There is a lot of 'experimental' or 'ambient' or 'textural' or all of these at once music out there and most of it seems pretty darn good but my problem is that I find it hard to make distinctions between one great artist to another. What is good 'experimental' music and what is bad 'experimental' music? I feel silly for not being able to tell, although with certain artists, you just know. Like, anyone can tell that Fennesz is a fucking badass or that Leafcutter John knows what he is doing, and by the same token, it seems obvious that WZT Hearts are masters of their domain. But generally I tend to perceive this sort of stuff as best heard in immersive, trance-inducing headphone sessions in which I either forget that I'm listening to it for 20 minutes and then suddenly notice be it by abrubt change in sounds or just that I've stopped surfing Myspace and my ears have perked up. It makes people (or just me) feel less intelligent because it gives the feeling that you might be missing the point entirely. So often it seems like needless intellectualism rather than anything remotely affective or enjoyable but with WZT Hearts it's mostly about space; the sort of space that rubs textures onto yr ears and makes everything seem all close up like yr right there in the room or the field that the recordings are made. It closes in on you but it's not threatening, in fact it's really quite pleasant. It's also about simply sounding really cool which is okay by me as well. WZT Hearts seem to do it better than most. I'm swept up, distracted in their new album Threads Rope Spell Making Your Bones but I'm not sure where that is exactly. Sometimes there's rhythm, sometimes ut dawdles. That's probably the beauty of it; otherworldly sounds, alien drones.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
I've been vomiting mirrors everywhere
There is a lot of 'experimental' or 'ambient' or 'textural' or all of these at once music out there and most of it seems pretty darn good but my problem is that I find it hard to make distinctions between one great artist to another. What is good 'experimental' music and what is bad 'experimental' music? I feel silly for not being able to tell, although with certain artists, you just know. Like, anyone can tell that Fennesz is a fucking badass or that Leafcutter John knows what he is doing, and by the same token, it seems obvious that WZT Hearts are masters of their domain. But generally I tend to perceive this sort of stuff as best heard in immersive, trance-inducing headphone sessions in which I either forget that I'm listening to it for 20 minutes and then suddenly notice be it by abrubt change in sounds or just that I've stopped surfing Myspace and my ears have perked up. It makes people (or just me) feel less intelligent because it gives the feeling that you might be missing the point entirely. So often it seems like needless intellectualism rather than anything remotely affective or enjoyable but with WZT Hearts it's mostly about space; the sort of space that rubs textures onto yr ears and makes everything seem all close up like yr right there in the room or the field that the recordings are made. It closes in on you but it's not threatening, in fact it's really quite pleasant. It's also about simply sounding really cool which is okay by me as well. WZT Hearts seem to do it better than most. I'm swept up, distracted in their new album Threads Rope Spell Making Your Bones but I'm not sure where that is exactly. Sometimes there's rhythm, sometimes ut dawdles. That's probably the beauty of it; otherworldly sounds, alien drones.
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