Electronic Music Investigation
Have you ever wondered what the hell that robot music is? Or what wompy means? Or why all the ladies have feathers in their hair these days? And why everyone is rolling? What are those skinny white boys on stage actually doing on their laptops anyway?
Oh, electronic music. Who are you and what are you doing to my peers? I have no answers to these questions, but Some dear friends and I have been exploring the electronic music surge and attempting to analyze the culture and community (the 'scene') that is developing along with the music.
Sometimes there is a judgment, sometimes there is appreciation.
For example, I appreciate the notion of an electronic show simply being a visceral experience; the priority being a desire to feel the beat and bass in your very bones and not complicating it with academic inquiry.
But the jury is still out on:
1. the consequence of the link between the priority of the physical experience and seemingly fundamental drug usage.
2. How the music + the scene might relate to the search for greater meaning (ie social and political commentary, contact with collective consciousness & community, spirituality, pushing the boundaries of technology & art in the human experience)
3. The true depth of its musicality
Daniel Ox provided me this quote from heyreverb.com, where Lorin Ashton (Bassnectar) gives a little bit of insight into the simplicity of the movement:
“All that electronic music seeks to do is intensify and reintensify other forms of music,” Ashton said. “Because something is electronic music doesn’t mean that it sounds like a robot, but you’re using various music and techniques to make it thicker and more dynamic and to enhance and intensify. You can make it pure electronic, and that’s great, but you can also mutilate and destroy and recreate any song you love.“There are no rules, and as people’s minds open up, the artist has an unlimited palette to sample from.”
There will be many a post following this investigation of an important component of contemporary music culture. Check out posts tagged, 'electronic music investigation.' There is much to be explored within this cultural phenomenon. I welcome commentary.
