mainstream me


for all of us out there who aren’t dj’s and enjoy listening to electronic music, the “blogosphere” offers transatlantic flights at affordable prices…sometimes even offering complimentary warm towels with tongs…so soothing.

for the most part, the house / minimal / micro / italo-disco / techno / what-have-you music that is played out and about town is anonymous to most people. it’s not like other genres of more mainstream music where a song can be heard on the radio or tv, built-up, and then exploded in a club and everybody gets down because they know it, because it’s already got that recognizable "nowness" attached to it. unless you are actively looking for the source of the sound, it‘s most likely going to float you by…one unknown step after another. and the dj’s don’t help. not that it’s their fault, really, but there is little opportunity for them to promote the artists other than to play them over and over and over and over (the smell of repetition really is on you) until the tune catches. i thought this photo and comment that philip sherburne posted on his blog a few months ago a nice counterpoint and relevant to the train of thought:

“The Wighnomys' Monkey Maffia always does this, holding up the sleeve of the record that's playing. I like the fact he's giving love back to the artists, and not trying to keep his selections some kind of secret. “ -ps

so, where does one like me who has a hankering to hear such things above ground go?…to bring those subterannean, dirty, dark and deep sounds into the light, into say, a sober sunday morning? why, the irresistibly tangential world wide web or course.

i get educated.

i read reviews and histories and geek out on not only what music is out there, but on how it is made…even if I don’t understand it all. i google, browse, select, download, listen, google again, side step to related topics, google, download, read, read, listen. sometimes i wonder why i bother, but in the end, it’s mostly because i can’t keep away. and the stream of babble has started to become translatable. the code is cracking.

i had the pleasure to hear john maeda (he has pioneered the use of the computer for people of all ages and skills to create art, and is currently spearheading a new research initiative to "redesign technology" so that it consistently makes sense, is fun, and keeps us coming back for more) lecture a few years back. he spoke about wearing out computers through what he termed, “binary friction”. this would be where so many 0’s and 1’s are flying each other by, that they build up a resistance and eventually give computers aneurysms. i have a feeling that with enough run time, with enough listening, i may just begin to feel the holes in my head (i think they call them ears) turning sound into a language. this music is not so elusive once you start looking for it. the community of people devoted to it is so strong that information is easily linked up (for example, just look at the overlap of links on any number of blog sidebars). it's just not blasting you like an air conditioner on a 92-degrees-in-the-shade kind of day.

and of course, some treats...

kelley polar - here in the night

konrad black - busting down the door with a shotgun

depeche mode - enjoy the silence (ewan pearson extended mix)

depeche mode - world in my eyes (kraftwerk mix)

claude vonstroke - who's afraid of detroit

timewriter - sunset walkin'

royksopp - what else is there (trentemoller remix)

krikor - 1968 (ark remix)