Why do we like the music we do and the problems we can face?

Environment, Dreams, Desires, Trends, Relatable, Thoughtful, Escapism, Memories, Hereditary, Pleasure.

Personally I like music that is true to itself and the artist/producer/performer is being honest with me. They are presenting work that they believe in, regardless if I or the audience likes it. Artists that become money addicted and follow the profitable strategies from major labels are of no interest to me. If I was money motivated then maybe that type of music/business would appeal to me.

I find myself drawn to music that is multi layered and has numerous avenues I can explore. Conceptual music that follows a cohesive or abstract story throughout an LP/EP/Mix really intrigues me. Being an avid reader of fantasy when I was younger, depth to an artists sound and eye for storytelling is something I still listen for. Like a multi-layered RPG game, music that is deep, engaging and fun. If an artists work can distance me from the present, to me that is good.

Environment: Ones environment is key to understanding why we like certain music and sounds. Our environment not only presents us with a physical landscape which we actively and subconsciously draw from, environments affect our emotional and critical ways of thinking. The people we meet, our friends, family, the things they listen too, people or ‘types’ of people we dislike, politics and religion–these all fall into the melting pot of influence.

First I’d like to explore other musicians view on environment before analysing my own;

• Visiting Practitioner Lisa Busby touched on the impact of living in Paisley (Scotland) had on her. Busby mentioned that she had always sung in choirs for school and her church, a collaborative, pleasurable experience she has continued to explore in her professional work. Being part of a social group such as a choir within her environment, has clearly impacted her as she tends to collaborate with other artists. For example her Skin meditations performance in collaboration with Lou Barnell presents two bodies improvising as one. A mixture of singing and movement, Busby subtly carries on the ideals of being in a choir and working in unison.

http://lisabusby.com/works/LMB.html

• Visiting Practitioner Electric Indigo spoke a lot about her environment and more importantly being a woman in the male dominated Techno world. Brought up in iddilic Vienna its no doubt a young eccentric woman would become captivated by the otherworldly sounds of Techno. From speaking with a few friends who live in Vienna currently, they have made it clear that although the city promotes ‘the arts’, Vienna is in fact an extremely conservative and wealthy city. It’s hard not to draw parallels between Indigo’s exploration into Techno and the creation of the genre itself. The same way in which Indigo moved from Vienna to Berlin after the wall came down in 89, the Bellville Three (Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson) began making music inspired by the abandoned city of Detroit in 83, bored of their lives in the middle-class suburbs. Indigo was drawn to the squat parties of Berlin and the communes that emerged from them, Berlin as a city was in stark contrast to the pomp of Vienna. The parallels between Indigo and the Bellville three is testament to the reactionary sound and nature of Techno. With a foundation routed in afro-futurism, creators such as Sun-Ra, Miles Davis and Parliament urge listeners to ‘find a new home’, these ideas are key in understanding Techno and also Indigos own musical awakening in Berlin.
• Visiting Practitioner Yassmin Foster‘s foray into music is deeply routed in her ancestral past and desire to understand more about the culture she was brought up in. Similar to the way Busby’s environment shaped her, Fosters relationship with London and the Jamaican community born out of 1940’s Windrush Generation greatly influenced her passion for Regga, Dub and Lovers Rock. In her lecture she spoke about being born into a Sound-system and drumming household, it is evident that her sense of community is strong and stands incredibly high in importance when organising parties. A particular portion of her lecture was spent analysing ‘the dance’ much to my enthusiasm. I feel that when discussing ‘sound’ not enough emphasis is put on the body’s reaction, the way we move and interact with other dancers can be seen as a physical manifestation of the sonics in the room. Although Foster was critical of Steve McQueens ‘Lovers Rock’ episode (Small Axe), if we dissect the segment towards the end, the dancing is loose, abstract and confrontational, urged on by the trippy sounds of Dub and accompanied with Marijuana. Foster also spoke a lot about how her Legs Eleven Sound-system helps her connect with her past. The anamnesis of playing certain records, setting up the speakers and interacting with the audience is crucial to her burning passion for the culture. I don’t find this surprising at all if we consider that UK Sound-system culture is not only a homage but a wishful look back to the past.

• The producer, DJ, writer, activist Terre Thaemlitz also know as DJ Sprinkles has talked about environments at length and the way in which house music has fabricated a sense of ‘universal understanding’ when in reality house music is hyper-specific. Here is a link to a segment from Thaemlitz’ Red Bull Interview from 2010 discussing why ‘music is not universal’. It is interesting to look at Thaemlitz’ view on things as he offers a different perspective, often very nihilistic but brutally honest.

Thaemlitz’ highly informative and original album 120 Midtown Blues (r.2008, comatose recordings) opens with a confrontational message, that analyses house music as a hyper-specific form of music. Here are some points from the into;

There must be a hundred records with voice-overs asking, “What is house?” The answer is always some greeting card bullshit about “life, love, happiness….” The House Nation likes to pretend clubs are an oasis from suffering, but suffering is in here with us…[] House is not universal. House is hyper-specific: East Jersey, Loisaida, West Village, Brooklyn – places that conjure specific beats and sounds. As for the sounds of New York dance floors themselves, today’s ‘house classics’ might have gotten worked into a set once in a while, but the majority of music at every club was major label vocal shit..[] Besides, New York Deep House may have started out as minimal, mid-tempo instrumentals, but when distributors began demanding easy selling vocal tracks, even the label “Strictly Rhythm” betrayed the promise of it’s own name by churning out strictly vocal after strictly vocal. Most Europeans still think “Deep House” means shitty, high energy vocal house.

Essentially Thaemlitz is discussing how the hyper-specific beats of certain areas outside and inside of New York became de-contextualised, in order for mass sales in Europe. Thaemlitz is angered that a genre of music specific to his past environment (he now lives in Tokyo) is distributed to the masses as something completely different.