music?

a rant about the new styles of music being disguised under old quality names and served to thousands of weekend festival goers (and handfuls of pissed off individuals) or how the sexy sneaked in...

as usual, i went astray from the general idea -which seems to be happening most of the time in my case - but here goes...

i was listening to a new album by a dub band i've been familiar with for a while now and i have to say i'm really disappointed by it. names don't matter anyway (it's high tone), but i just can't not rant about what's been going on lately.

for starters, i have to say that i'm quite passionate about music. i've been hooked on it since before i could breathe due to the constant exposure to my older brother's musical expressions. that kinda built me up to be the person who i am today, i guess - musically, of course. i tend to be quite critical about the music i hear and i really only listen to the stuff that i really like. i'm not the type who listens to whatever's been randomized in the player in any case. it can be randomized, but it's all strategically selected.

i just think there's a lot of good music out there that deserves, rather then listening to the same stuff all the time. naturally, one prefers certain genres and therefore focuses on them, which can, to be honest, be quite time consuming and somewhat bordering with a kind of an obligation. of course, no one likes that, so i tent to turn it all into fun, enjoyment and a true experience of music.

now, mind that there are different artists, of course. some tend to so-to-say manufacture the music, while others seem to place every sound with microscopical precision. on the other hand, there are also different types of listeners who, naturally, appreciate the music they're listening to in various ways. i wouldn't really try defining my taste, but i have (under specific circumstances like working with a lot of people, playing occasional selections aso.) been forced to be quite selective about what i'm listening to exactly. there is the difference between a bulk-production music and a track i can say i don't quite like, but is made really good (so it's purely about the taste).

and now comes the tricky part: the music that i listen at home is not much different from the stuff i'd be playing in a set, but i surely do make a difference. (note that this difference is nothing that i could point out specifically - it's just my all-day-round mind-crunching thoughts coming out.) so, naturally, it's boiled down to me piling up tons of good old music, which is enqueued in my player quite often. surely enough, you can't play the same music all the time, so you go through new releases in order to find something that suits you.

now, there's my problem. and thank goodness, it's only taken me a page to get to it. :b it rarely happens that i listen to something and instantly like it - it's more often me listening to something and, if i don't seem to like it at once, give it a second chance perhaps. third chances are very rare and the growing on even rarer. i tend to give a chance to a project i liked before, as if i'm hoping that i'll like it after listening to it for a sufficient amount of times. that, for example, happened with the latest shpongle album, which never really grew on to me. as much as i completely dislike it and feel absolutely nothing when i listen to it, it's still on the hard drive though (i usually just press the delete button), so i might give it a fifth chance someday, hehe...

it often happens that the projects that we used to listen to before simply change their style and create different kinds of music. i completely understand that, since i can notice how i change myself, but i still think i have the right to dislike it. some people change projects (get new names) along with the moods, tastes and creativeness, which i find totally fair. one knows who's behind the project anyway and can simply expect the difference in the sound. that's why there are ever more and more (not only bad but) lousy sets (or even worse, live sets) at festivals. It must seem cool or something to invite people who've made a trance album like fifteen years ago and they're well known. i mean, that's quite harsh on the artists themselves as well - imagine fancying a completely different kind of music and having to play a set of music that you've created ten years ago. i think the new fans would be quite disappointed listening to some old stuff they've never heard while they came to, let's say, hear the latest album.

well, it works both ways. i come to a festival to listen to a project that i've known for years and all i hear is some conveyor-belt mtv-style sexy-house music or something that has even less to do with the artist. i've basically gotten used to it and i just go and see the stuff which i'd like to hear - or i go and listen to someone i've never heard before, since projects like those tend to be much better than the famous-name ones.

there's a saying in croatia (dok mačke nema, miševi kolo vode) which says that while the cat is absent, the mice (lead the) dance. i have a feeling that's exactly what's happened to the electronic scene. trance doesn't sound as trance anymore, but minimal house; chill is not chill, but buddha-bar lounge music; dub is not dub anymore, but dubstep... i reckon i should be the one who should just get used to the constant changing, but i'd somehow rather stick to the old music that i like (and the occasional good stuff that i run into) than go mainstream (which, by the way, seems to be mush easier).

i've had my share of minimal, industrial and lounge already - but ten years ago. i refuse to see anything revolutionary and innovative in old music that is being remixed by twenty-five-year-old engineering students. give me some new music, so i can at least say i like it or dislike it, but releasing an album full of remixes is plainly boring to me.

years ago i saw people rant about what i'm ranting about now - people who've since then simply taken the low road. and now i'm ranting about what they're doing and what they've become. dubstep high tone, almost-trance like chill music and prometheus that has more to do with brighton beach bars than trance... is that what we've come down to?! i'll listen to it, i'll dislike it and i'll toss it. it can be the best engineering and mastering quality in the world, but if it's not suiting one, it's understandable to let it go.

so, why do people tend to lead these ever-lasting discussions about which music is fantastic and which is even fantasticer? sometimes i think it's best to simply log off and enjoy the music in the privacy of my own four walls - but why should i do that?! i like going out, i like outdoor parties and week-long festivals and i pay my entrance same as everyone else. but why am i suddenly being fed awful, cheap and just-stack-it-up music? is it another battle that resembles david and goliath? i don't expect the time to reverse itself, but i sure as hell think i deserve some quality music when i expect it!

music makes the people come together? i don't think so...

And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane
by those who could not hear the music.
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche