I read an Isolée interview today in a local music magazine, from which this quote comes: 'Sometimes to me it seems like it's getting more difficult to make music, because electronic music now has quite a long history. It's more difficult to do something new or fresh.'

I thought this was a pretty interesting quote, and I pretty much agree with him. The longer we go on, the more possibilities will have been exploited and more ground covered. I also think this is why electronic music (and fashion for that matter), tend to be so cyclical; it's because we forget what has already been covered before and then start producing old stuff again because it now seems fresh and imaginative.

Thoughts?

Last edited by Domesticated on Aug-12-2009 at 05:03

I agree 100%...was just thinking about this earlier, actually. Although I don't think it's that people have "forgotten" so much as they've gotten lazy, and it is quite hard to come up with something new. With attempting something new, you run a higher risk of failure...it's much easier to just go with something tried and tested.

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I think that his quote applies much more to dance music than electronic music in general. With electronic music there are no limits, you can make any sound you want, use it however you want and as long as the composition sounds remotely coherent only sky is the limit. On the other hand, dance music is exceedingly restricted with its 4x4 beat and of course it's becoming more and more difficult to come out with something fresh and original. All in all, I think he's just frustrated because he didn't do anything groundbreaking since Beau Mot Plage. Why doesn't he step away from his style a little and start producing something completely different?

I think this quote is fairly true, especially with trance.
What's Isolee like as a dj? He's playing in Melbourne this Friday but if it's going to be another standard techno/tech house set without much melody then I might give it a miss. I'm really after a dj that does some unpredictable stuff.

Its not just that more ground has been covered, its also the fact that dance music as we know it today is only experimental in a very limited way. Everyone's gained this idea of how it should sound over the last 20 years and now can't break free of that IMO.

Of course, if you look at some of the best albums of the last 5 years, most of them are very experimental. Trentemoller, the bpitch control stuff, burial most of the (decent) tech stuff that comes out...

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quote:

Originally posted by Tangil I think this quote is fairly true, especially with trance. What's Isolee like as a dj? He's playing in Melbourne this Friday but if it's going to be another standard techno/tech house set without much melody then I might give it a miss. I'm really after a dj that does some unpredictable stuff.

definately go

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Originally posted by kitphillips Its not just that more ground has been covered, its also the fact that dance music as we know it today is only experimental in a very limited way. Everyone's gained this idea of how it should sound over the last 20 years and now can't break free of that IMO.

Exactly. The worst thing that ever happened to dance music was gaining a history. Now there are legends and classic sounds, there are rules and templates. The best dance music was made when the rules were being written as things went along. Now there's a mould, it takes conscious effort to break it.

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quote:

Originally posted by Tangil I'm really after a dj that does some unpredictable stuff.

^^^^^^^Damian Lazarus^^^^^^^

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Originally posted by Guest ^^^^^^^Damian Lazarus^^^^^^^

gonna see him opening for underworld tonight. It was an odd choice, but i look more forward to his set than underworld's. For once we can agree

quote:

Originally posted by lenazi gonna see him opening for underworld tonight. It was an odd choice, but i look more forward to his set than underworld's. For once we can agree

I didnt know that we had a history of disagreeing...unless you've been holding back on me

diff user name

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Originally posted by lenazi diff user name

do tell