Thursday, April 22, 2010

Electric Boogaloo

Caribou
Album: The Milk of Human Kindness
Bees

I don't really like purely electronic music.  I've always preferred acoustic to electric sounds, even when it comes to rock staples like guitar and piano.  You should forgive me though.  I grew up surrounded by a Flock of Seagulls.  Christ.  Horrifying.

Recently, however, some electronic music has been getting universally good press, and I must admit that my prejudices kept me from some pretty damn excellent bands over the years.  Gone -- thank god -- are the days of one melodic synth line played over a couple of harmonic synth lines.  The best modern electronic music features multiple intertwined inner voices, usually over a stable ground of some sort, and usually with a melodic line that emerges seamlessly and organically from the contrapuntal complexity beneath it.  It's also as much about the manipulation of sound as it is about conventionally tonal idioms.  In this way it reminds me of hip-hop: samples which are manipulated and then combined, sequenced, and looped.

Electronic music encompasses a vast array of sub-genres, from the soothing lyricism of ambient to the claustrophobic chaos of death industrial.  And while it is very often dance-oriented, at times it is more experimental in nature.

Caribou, formerly called Manitoba, is Dan Snaith, currently regarded as one of the very best electronic musicians in the world.  Snaith is the son of a mathematics professor and has a Ph.D. in mathematics from Imperial College London; in my opinion this mathematic bent is in evidence in his music which is inexorably logical and precise.  "Bees" is from his acclaimed album The Milk of Human Kindness, but he has just released a new CD, Smile, that seems even more interesting.  "Bowls" is my early favorite.

He's Canadian too.  Makes up for Bieber.
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4 comments:

  1. SchadenfreudianSlipApril 23, 2010 at 8:59 AM

    Dude, that Flock of Seagulls stuff is what nightmares are made of. I find it interesting that you haven't explored the genre of electronica that much. I think it has a lot to offer. I used to listen to a lot of Infected Mushroom because it had a certain energy to it that really kept me awake and alert while doing work. It may not be overly interesting, but there is a quality to it that I cannot properly explain, but I love it.

    Also, looks like your family got more attention last night than your blog post. Tsk tsk.

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  2. SufjanBeamApril 23, 2010 at 9:15 AM

    Yeah dude I fell asleep while writing it last night. Better late than never.

    And I never got into Infected Mushroom, but now that my ears are more accustomed to the genre I'll have to give them another go.

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  3. SchadenfreudianSlipApril 23, 2010 at 9:43 AM

    Nice, you even changed the song to something way cooler. Infected Mushroom is in the psytrance subgenre of electronica, haha, so, um, you might want to drop some psychedelics first.

    I'm definitely going to investigate this Dan Snaith guy, however. His tune was too legit to quit.

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  4. SufjanBeamApril 23, 2010 at 10:26 AM

    When that snare solo kicks in I always have a mini-orgasm. Drumline win the for. Oh, and the first few times I played the tune in the car I thought I was being pulled over for speeding when the sirens in the background emerged.

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