mixmag.com
Let’s start with a brief introduction of electronic music in general: it all began in the end of the raging 80s and the beginning of the 90s, when making music with the help of computers was already all in, synthpop had worn itself out, alternative, grunge and hip-hop was slowly coming in. People were getting tired of the monotonous beats of synthesizers and drum machines and musicians decided that electronic music shouldn’t die out, so DJs and vocalists started creating new bands and groups that mostly relied on sampling and on finding new sounds, not just pleasing the audience. But this style of electronica sounded nothing like synth, because most of the Djs and bands wanted to use a more rough sound and tense melodies, they never stopped on one simple beat and started layering along with sampling. They incorporated different sounds and noises, genres and styles and the final product was always electric and amazing! You couldn’t call this music simply electronica, because it was a mix of so many things, which I think makes electronica – a mix of different products. A lot of the bands that are the best examples of 90s electronic music are not alike at all: The Prodigy, Underworld, The Chemical Brothers, Boards of Canada, Bjork, Muslimgauze, Fatboy Slim, Massive Attack, which is actually trip-hop, but I included them anyways, because what the trip-hop musicians play today is total bullshit, it’s just a cheap, “underground” remake of todays’ EDM. (Notice how almost all the bands are from UK! YaY!) These musicians created radically different sounds from everything everyone had ever heard. The reason these musicians were so successful and so diverse is simple: they knew how to play music. At that time, a computer wasn’t enough for all the sounds you needed, so you had to use actual vocals, actual drums and actual guitar. Even if you didn’t have real drums, they used drum machines, and the sound of the drum machine is totally different from the sample drum sounds in the computer. Some might say that electronica has evolved along with technology and that’s the reason people have given up on real instruments and it’s part of growing up. Come on! Just because you have evolved doesn’t mean that you have to forget about the good things the past has. You will never be able to create the same sounds with a computer as you can with many different machines. I mean, if you hate actual instruments like guitars and bass so much and want to rely on machines, why not use real drum machines, ELECTRONIC guitars and so much more! These people don’t even need to have a good voice. Anybody can sing now.
What’s happening now is a disaster. It especially pissed me off that Georgian DJs are just like the foreign ones. The thing is, in other countries, music has a huge, long history of different genres, musical revolutions and so on. And here in Georgia we have a brief history of 90s alternative, then some alternative mixed with folk in 2000s and now we have EDM. We didn’t go through any musical evolution so why the fuck do we try to do the same that others are doing? To play minimalist music, you must first learn to play some fucking noise rock. Georgian Djs don’t want to evolve because they are satisfied with the fact that they have a full audience and Dj Sets almost every night at locals clubs. They don’t want more, and they never try to incorporate any other genres. Just the same beats all over again. It’s even worse than synthpop. Hell, Depeche Mode were the most cheesy, weird, quirky and the synthpopest band of all time, but since the 90s they have used such a huge array of sounds you might get confused as to what you are listening to. The only good thing in these few years in electronica here in Georgia was when Daddy G came to Tbilisi to play his DJ Set. I thought, maybe if musicians heard Daddy G perform they would become more ambitious and start creating something more diverse, but diverse my ass. Daddy G didn’t wear himself out by improvisations either, but the tracks he had were enough to get you high. Everyone said they had weed and Vodka with them, but didn’t smoke or drink because Daddy G’s music was enough to get them up high and make them ecstatic. The reason behind G’s awesomeness is that he doesn’t just sit at the computer and write tracks on one program, he plays instruments, different machines, sings, performs and Djing is just is hobby out of the band. He knows the value of music and it shows up in his performances. And he just play just for himself, he looks at the crowd from time to time, observes and then decides which track he should switch to. Now that’s playing music for the pleasure of the audience. When you actually look at them!
But the thing is, electronica is dead not only in Georgia (Let’s not talk about the topic of Georgian music shall we?). I hate these disgusting Youtube playlists, you know, the ones in which all of the songs sound exactly the same and each video has a photo of some sexy model. I’m not saying that they sound the same without knowing it. Oh, I know it well. Last week, I was sick, so I sat down and listened to almost every song on these playlists and it was the worst experience I have ever had, regarding music. But I did it for the sake of research and yes, I have nothing else to do. These stupid, totally unworthy songs have the same beats, same moaning vocals. Even if you forget about the playlists and take the example of “underground” Djs and EDM, the result is exactly the same! I don’t even know why it’s called Electronic Dance Music, because I don’t understand how can someone dance to it! The best you can do with it is to turn it on as background noise when you are hanging with friends or something. It has absolutely no value. You can’t even sing along. The only one I like in these musicians is Avicii, who mixes good vocals with badass electronica and bluegrass folk.
People, when you sit at the computer and create music, why do you stop on one sound? One beat? I tried doing that and even I was successful at creating what people call electronica today, using some stupid program I found on Linux. If you can’t create a good sound yourself, at least try some sampling for christ’s sake. The Beastie Boys built their whole musical career on sampling before moving on to instruments. THE BEASTIE BOYS! The dudes whose first album includes the songs all of which are sampled, who barely played any real instruments, who are the main inspiration for every hip-hop artists, even they returned to playing music! Guitar, bass, vocals, drums and so on.
Another thing i don’t understand is this: How can these musicians, after listening to Massive Attack, or Sigur Ros, or Bjork, sit down after that and create shitty music? Why don’t they want more than just “being cool” and having sex after the show. And how can people like it so much. Everytime there is a DJ playing in Tbilisi, the venue is always full! Why people? What happened to good old live shows in shady bars? Fuck it.
You know how many people around me listen to this dumb music? A lot. Even the type of people that look like hippies and listen to ethnic music or if they want electronica they turn on Muslimgauze, even these people listen to EDM! Come on!
In short, I fuckin hate EDM and I fuckin hate the fact that it is aimed at young adults who only want to have fun and have sex and it has no artistic value. I hate the fact that EDM Djs don’t try to create something new by incorporating something old. I hate the fact the EDM is so in right now, that they barely even play other music in bars and clubs.
You might think that I have no right to be writing all this, because I have never tried to become a musician and it is easy to criticize and all that shit. But I have the right. Because I’m an artist, and as you know, music is art as well. And as an artists, I am never satisfied with what I do and always try to do more. When I see the paintings of Jean-Michel Basquiat I want to shoot myself but it makes me inspired to do my job and get better and better at it and people see the progress I make each year. So I know the feels and I know it’s hard but that’s what an artist should love to do.
The only good that came out of my 1 week of research and raping my ears was the discovery of King Krule. Which was like finding heaven. Now here is a young English dude, not trying to look and sound like a douchebag. If you listen to King Krule’s voice without seeing his face first, trust me, you are gonna have a huge heart attack. Because he looks like a little British redhead, has the style of a typical British skinhead/chav/punk/every style UK has given us. King Krule is nothing like EDM, thank God! I didn’t even expect him to be so good. He was only 16 when his first music video came out! And his voice sounds like a 40 year old’s. It was so good listening to him, a real trip: nice low voice, with a very British accent and some flaws which make it better, a melodic guitar which sometimes sounds like jazz, sometimes like punk, sometimes like post-punk, sometimes like surf-rock. He just plays and sings and doesn’t give a shit. Listen to it(he used to be called Zoo Kid as well):
And another thing I discovered is Eliot Sumner, the daughter of Sting, which actually looks like a son sometimes. But she’s awesome, and androgynous and tomboyish, which I love. And sometimes has the voice of a female Ian Curtis. Well, actually she used to perform under the name I Blame Coco and her songs of that time are really different from what she does now. I like her new style better and you’ll now why. I like her. Her songs Information is a wonderful mix of New Wave and Post-Punk. And Joy Division.
Artistic Notions 