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Saturday, January 3, 2004
Windowlickin' Good
I am wondering if anyone has tried listening to the MP3s that I've been putting up on here. I'm guessing that those of you with broadband probably have, at least.
I say that because I'm going to put up Aphex Twin's Windowlicker next. And after that, I might put up some of his more bizarre tracks. If you are at all interested in electronic music, Aphex Twin is really one good example of an artist who has done unique things with the "format".
I think that, in general, people view electronic music as the regular "thumping techno" that you hear in a club or something. And while it is true that much electronic music has some sort of regular backbeat, this is not unique to electronic music. Just about every genre has something that -- musically, or rhythmically -- makes it fit into that genre. I mean, if you listen to hard rock, you expect to hear a guitar. If you listen to classical pieces, you expect to hear a violin. Electronic music is the same way, really. But just as you can have a strong variation among 100 guitar-based songs, you can also have strong variation between 100 computer-based songs.
It's interesting that today, a wide variety of instruments are used to create electronic music. In general, a computer is used to mix different elements together. And in some cases, a computer is the only tool that is used.
But I find that there is a lot of misconception or misunderstanding about that. I've heard people say "Oh, you press a button and get a noise...wow, so creative". But I tend to disagree with that, for a whole variety of reasons.
Firstly, if you are working with computer software (and as anyone who uses Photoshop or Illustrator will know), the software and computer are only tools -- in the same way that the guitar is only a tool. The question is how you manipulate that tool to produce a melody.
Moreover, I find that in some ways, electronic music is more challenging than other styles of music. I say that because quite often, these artists are working from scratch. In other words, they aren't working with any instrument that already exists. They are instead trying to create unique sounds that are wholly unique -- something that is impossible to do with traditional instruments, unless you actually edit the instrument's sound digitally.
And that is one aspect of this type of music that I enjoy and find exciting. Some artists have created tracks that sound entirely unique; like nothing that traditional instruments could ever hope to replicate. Sure, you get your usual zappy-crappy techno stuff...but there's also a wide variety of absolutely stunning and beautiful music out there, just waiting to be discovered.
In terms of Aphex Twin...he's really quite a surreal artist. Much of his music wouldn't even be defined as "music" by a lot of people. That's because he takes some of the basic principles of sound and music, and then turns them upside down.
Having said that, I personally don't like a lot of his work. Some of it is so surreal and weird, that it kind of becomes a seemingly pointless exercise. But still, he does have some tracks that took me a while to get interested in, and when I did, I became even more interested in the possibilities of electronica itself.
Anyway, it might be interesting to put up some of my own playlist stuff on here now and then, if only to shatter some of the traditional concepts of what "techno" is. Like I said on OB, "techno" is a very specific term for a specific genre of electronic music. There are, in reality, dozens of genres of electronic music. And even for me, as a fan of this overall style, there are quite a few genres that I generally don't really like, save for a track here and there.
I guess that this entire post only underlines the whole idea that this type of music is generally misunderstood...and underappreciated.
Even Windowlicker is a track that I didn't like immediately. But it grew on me. When I listened to it (especially with headphones) and really thought about it, I realized that this was quite a unique, multi-layered aural experience. In particular, Aphex Twin's use of voice as music is interesting. And the way that the backbeat itself intermingles with the other elements (without always being a singular element in and of itself) is something that I appreciate.
For those of you who listen to it, I don't really expect you to enjoy it -- especially if you don't like anything "electronic" in music (even though most music has a heavy electronic influence...but we won't go there). Still, if you're interested in new types of music and if you feel that you have an open mind when it comes to music...I encourage you to explore some of these artists. You might be interested by what you discover -- not just in terms of shattering traditional views of music, but also in terms of how unique sounds can really be a treat for the ears. It's very refreshing.
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