strategic distractive arrythmia & afx vs. sqp | xltronic messageboard
 
You are not logged in!

F.A.Q
Log in

Register
  
 
  
 
Now online (1)
recycle
...and 355 guests

Last 5 registered
Oplandisks
nothingstar
N_loop
yipe
foxtrotromeo

Browse members...
  
 
Members 8025
Messages 2614130
Today 2
Topics 127542
  
 
Messageboard index
strategic distractive arrythmia & afx vs. sqp
 

offline theo himself from +- on 2003-08-02 05:14 [#00805244]
Points: 3348 Status: Regular



I dont know if distraction is the right term to be
applied to this concept, but strategic might work. the use
of arrythmia might also be a bit of a malapropism, but one
could opt for some sappy metaphor like 'the music is
his heart, his love' but I dont even know if that's entirely
true...


now.. onto getting you up to speed with whatever the fuck it
is I'm talking about. (as I can already see this thread
plummeting to the 201-300 section of the archives within
minutes after the initial post) alright.. on with it
already. a-to-the-hem. mic check.

the one thing I'm sure most people found most attractive or
most intriguing in the trailblaze that is richard james' and
tom jenkinson's music (I'm also assuming it typically takes
place in that order.. and leaving out mike paladinas, who in
this group is like the annoying little brother that wants to
play too) is how the fuck one managed to conceive and bring
to life/dat the frantic, photon-speed rhythmic patterns
after crafting ethereal, very alien pieces of sound and
soundscapes with layer upon layer of harmonizing textural
melody. of course, all of this, and the fact that it all
fucking somehow works. not a bleep or snare or
wahteverthefuck is out of place. no matter how impossible it
seems to reproduce or even conceive to produce in the first
place, it all fits into the time signature. and this is only
one of many things to gawk at in any random selection of
these artists' respective discographies. of course, these
layers, subtle yet noticable tweaks, and melodies all take
time to develop; it is the rapid-fire release of all these
things --- one right after the next.. each sounding more
and more otherworldly.. or like the sounds of autonomic
subatomic or cellular entities operating as they do
naturally..
--- that alters one's perception providing
the immediate assumption that this all took place on the
fly.. spontaneously.. without thought.. the farthest thing
from premeditation and contrivance..... .when in reality,
not


 

offline theo himself from +- on 2003-08-02 05:15 [#00805245]
Points: 3348 Status: Regular



..... .when in reality, nothing could be further from the
reality of the creative process behind this music (I hope
(?)

but do these artists ever betray that meticulous adherence
to the intricate rhythms that operate just outside the
reaches of our thresholds? ie do they ever throw in some out
of rhythm elements to spice shit up.. ? snare rushes,
triplets etc.. I'm sure most echos/delays are not programmed
to be compatible w/ the beat's tempo/bpm down to the x
millisecond.. but the speed at which these tracks operate do
not afford/allow us the discerning ear employed with slower
rhythms that are far easier to grasp for one to call out
such a discrepancy.

if this is the case, it certainly demystifies the artistry
of these artists.. however only slightly.. as the ratio of
fascinating intricacies in programming to the opposite still
weighs far greater on the former.. because also there is
artistic liscence which would allow for purposeful chaos
within an already chaotic expression/subgenre

the case is much different for squarepusher, as his
disregard for song structure on a larger scale comes off as
a general void in talent or vision for that kind of thing..
something, along with melodic structure/movement and
harmonies, is something that RDJ has a lot of and >[] seems
to have very little of. the only thing that jenkinson may
claim over james is his superior technical abilities wiht
live instruments.. in fact .. his skills on the bass would
probably rank him higher than some of the most accomplished
players.. .

while listening to a lot of go plastic, it occured to me
that many of the tracks were not real songs.. but rather
fragments of ideas loosely tied together by noisey
soundscapes (go! spastic comes to mind).. take those away
and the whole thing falls apart.

in the end all that really matters is what the final product
sounds like regardless of intent or the artist's lacking
vision and how the listener responds to it.. but I'd say as
a bottom line that squarepusher is more interesting than it


 

offline theo himself from +- on 2003-08-02 05:16 [#00805246]
Points: 3348 Status: Regular



...more interesting than it is fulfilling.. while afx is
equally interesting ..but this provided interest happens to
be coupled with a fulfilling musical experience when he's at
his absolute best

if you've made it this far.. let me know what you think of
these scary insights and hwo you regard/contrast afx & sqp
in this respect


 

offline ecnadniarb on 2003-08-02 05:24 [#00805247]
Points: 24805 Status: Lurker | Show recordbag



Aphex can make good music

Squarepusher can make good music

I read all your waffle and I disagree with most of it. You
are lexically masturbating RDJ when SM Pennyworth off this
board has produced tracks as good as anything Richard has
released in the past 6 years.


 

offline E-man from Rixensart (Belgium) on 2003-08-02 05:34 [#00805249]
Points: 3000 Status: Regular



i don't think that due to the speed of the tracks the
imperfections are inaudible, slow them down and you'll have
all the time you need to analyse the beats, the occasional
random sound is also on purpose i think...

comparing afx to sp, i think that tom is more fucked up in
his mind, especially now (remember rdj is like 30+ with a
kid or nearly) and obviously he does more "experimentations"
than rdj, who now does everything he likes and sometimes
releases it, but rdj is clearly more on control of every
aspect and parameters of his music than tom, i think it's
obvious when you hear his last material, he can do
practically what he wants with his music right now, kind of
like on top of his game...


 

offline theo himself from +- on 2003-08-02 05:36 [#00805250]
Points: 3348 Status: Regular



well, yeah but their talents may be equally matched.. or ..
no offense to pennyworth.. his style as good as it is, is an
reappropriated approximation of something that another
person started.. though he has began to go off on his own ..
all of us have our inspirations.. it's more remarkable to be
the inspiration rather than the inspired.. especially when
the inspiration you provided is as groundbreaking as rdjs


 

offline theo himself from +- on 2003-08-02 05:38 [#00805251]
Points: 3348 Status: Regular



they're inaudible to the casual listener.. I'd think most
people wouldnt go so far as to slow them down to point out a
rhythmic inaccuracy.. it's the final product as intended
that is what is to be heard and enjoyed for what it is..


 

offline ecnadniarb on 2003-08-02 05:40 [#00805253]
Points: 24805 Status: Lurker | Followup to theo himself: #00805250 | Show recordbag



Name one music style that RDJ has created?


 

offline theo himself from +- on 2003-08-02 05:45 [#00805255]
Points: 3348 Status: Regular



haha I dont know if he's created a genre.. but there's only
one windowlicker and rdjlp and nannou and all that

u-ziq et al = derivative


 

offline ecnadniarb on 2003-08-02 05:59 [#00805259]
Points: 24805 Status: Lurker | Followup to theo himself: #00805255 | Show recordbag



He does what he does well I don't argue with that, but by
your logic Luke Vibert is the daddy of them all and recent
RDJ et al are all just derivatives of him.


 

offline theo himself from +- on 2003-08-02 06:00 [#00805260]
Points: 3348 Status: Regular



and how did you arrive at this conclusion


 

offline ecnadniarb on 2003-08-02 06:08 [#00805262]
Points: 24805 Status: Lurker | Show recordbag



Well Vibert was the inspiration behind RDJ's move into drill
and faster breaks.


 

offline theo himself from +- on 2003-08-02 06:11 [#00805263]
Points: 3348 Status: Regular



but he added so much to it.. and think about yellow calx..
those arent just 33rpm breakbeats played at 45


 

offline theo himself from +- on 2003-08-02 06:14 [#00805266]
Points: 3348 Status: Regular



..to understate


 

offline Skink from A cesspool in eden on 2003-08-02 06:19 [#00805267]
Points: 7483 Status: Lurker



I think aphex's talent is taking a style and doing his thing
with it to make something really interesting out of it, I
don't think techno would be the same without saw 1 thinking
that some of the stuff on there was from 85 i think that is
probably his most groundbreaking release but i think he has
a talent for showing people up.


 

offline ecnadniarb on 2003-08-02 08:58 [#00805313]
Points: 24805 Status: Lurker | Show recordbag



HE said it was from 85. Don't get me wrong he is an
excellent artist, just more than a bit overrated by some
people.


 

offline theo himself from +- on 2003-08-02 12:29 [#00805555]
Points: 3348 Status: Regular



very few can do what he does.. even fewer can innovate like
he does


 

offline nobsmuggler from silly mid-off on 2003-08-02 12:33 [#00805559]
Points: 6265 Status: Addict



i think RDJ and david bowie are very similar in musical
approach as in they both havnt nessaserly created a style of
music but both have taken what there is to new limits


 

offline theo himself from +- on 2003-08-02 17:28 [#00805930]
Points: 3348 Status: Regular



I think most people are missing my point


 

offline Skink from A cesspool in eden on 2003-08-02 17:29 [#00805932]
Points: 7483 Status: Lurker | Followup to ecnadniarb: #00805313



Well you know, i like to take people for who they are even
if i don't know them, which might be a shortcoming but i
think even if it isn't, in my honest opinion i think it
kick's ass and i won't be persuaded otherwise. Aphex opened
my mind in so many ways so i'll stick by what he does and my
opinion.


 

offline Skink from A cesspool in eden on 2003-08-02 17:30 [#00805936]
Points: 7483 Status: Lurker | Followup to theo himself: #00805930



Probably but you are getting people to communicate which is
good.


 

offline theo himself from +- on 2003-08-02 17:33 [#00805942]
Points: 3348 Status: Regular



though some people are making good points as well


 

offline Skink from A cesspool in eden on 2003-08-02 17:51 [#00805973]
Points: 7483 Status: Lurker | Followup to theo himself: #00805942



Sorry i am guilty of staying, it's kind of like opening
pandora's box, it creates more questions than it answers.

If you get my meaning?


 

offline epsy from Afghanistan on 2003-08-02 18:52 [#00806033]
Points: 59 Status: Lurker



what?


 

offline E-man from Rixensart (Belgium) on 2003-08-03 03:44 [#00806308]
Points: 3000 Status: Regular



aphex philosophy is "no limits", he'll do everything and
wathever he wants, mix anything together, rip everybody,
create new chords moves, loop a loop for 10 min, records
sounds in his vault, etc...
that is aphex for me, he does not limit himself

squarepusher i find more struggling with his mind,
especially now he seem a lot more perturbated. i think he
need to sort his life a bit in order for his music to attain
new highs

on the subject of techniques, i think the music made on
actual sequencing software (or trackers) can be so precise
and "perfect" in a sense, that maybe they tend to put
imperfections back in the mix, but it's not random at all


 

offline OK on 2003-08-03 21:44 [#00807390]
Points: 4791 Status: Lurker



oh my god i'm just listening vordhosbn slowed down 50% and
the programming is amazing


 

offline w M w from London (United Kingdom) on 2003-08-04 20:23 [#00809272]
Points: 21454 Status: Regular



I think that aphex twins RDJ album/windowlicker/come2daddy
tracks glow with a different strange intellectual
brilliance. The tracks are very eerie, unconventional and
mentally polished. Now I think that some tracks by otto von
schirach, crunch, autechre, richard devine are even more
extreme in this nature.
I think two major classes of music are 1) music that largely
replicates from mind to mind memetically. this includes
genres that catch on such as "trance" or something, and even
catchy commercials probably. this type has an advantage as
far as replication goes because it is easier to replicate,
easier to like and therefore gets replicated more and heard
by more brains. With more brains thinking about it due to
it's larger exposure, it has a greater chance to get
replicated more. In other words it has high fecundity.
2) music for pleasure/thinking/altering consciousness
perhaps


 

offline qrter from the future, and it works (Netherlands, The) on 2003-08-04 20:29 [#00809289]
Points: 47414 Status: Moderator | Followup to w M w: #00809272



"With more brains thinking about it due to it's larger
exposure, it has a greater chance to get replicated
more."


so we're talking memes here?


 

offline JivverDicker from my house on 2003-08-04 20:39 [#00809297]
Points: 12102 Status: Regular | Followup to theo himself: #00805244



It's not concieved in the traditional sense, it's trial and
error, delegation to different programs and the choice of
results. Each sound isn't placed.


 


Messageboard index