'the music itself' is never just 'the music itself' some things are indivisible
― ≖_≖ (Lamp), Saturday, November 8, 2014 5:46 AM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
On the one hand sure, on the other hand like what though, apart from what the listener imagines.
― Tim F, Saturday, 8 November 2014 05:54 (nine years ago) link
I'm not saying "let's not talk about the artist or the music videos or politics" so much as that the idea that you'll understand derrick may when you've felt the streets of detroit in your soul gets it the wrong way round.
Better to say: "one of the things I like about derrick may is that when I listen to his music it not only reminds me of walking the streets of detroit but makes that reminiscence feel more meaningful than it might otherwise."
― Tim F, Saturday, 8 November 2014 05:56 (nine years ago) link
the 'walking the streets of detriot' guy is also the 'perfect synthesis of refined european culture and savage african soul' guy and obviously its all of a piece in how he hears derrick may and i think its valuable to know that. i mean id rather he talk about that stuff than try to describe the music in technical terms because even the 'purely musical' is going to be shaded by his whole 'cerberal kraftwerk vs. soulful black music' dichotomy
i mean i dont think i need to walk the streets of detroit or buy into some noble savage myth to 'get' derrick may but obviously 2001 ilm poster micheal taylor did and thats sort of interesting to me
― ≖_≖ (Lamp), Saturday, 8 November 2014 06:10 (nine years ago) link
okay to be clear I'm not trying to draw some strict dichotomy between musicology vs other stuff, more this idea that you can appeal to some higher authority of any sort (incl. musicological authority!) outside of "this is how this shit makes me feel."
Which is not the same as hyper-subjectivity though it probably looks like it.
Weird to be having this argument now though b/c my immediate thought when reading back was "I'm more sympathetic to mt's position than I was back then".
― Tim F, Saturday, 8 November 2014 06:15 (nine years ago) link
i half agree with you
i think im always more interested in how music is situated in the world than strictly how it sounds but i understand others who dont share that feeling, i dont think thats the best or only approach. but i do think its generally easier to dialogue with
funnily enough i dont really agree with any of that dudes take on derrick may but i can see how for a british in 2001 it might make sense
― ≖_≖ (Lamp), Saturday, 8 November 2014 06:31 (nine years ago) link
mt's not a british though
― the late great, Saturday, 8 November 2014 06:32 (nine years ago) link
"It's just cool music, who cares about 'soul' or mythmaking or whatever, i'll bet you like some pretty shitty music yourself, mr emporor"
― brimstead, Saturday, November 8, 2014 1:14 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Yeah I stand corrected, I was being a contrary prick earlier today.
― challop (Willl), Saturday, 8 November 2014 06:53 (nine years ago) link
I dont play Derricks records as often as others from that time perhaps, but this is probably the one i play the most, great stuff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxiyXoY3vVk
― saer, Saturday, 8 November 2014 06:53 (nine years ago) link
The track on NDATL is great too, not sure if unreleased from the vaults he contributed or recent recording
― saer, Saturday, 8 November 2014 06:56 (nine years ago) link
to square this off, I agree with this, but I think most of "how music is situated in the world" is really in people's heads and the power of that really derives from how many heads get swept up in or changed by that, or to put it another way, the persuasiveness or the contagiousness of that frame.
Which is what I mean when I say I think of the "Detroit Soul" of Derrick May's music as an effect rather than a cause of its greatness.
― Tim F, Saturday, 8 November 2014 08:04 (nine years ago) link
yeah i'm feeling your sentiment a lot, lamp. as much as i'd like to think i treat all music as just sound/air, there are obvious accoutrements like visual style, historical or geographical context that play a part in my enjoyment of music. not to mention my own biased preconceptions based on past experience or whatever.
― brimstead, Saturday, 8 November 2014 09:27 (nine years ago) link
I don't disagree with that but I do think a lot of people wed themselves to a very narrow interpretation of it
― deej loaf (D-40), Saturday, 8 November 2014 09:34 (nine years ago) link
not to mention my own biased preconceptions based on past experience or whatever.
I really dislike this feeling, making a subconscious decision about a record because of the name on the sleeve, before I've even heard it, though Ive got better at shutting that feeling away I prefer hearing new (to me) music without knowing who its by first, which kind of happens through mixes anyhow.
Though there are so many records I'm so often like 'ah shit whats this one again' that i invariably end up losing all the context stuff
― saer, Saturday, 8 November 2014 10:46 (nine years ago) link
seeing derrick tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
― the late great, Sunday, 25 January 2015 04:33 (nine years ago) link
he let the side down on the bbc4 kraftwerk documentary last night, saying that most techno producers dont deserve to be associated with kraftwerk because 'a lot of techno is shitty'. what are these genres where 90% of the music is pure gold?
― StillAdvance, Sunday, 1 February 2015 00:28 (nine years ago) link
He's been saying that since the early 90s, right? Something about how the European rave scene corrupted his beautiful utopian music or whatever... Seems like he couldn't just deal with the fact that once you let your child into the world it'll no longer be yours.
― Tuomas, Sunday, 1 February 2015 00:36 (nine years ago) link
his set was pretty wack
― the late great, Sunday, 1 February 2015 01:08 (nine years ago) link
Isn't basically 90% of things derrick may says self-posturing nonsense anyways?
― ed.b, Sunday, 1 February 2015 01:52 (nine years ago) link
The true rebels always walk alone anyway.
― brotherlovesdub, Sunday, 1 February 2015 04:34 (nine years ago) link
maybe it wasn't wack, it just wasn't what i wanted to hear
― the late great, Sunday, 1 February 2015 07:19 (nine years ago) link
What kind of stuff did he play? Can't actually think of all that many name DJs that play interesting sets!
― saer, Sunday, 1 February 2015 07:25 (nine years ago) link
very straightforward tribal tech house
― the late great, Sunday, 1 February 2015 07:43 (nine years ago) link
nothing i recognized
― the late great, Sunday, 1 February 2015 07:44 (nine years ago) link
tony humphries, who came on before him, was much more exciting for me. he played "voodoo ray" pitched up and closed out his set with http ://www.y outube.com/watch?v=KiKnM31VY3c
― the late great, Sunday, 1 February 2015 07:47 (nine years ago) link
derrick couldn't stop cutting the midrange, wouldn't stop dropping the bass
― the late great, Sunday, 1 February 2015 07:57 (nine years ago) link
What you're saying is no surprise, I dont blame him for phoning it in but its kind of par for the course
― saer, Sunday, 1 February 2015 08:21 (nine years ago) link
I've herd his sets described as "Derrick meh..."
― ed.b, Sunday, 1 February 2015 22:56 (nine years ago) link
Same could be said for Stacey Pullen who churns out pretty bland tech house when he dj's these days.
― millmeister, Monday, 2 February 2015 10:06 (nine years ago) link
Would anything different really be expected? ...same can be said for most, how many people are (currently) good producers AND (currently) good DJs?
― saer, Monday, 2 February 2015 10:16 (nine years ago) link
Levon VincentOmar SFloating Points
There's probably some others
― paolo, Monday, 2 February 2015 15:19 (nine years ago) link
Of course it comes down to personal taste and who those people are will vary from person to person, but people trade manage to trade on their name for seemingly...ever
― saer, Monday, 2 February 2015 15:35 (nine years ago) link
There's probably some others...
Dan SnaithDJ PeteDJ SprinklesTheo Parrish
― neilasimpson, Monday, 2 February 2015 16:42 (nine years ago) link
Objekt
― paolo, Monday, 2 February 2015 17:14 (nine years ago) link
"how many people are (currently) good producers AND (currently) good DJs?"
My experience has been... most? (Usually it comes down more to working with a sound than a particular aptitude, which is much harder to pin down in a set anyways). The real question is why do some people think being a good dj 25 years ago means being a good dj today. as mentioned here and elsewhere, derrick may, kevin saunderson, and stacey pullen, and even occasionally carl craig aren't stranger to sets full of middling tech house. DJ pierre played some of the worst electro-acid house ai've heard when I saw him, and more recently, Joey Beltram wasn't any better. None of this is the rule nor the exception, and it's heartening to hear about people like Tony Humphries still delivering, but what this comes down to is yeah, I'm not surprised Derrick May goes on records talking about the degradation of techno while playing sets of straightforward tribal tech house.
Also, I just read the post about whether he has copies of his records that stay on time. Ha! good question.
OK, I"m going to now add "Derrick May's quirks" to the things that make you irrationally angry thread.
― ed.b, Monday, 2 February 2015 23:38 (nine years ago) link
Carl Craig was fucking awesome when I saw him fwiw
― aybaybayfan (The Reverend), Monday, 2 February 2015 23:40 (nine years ago) link
mind you tony humphries played three tracks in a row that had sax solos so i'm not sure it's for all tastes
― the late great, Monday, 2 February 2015 23:48 (nine years ago) link
xpost: I seem to remember a lot of complaints about Carl Craig - mind you, back in like 2007/8 - about playing the sort of middling tech house that, well... was being released on planet e at the time. I still need to see him play proper (not the 10 minutes I saw at Mutek in 2008 where I literally could not figure out what he was doing - he was using like 3 CDJs but was on his laptop the entire time, and trainwrecking stuff), but don't doubt he delivers.
also, A+ work, Tony Humphries.
― ed.b, Tuesday, 3 February 2015 00:00 (nine years ago) link
I saw him 2 or 3 years ago he was mostly playing classic detroit stuff and ended with "Strings of Life", which he played air piano to in the booth.
― aybaybayfan (The Reverend), Tuesday, 3 February 2015 00:02 (nine years ago) link
when i saw carl craig in 2006 he did a laptop set that sounded exactly like his studio k7 "sessions" mix, it was pretty rad
― the late great, Tuesday, 3 February 2015 00:05 (nine years ago) link
or 07 or 08 i forget which year
i love that mix
― languagelessness (mattresslessness), Tuesday, 3 February 2015 00:07 (nine years ago) link
the time i heard carl craig play it was unfortunately middling tech house, but it was at a party that was part of festival in miami and the vibe there was not cool
― karl...arlk...rlka...lkar..., Tuesday, 3 February 2015 00:16 (nine years ago) link
Carl Craig, Darren Emerson and Mr C are the most disappointing DJs i've ever seen. Carl Craig played a very generic set that included a few detroit classics but was very dull. Emerson and Mr C just played the most obnoxious, predictable commercial house sets. I had a japanese DJ mix from Derrick May but the mixing on it was so awful I sold it.
― brotherlovesdub, Tuesday, 3 February 2015 00:33 (nine years ago) link
i heard a half hour of derrick dj'ing last night. not much fiddling with the eq, mixing still exceptional and full of energy, room with about 1000 people in it going nuts. tempo around 135 bpm. musically there was nothing i would have wanted to find out what it was and yes i guess it was "very straightforward tribal tech house".
― stirmonster, Sunday, 8 February 2015 17:06 (nine years ago) link
yeeeeeeesh
When Eric Morillo died, people talked on insider threads that Derrick May is next, that it's something people "known" for a long time. I'm not sure why people sit on that kind of "knowledge", as it only endangers more women to become victims, but no more: https://t.co/rGVUPogSnI pic.twitter.com/S3N4Z7agME— ØPĮÛM HUM / Michail 🏳️🌈👌🏻Ⓥ (@opiumhum) September 9, 2020
― Give me a Chad Smith-type feel (map), Wednesday, 9 September 2020 21:34 (three years ago) link
Michael James has been posting about that for months (years?). Also taking credit for collaborators work.
― dan selzer, Wednesday, 9 September 2020 21:43 (three years ago) link
Jesus, that sucks
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Thursday, 10 September 2020 01:17 (three years ago) link
I don't understand pressuring the journalist for RA to publish the full interview. That's entirely her decision surely.
― grebo shot first (Noel Emits), Thursday, 10 September 2020 10:02 (three years ago) link
Looks like I just deleted by accident the original post about Derrick May and the reporting done by Michael James on the matter. You can find all of it below and I recommend to go through his archive, as he's been covering this for quite some time. https://t.co/3oeRj6CkqY pic.twitter.com/qiSsSoejO9— ØPĮÛM HUM / Michail 🏳️🌈👌🏻Ⓥ (@opiumhum) September 10, 2020
― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 10 September 2020 12:34 (three years ago) link
this is a good thread (the ilx thread, not the twitter one about derrick being an abuser)
it's heartening to hear about people like Tony Humphries still delivering
did i mention he played seated with a lollipop headphone?
― the late great, Thursday, 10 September 2020 13:49 (three years ago) link