for you it seems - there might have been one or two pieces that I saw something in. You remember the playschool house? I think the worst piece of "art" featured about 12 versions of a house that looked like that one, as presented by by a six year old with a blunt pencil. That was in Amsterdam's Museum of Modern Art-alike (it actually has a name, but I've forgotten it ).
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