Meta: Music
Feb. 27th, 2006 17:18![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
torquillI've been meaning to post this for months. Always "when I have time", but it keeps coming back to mind at odd moments. So...
Why do I listen to the music I do? Or, more generally, what do I look for in my music?
I've come to realize that what I want out of music is not what most other people want. Oh, I can listen to Red Hot Chili Peppers, or ethnic music, or Metallica, but they aren't much more than background noise to me. I actively object to abrasive things (thrash metal, shouting hip-hop, Mariah Carey's high notes) and country, but anything else I usually run across is "eh." Whatever it is that grabs my gut and soul just isn't there in most popular genres.
I kind of made the gradual slide into techno as it developed in the 80's and 90's, following Depeche Mode and Front 242, picking up oddities like The Orb, tracking Orbital until I was derailed by Empirion and Sasha's "EP". Both of the latter two were chance encounters, one playing in a comic book store I never frequented, the other playing on the speakers in the Cambridge Soundworks store in the mall. In each case I made careful note of the artist and tracked down the music, and I've never regretted it. Empirion because it's an experience I never would have had otherwise -- they were an English band who had an album and a single, then disbanded -- and Sasha because he introduced me to music that I love with a passion.
Listening to "EP" now, it strikes me as a little immature, lacking the richness of later works, but I still love "Rabbitweed" off of that single. It made me seek out his other albums, and I discovered he was a DJ, doing mixes. And suddenly my whole world expanded. I listened to "Live in Ibiza" and was blown away; it wasn't the first time I had heard a whole disc of continuous mixed music (I owe that to the special "Sounds of Slashdot" disc my brother picked up at a conference), but the variety and depth was amazing. I started looking up the artists that he was mixing, and discovered Bt. Bt does his own mix albums, which gave me the names of other artists, and I got into Seal that way; meanwhile, I sought out The Crystal Method and started picking that up. And off I went.
There was a very specific sound I was after, though. I have a kickass car stereo system, courtesy of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
eyeofcanaan; I want the car to hum, which takes not just thumps of the subwoofer but a decent control of the midrange bass. I want complexity, the more layers the better, which is where Orbital loses me so often. And I care very little about words. I sing along with Depeche Mode, and I like the poetic nature of Seal, but for the most part you can give me the instrumental of KMFDM's "Money" and I'll pass on the original.
I've become more and more aware that other people want words. They pay attention to lyrics, and those are what make or break the song for them. Meanwhile, I'm listening for creative chord changes, syncopation, and overlying patterns. Voice to me is just another instrument, with the meaning of the words taking a far back seat to how they sound; I'm just as happy with songs in French or Japanese as ones in English, assuming that the pattern of syllables and the quality of the voice are well-done. I want melody, not meaning. There are a few things where I care about the lyrics -- or samples, such as the spoken "programming of the mind" clip used by TCM -- but most of the time they just distract me from the music itself. For that reason, I can't listen to an album that has lyrics more than about twice in a row, no matter how nice the background music may be, while I can listen to a mix album continuously for up to two weeks and still enjoy it.
I like some edginess and surprises from music -- unexpected chord changes, odd samples, elegant fills, the occasional grating sound just to make the rest of it that much smoother. The best mix is changing constantly, though I know many people who would get impatient with it; a phrase is usually eight measures (of four beats each), where the music changes very little or builds to the next phrase. It's enough for a full sung verse in a pop song, and that's just for one particular set of sounds. The next phrase is different in one layer, or two, or it drops all but three of the eight layers to go in a different direction. But when the only change is the introduction of a second rhythm on cymbals, it can be too subtle a change for most listeners to care about.
It may be that I grew up with my dad listening to the local classical station all the time, but I've never felt that a three-minute song was really long enough. It doesn't allow time for development or settling in; in the poetry world, it's a limerick or sonnet, a snapshot of something. I was impressed by Danny Elfman's twelve-minute "Change", and when I found out he had cut it down from 20 minutes, I wished I could hear the original. I want epics, prose, a novella. The beginning of a mix album is very different from the end, even if there are no abrupt changes at all, and it's had time to play with musical quotes, bring everything down to basics, build it up again, and experiment with the possibilities. I can settle into it and go where it takes me, without having to mentally shift gears every three minutes as a different song comes up. It's why there are some songs by TCM, Sasha, and Bt that I love, but don't love quite as much as those that are woven into a full 45-minute mix.
I like to relax into my music, let my mind drift a little. Driving is a form of meditation, letting me unwind. It's easiest to relax when I can feel the hum through the seat, and the complexity keeps the fidgety parts of my mind occupied with something rhythmic, regulating it like a metronome. Normal chords soothe my inner musician, making the music comfortable. It confuses me that so many people think that Trance is music that puts you to sleep (I think of that as Ambient) but it is hypnotic in a way. That makes sense, given that half of these DJs are creating music for the club and rave crowds. I guess some people would fall asleep from boredom because the music doesn't change fast enough.
Oddly enough, as much as I love Sasha, the band that's gotten my favorite sound spot-on is The Crystal Method. Sasha's track record is better (though I thought "Fundacion" was lacking something) in that he makes albums where I like everything on them, but TCM's "Legion of Boom" and "Community Service" are totally satisfying to me in a musical sense. They know how to handle the subsonics all the way down to the bottom of the woofer, but they keep the upper ranges crisp and neat. And some of the samples they use are quite entertaining. (They haven't quite matched Sasha's "That sets me... on fire" from "San Francisco", or the Seismix "Waah" off of "Communicate", though.)
I've stuck with Depeche Mode through "Ultra", and need to pick up "Playing the Angel", because they've grown in some of the same directions I have. Front 242 and Orbital have their place in my collection, though I won't be getting any more Orbital in the foreseeable future, not unless they learn to set the mixer properly for subsonics and figure out how to liven things up just a little more. Empirion is light, calculated, and very intellectual, and I still listen to it from time to time. But they all lack one or more of the elements I'm looking for in a really satisfactory album. I keep looking for more music, and I keep finding better and better stuff as the rave/club scene evolves.
So if you want to share the really cool song you got from someone or other, I'll give it a listen, but be aware that I'm listening to something totally different from what you're hearing. That doesn't mean I don't like anything but trance -- I have Eurythmics, Holst's "The Planets", celtic music, and the soundtrack to "Labyrinth" on my shelves -- but my heart is in the techno club.
Why do I listen to the music I do? Or, more generally, what do I look for in my music?
I've come to realize that what I want out of music is not what most other people want. Oh, I can listen to Red Hot Chili Peppers, or ethnic music, or Metallica, but they aren't much more than background noise to me. I actively object to abrasive things (thrash metal, shouting hip-hop, Mariah Carey's high notes) and country, but anything else I usually run across is "eh." Whatever it is that grabs my gut and soul just isn't there in most popular genres.
I kind of made the gradual slide into techno as it developed in the 80's and 90's, following Depeche Mode and Front 242, picking up oddities like The Orb, tracking Orbital until I was derailed by Empirion and Sasha's "EP". Both of the latter two were chance encounters, one playing in a comic book store I never frequented, the other playing on the speakers in the Cambridge Soundworks store in the mall. In each case I made careful note of the artist and tracked down the music, and I've never regretted it. Empirion because it's an experience I never would have had otherwise -- they were an English band who had an album and a single, then disbanded -- and Sasha because he introduced me to music that I love with a passion.
Listening to "EP" now, it strikes me as a little immature, lacking the richness of later works, but I still love "Rabbitweed" off of that single. It made me seek out his other albums, and I discovered he was a DJ, doing mixes. And suddenly my whole world expanded. I listened to "Live in Ibiza" and was blown away; it wasn't the first time I had heard a whole disc of continuous mixed music (I owe that to the special "Sounds of Slashdot" disc my brother picked up at a conference), but the variety and depth was amazing. I started looking up the artists that he was mixing, and discovered Bt. Bt does his own mix albums, which gave me the names of other artists, and I got into Seal that way; meanwhile, I sought out The Crystal Method and started picking that up. And off I went.
There was a very specific sound I was after, though. I have a kickass car stereo system, courtesy of
eyeofcanaan; I want the car to hum, which takes not just thumps of the subwoofer but a decent control of the midrange bass. I want complexity, the more layers the better, which is where Orbital loses me so often. And I care very little about words. I sing along with Depeche Mode, and I like the poetic nature of Seal, but for the most part you can give me the instrumental of KMFDM's "Money" and I'll pass on the original.I've become more and more aware that other people want words. They pay attention to lyrics, and those are what make or break the song for them. Meanwhile, I'm listening for creative chord changes, syncopation, and overlying patterns. Voice to me is just another instrument, with the meaning of the words taking a far back seat to how they sound; I'm just as happy with songs in French or Japanese as ones in English, assuming that the pattern of syllables and the quality of the voice are well-done. I want melody, not meaning. There are a few things where I care about the lyrics -- or samples, such as the spoken "programming of the mind" clip used by TCM -- but most of the time they just distract me from the music itself. For that reason, I can't listen to an album that has lyrics more than about twice in a row, no matter how nice the background music may be, while I can listen to a mix album continuously for up to two weeks and still enjoy it.
I like some edginess and surprises from music -- unexpected chord changes, odd samples, elegant fills, the occasional grating sound just to make the rest of it that much smoother. The best mix is changing constantly, though I know many people who would get impatient with it; a phrase is usually eight measures (of four beats each), where the music changes very little or builds to the next phrase. It's enough for a full sung verse in a pop song, and that's just for one particular set of sounds. The next phrase is different in one layer, or two, or it drops all but three of the eight layers to go in a different direction. But when the only change is the introduction of a second rhythm on cymbals, it can be too subtle a change for most listeners to care about.
It may be that I grew up with my dad listening to the local classical station all the time, but I've never felt that a three-minute song was really long enough. It doesn't allow time for development or settling in; in the poetry world, it's a limerick or sonnet, a snapshot of something. I was impressed by Danny Elfman's twelve-minute "Change", and when I found out he had cut it down from 20 minutes, I wished I could hear the original. I want epics, prose, a novella. The beginning of a mix album is very different from the end, even if there are no abrupt changes at all, and it's had time to play with musical quotes, bring everything down to basics, build it up again, and experiment with the possibilities. I can settle into it and go where it takes me, without having to mentally shift gears every three minutes as a different song comes up. It's why there are some songs by TCM, Sasha, and Bt that I love, but don't love quite as much as those that are woven into a full 45-minute mix.
I like to relax into my music, let my mind drift a little. Driving is a form of meditation, letting me unwind. It's easiest to relax when I can feel the hum through the seat, and the complexity keeps the fidgety parts of my mind occupied with something rhythmic, regulating it like a metronome. Normal chords soothe my inner musician, making the music comfortable. It confuses me that so many people think that Trance is music that puts you to sleep (I think of that as Ambient) but it is hypnotic in a way. That makes sense, given that half of these DJs are creating music for the club and rave crowds. I guess some people would fall asleep from boredom because the music doesn't change fast enough.
Oddly enough, as much as I love Sasha, the band that's gotten my favorite sound spot-on is The Crystal Method. Sasha's track record is better (though I thought "Fundacion" was lacking something) in that he makes albums where I like everything on them, but TCM's "Legion of Boom" and "Community Service" are totally satisfying to me in a musical sense. They know how to handle the subsonics all the way down to the bottom of the woofer, but they keep the upper ranges crisp and neat. And some of the samples they use are quite entertaining. (They haven't quite matched Sasha's "That sets me... on fire" from "San Francisco", or the Seismix "Waah" off of "Communicate", though.)
I've stuck with Depeche Mode through "Ultra", and need to pick up "Playing the Angel", because they've grown in some of the same directions I have. Front 242 and Orbital have their place in my collection, though I won't be getting any more Orbital in the foreseeable future, not unless they learn to set the mixer properly for subsonics and figure out how to liven things up just a little more. Empirion is light, calculated, and very intellectual, and I still listen to it from time to time. But they all lack one or more of the elements I'm looking for in a really satisfactory album. I keep looking for more music, and I keep finding better and better stuff as the rave/club scene evolves.
So if you want to share the really cool song you got from someone or other, I'll give it a listen, but be aware that I'm listening to something totally different from what you're hearing. That doesn't mean I don't like anything but trance -- I have Eurythmics, Holst's "The Planets", celtic music, and the soundtrack to "Labyrinth" on my shelves -- but my heart is in the techno club.
