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RA's top 50 tracks, top 20 albums of 2009 (pg. 4)
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| Frenkieee |
| +1 on the Sprinkles album, been playing that one over and over again. I think it was nefardec who posted something about it here. Glad he did :) |
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| wotyzoid |
| quote: | Originally posted by nefardec
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It's fascinating to me that even though generally speaking I'd say we have some sort of connection with the same broad spectrum of dance music we can disagree and agree to such extreme extends. I've been playing Freeki MF since October, for example, and I'd definitely put my tokens with you on that one. At the same time I was shocked when I saw you associate "boring" with Raw Cuts #6 and wail on Aphrika which still is my track of the year. I think you're just a critic at heart, Adam.:p
I must say that I don't understand much of your criticism, though. You constantly flame current tracks that at the core don't veer too much away from the classic dance music you rightfully defend. I don't know if it's pretentiousness or if it's something I'm not seeing, but to me there is some really great music coming out now, may it be featured on RA or not. Excuse me if it's an ignorant observation, but it's just what I see. |
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| noikeee |
I didn't have the slightest idea that Freaky Muthaa was this recent. :wtf: I thought it was from like 1996 or something.
Need to catch up with most of the list since I paid very little attention to music this year. |
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| noikeee |
Ok since I have little to do tonight, I might as well just also post my opinion on the tunes as I go search for them on youtube:
01. Joy Orbison - Hyph Mngo [Hotflush Recordings] - nice track, but not sure on the #1
02. Pépé Bradock - Path Of Most Resistance [Atavisme] - superb, totally my kind of music. Great find.
03. Tony Lionni - Found a Place [Ostgut Ton] - There's something wrong with this. It's cool, but not deep enough. Too "clean". Reminds me of when Joris Voorn started to sound boring and overproduced.
04. Jamie Jones feat. Ost & Kjex – Summertime [Crosstown Rebels] - I've heard this one before. Listenable when properly placed in a set, but not my thing at all.
05. STL - Silent State - I was just about to turn it off and slate it as , but then it started building. Quite subtle - I like. Not sure it is a track that can last, though.
06. Darkstar - Aidy's Girl Is a Computer [Hyperdub] - Sounded pleasant at first but then it got weird and teletubbies-like.
07. Bruno Pronsato - The Make Up, The Break Up [thesongsays] - Apparently this is 40 minutes of plinkplonkblopttybleepflopflipdunktunktunk. I'm not that bored enough to find out.
08. Levon Vincent - Late Night Jam [Ostgut Ton] - Tiesto would probably sound like this if he tried to do 1337-Berghain-music. Utter .
09. Tensnake - Holding Back (My Love) [Running Back] - One of those nice retro disco records that sound great, but are embarrassing to blast out on the car as you'd look like a homo. :p Will keep it in the "nobody's watching" list.
10. Motor City Drum Ensemble - Raw Cuts #6 [MCDE] - All the Raw Cuts are alright, but frankly the only one that excites me is #3. These are little more than fillers.
Enough, might do more 10 tomorrow. :p |
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| nefardec |
| quote: | Originally posted by wotyzoid
It's fascinating to me that even though generally speaking I'd say we have some sort of connection with the same broad spectrum of dance music we can disagree and agree to such extreme extends. I've been playing Freeki MF since October, for example, and I'd definitely put my tokens with you on that one. At the same time I was shocked when I saw you associate "boring" with Raw Cuts #6 and wail on Aphrika which still is my track of the year. I think you're just a critic at heart, Adam.:p
I must say that I don't understand much of your criticism, though. You constantly flame current tracks that at the core don't veer too much away from the classic dance music you rightfully defend. I don't know if it's pretentiousness or if it's something I'm not seeing, but to me there is some really great music coming out now, may it be featured on RA or not. Excuse me if it's an ignorant observation, but it's just what I see. |
Maybe you don't hear the difference, but generally I don't like tracks that are clubby, tracky, too tightly produced, too safe, conventional, generic, not memorable. Is the definition of pretentious anything wotyzoid doesn't agree with? THAT seems pretentious.
As far as 'classic' tracks go, there is a ton of classic tripe as well. I can think of dozens of releases on nervous records and trax that I would never buy. This has nothing to do with classic, this has to do with tracks being boring, conventional, bland, safe etc. I might describe my taste in (general) music as music that has guts, balls, heart, passion, etc. Music that is the result of the artist taking a chance or letting go and not letting himself be restrained by convention.
Aphrika sucks compared to Craig Alexander's Phenomenal Woman:
Suck version (Seth Troxler)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptaz9KF_Y5A
Awesome version (Craig Alexander)
http://clone.nl/item14546.html
I could write a dissertation on why the Seth Troxler one bores me to tears. There is a nice pad, that's about all it has. And bear in mind that I own both tracks and have played both out. In the case of the troxler track, the vocal feels like a gimmick, especially the way it's treated, simply overlaid on a tech house track du jour. The vocals have no resonance with the music or harmonies or drum patterns, etc. But overall the impression is one of distanced dispassion, a drum beat which trudges and shuffles along, made with samples and patterns that neatly and cleanly fit together with other dj-friendly tech house du jour tracks. To me it's totally contrary to the ecstatic, celebratory message of angelou's words. And I don't think that this is a thoughtful and artistic contradiction, but rather a simple case of appropriation to make something that seems unique but still sounds and feels the same as everything else around it. Dozens of people right now are sampling random artists of yore and looping the lyrics over a generic clubby tech house track. It all sounds like a big gimmick, not a musical idea or movement.
This simply does not excite me, does not touch me. Do I think the tracks like this and the MCDE are professional and well crafted? Sure, but that doesn't mean a thing to me. Acid Trax is neither well produced nor professional. There is no musical risk being taken in these tracks, no experiments, no edge - it is full of conventions and trends - there is no culture associated with it except that of red bull vodkas, ketamine, plush leather chairs, big sunglasses, ironic/nerdy tshirts , and illegal downloads from blogs. And that makes it even less appealing to me. And please keep in mind I am talking mostly about the tech housey, faux-deep house clob muzak and not much else in this list.
Of course some times I enjoy a nice soft, boring track as well, like Moritz Von Oswalds remix of 'Ole', but in this case Moritz von Oswald actually worked with Tony Allen to mix/produce the original afrobeat track - and his deep level of involvement shows in the deep connections that ground the work in a cohesive artistic movement. In the case of a Troxler or a Luciano, etc you steal and appropriate some random sample and slap it on a generic, conventional tech house track to give the superficial effect of uniqueness.
To each his own, but please don't call me pretentious because something fails to elicit emotion from me.
and also, i agree that there is good music coming out now, and i highlighted about 6 from that list that i really liked. |
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| nrjizer |
| Well said, Adam. I think a lot of this stuff is more interested in capturing a certain aesthetic than simply being interesting music. |
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| Clovis |
| quote: | Originally posted by nefardec
This simply does not excite me, does not touch me. Do I think the tracks like this and the MCDE are professional and well crafted? Sure, but that doesn't mean a thing to me. Acid Trax is neither well produced nor professional. There is no musical risk being taken in these tracks, no experiments, no edge - it is full of conventions and trends - there is no culture associated with it except that of red bull vodkas, ketamine, plush leather chairs, big sunglasses, ironic/nerdy tshirts , and illegal downloads from blogs. And that makes it even less appealing to me. And please keep in mind I am talking mostly about the tech housey, faux-deep house clob muzak and not much else in this list. |
I agree with you a lot to a certain extent, but I definitely don't need music to take risks or reinvent the wheel or try something new every single time. I'm always looking for music like that, but I also buy and play a lot of stuff that is pretty straight forward, because it works when DJing and it makes those more memorable tracks that much more memorable. This isn't to say I play boring music on purpose, I think a lot of the music you dismissed actually sounds pretty good in my opinion.
Craig Alexander's use of those vocals is really nice, because he does nothing to them, but to me the fact that Seth's track is so ridiculously simple is the best part. It doesn't need anything else. Warm pads at the finish line, thats it. And the rest of it makes you listen to the words and take them in.
Personally I think it's kind of a dick thing to insinuate that all these artists aren't making music from the heart. Just because they don't push boundaries as far as others doesn't mean they aren't putting passion into it.
The most important thing with dance music for me right now, is that it sounds warm, and inviting. That it makes me and other people feel good. I think there is a compromise to be had between playing music that is seriously cutting edge and covering new ground and things that are familiar and easily accessible.
I saw Harvey over the weekend and he played a mix of all of that, tracks I knew, tracks that were old, tracks that were simple, tracks that were defiant... |
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| Existo22 |
Who are these producers :conf:
Ever heard of them :conf: |
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| Clovis |
| quote: | Originally posted by Existo22
Who are these producers :conf:
Ever heard of them :conf: |
Obviously not since you don't subscribe to the same Berlin Plish-Plohnk Newsletter that we all do.
Though I'm sure you've heard of "P-Diddy" |
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| bas |
| quote: | Originally posted by noikeee
I didn't have the slightest idea that Freaky Muthaa was this recent. :wtf: I thought it was from like 1996 or something.
Need to catch up with most of the list since I paid very little attention to music this year. |
It's kind of a "remake", Mike Dunn did a Freaky MF before that and the actual vocal has been sampled time and again.
| quote: | Originally posted by Guest
sasha plays dubstep? |
No. He plays a Joy Orbison track. |
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| nrjizer |
| I don't know why people are taking RA users' opinions to heart anyways. Go look at some of the comments for the recent Cosmic Twins (Derrick May/Francois K) podcast. Half of the posters are complaining that the tempo is to fast, and/or that Derrick is doing too much on the mixer. :rolleyes: |
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| bas |
| quote: | Originally posted by nrjizer
I don't know why people are taking RA users' opinions to heart anyways. Go look at some of the comments for the recent Cosmic Twins (Derrick May/Francois K) podcast. Half of the posters are complaining that the tempo is to fast, and/or that Derrick is doing too much on the mixer. :rolleyes: |
That was pretty funny :p |
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