nebula@sftig.UUCP (nebula) (05/15/85)
> > I've always liked 'Wall-of-sound' bands such as Yes, Pink Floyd, and > some of Eno's stuff. I've slowly amassed most of their repective albums, > especially Pink Floyd. I've also begun porting my favorites to tape, so > I can enjoy them in my car, which has a decent sound system. > > Another favorite of mine is Tangerine Dream, which > shares Germany as a home country with Kraftwerk. > > Mark J. Norton > {decvax,linus,wjh12,mit-eddie,cbosgd,masscomp}!genrad!panda!mjn > mjn@sunspot There was a time that I could have appreciated your taste in synthetic artists. However, with the exception of Kraftwerk, the above mentioned bands were more analog artists than synthetic artists. i.e. Thier oscillators and signal proces- sesors/generators were analog. The editing/engineering techniques were analog oriented. Don't take this wrong, the works are great but what year is this, 1985 right?! I realize that everyone has their own preferences, especially when it comes to some- thing as subjective as musical taste. YES, Floyd, T Dream were great bands for their time. They produced some great works. If one hasn't heard these works before then by all means check them out. Personally, between the ages of 15 to 22 or so I really enjoyed them; they were the happening groups at that time. By now the time- liness and freshness has long since departed. A sampling of groups that have been around recently that are a little less intro- spective yet really fresh and alive are: Paul Young Thomas Dolby Paul Haig Wall of Voodoo Robert Gorl Specimen FREEEZE Prince Charles & the City Beat Band Yello Ice House The System Cabaret Voltaire Ultravox Berlin Scrity Polity Yukihiro Takahashi Afrika Bombata & the Soul Sonic Force New Order Visage Hardcore SSQ John Foxx Ministry Harold Faultimier Blancmange The Stranglers
jer@peora.UUCP (J. Eric Roskos) (05/22/85)
> However, with the exception of Kraftwerk, the above mentioned > bands were more analog artists than synthetic artists. Now, this is a dismal way of judging music, that it should be digitally produced! There is currently this fascination with getting away from analog music-production; look in net.music, where everyone has this fascination with music recorded on digital media; music that has a vague discomforting feel, as if it was covered with small fine hairs. Then, I will patently attack your evaluation criterion, as being based on a desire to be "trendy," rather than on any merit of the music itself. And I will do it this way: I will assert that the almost purely analog Tales from Topographic Oceans, by Yes, is the major contribution to music made by our present era; because unlike the groups you have cited, at least those with which I am familiar, it strives to employ synthesized music in new ways (as vs. those that are simply imitative of traditional musical forms), while maintaining sufficient contact with the traditional forms that the music remains melodic, and not simply noise*. This is accomplished by the use of a continuum ranging from the purely accoustic guitar of "Along Without You," to the purely synthesized (except for drums) sounds of the fight scene in "Ritual" (which itself resolves in an amazing way back to the purely accoustic piano in the transition to "Nous Sommes du Soleil"). This is where the majority of modern-day electronic music fails. While it is interesting, it is emotionally dead material, striving to be purely synthetic, but thereby inhuman. -- jer ---------- * The philosophy underlying this is explained in the bizarre song "Sound Chaser," by the way. -- Full-Name: J. Eric Roskos UUCP: ..!{decvax,ucbvax,ihnp4}!vax135!petsd!peora!jer US Mail: MS 795; Perkin-Elmer SDC; 2486 Sand Lake Road, Orlando, FL 32809-7642 "Vs vg'f qvssvphyg, be rkcrafvir, be byq, vg zhfg or tbbq." -- Cuvybfbcul bs arg.erp.cubgb
jer@peora.UUCP (J. Eric Roskos) (06/04/85)
Huzzah for the undefeated triumph of analog over digital music! A coward
dies a thousand deaths; a hero dies but one.
--
Full-Name: J. Eric Roskos
UUCP: ..!{decvax,ucbvax,ihnp4}!vax135!petsd!peora!jer
US Mail: MS 795; Perkin-Elmer SDC;
2486 Sand Lake Road, Orlando, FL 32809-7642
"Zl FB vf n xvyyre junyr."tre@sdcarl.UUCP (Tom Erbe) (06/06/85)
In article <1014@peora.UUCP> jer@peora.UUCP (J. Eric Roskos) writes: >Huzzah for the undefeated triumph of analog over digital music! A coward >dies a thousand deaths; a hero dies but one. >-- I am puzzled by this posting. First, what is an "undefeated triumph"? Second, what is "analog music"? Is it music that contains analogies? Finally, what is "digital music"? Is it music about digits or music made only with ones fingers? Please clarify. -- thomas r. erbe {ucbvax,ihnp4,akgua,hplabs,sdcsvax}!sdcarl!tre
jer@peora.UUCP (J. Eric Roskos) (06/11/85)
You're right on all counts! Congratulations!
I can't help it, I just get annoyed when people make categorical statements
like "the 70's art rock musicians are outdated because they didn't use
digital synthesizers," which is what the original poster seemed to be
saying (although he also attempted to associate the outdatedness with the
age of the listener). But after posting a reasonably coherent counterexample
to his claim, and having no one challenge it, I wrote the posting which you
referenced. Obviously an "undefeated triumph" is a strange phrase... but
then, so is the word "huzzah".
--
Full-Name: J. Eric Roskos
UUCP: ..!{decvax,ucbvax,ihnp4}!vax135!petsd!peora!jer
US Mail: MS 795; Perkin-Elmer SDC;
2486 Sand Lake Road, Orlando, FL 32809-7642
"Gnyx gb gur fhayvtug, pnyyre..."