Minimal techno blowing up

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Tim F

Well-known member
Yes Jona has some of the best <i>sounds</i> of anyone, I love it when he goes a bit New Horizons-ish (like the glistening Police guitar on "Full Pool" or the brilliantly spongey "Yellowstone").
 
Chef Napalm

Chef Napalm

Lost in the Supermarket
Gabba Flamenco Crossover said:
Can someone tell me what all the fuss is about? I just don't see it at all. That is such a dull track - no energy or dynamics. I know it's a thin line between hypnotic & tedious (and not helped by a low quality mp3) but jeez...

I've listened to a few mixes from that 4four site that simon linked to, and I haven't heard anything yet to convince me that this is anything more than the 2nd coming of tech-house, but even less interesting (if such a thing was possibly).

What a curmudgeon I am turning into.
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Not at all curmudgeonly, GFC, right on the money. In fact, 44 minutes of that smacks of progressive :eek: tech-house. Is Villalobos channeling Blind Guardian now?
 
C

childrentalking

Well-known member
for what it's worth, what I think is (from hearing it out) the first half of the track is totally different, so it's more like two slightly longer than average Villalobos tracks pasted together with some reoccuring motifs. the clarinet that appears at the end there is the basis of the first part, which is much more energetic rhythm wise.

also you need to hear that track through a system before fulling judging it! i feel like the only reason why i enjoy listening to the mp3 so much is because i have, a few times now.
 
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N

Numbers

Well-known member
Sendspace is such a bitch.

Concerning the horns: didn't he do exactly the same thing in belle époque 2006?
 
B

blunt

shot by both sides
swears said:
Good article by Philip Sherburne on how "minimal techno" is a silly term, the corrrect use of "trance" and tracks that could last forever.
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He's on fire, and this is his moment, eh. I particularly liked this passage:

Imagine playing a plink-plonking series of notes on a piano, over and over. Without varying note length, it would sound the same every time, getting duller and duller. Now imagine driving your motorcycle behind a flatbed truck carrying a player piano playing that same riff, speeding up and slowing down as you track its path. Suddenly a Doppler effect will shift the pitch of that sound ever so slightly; as you turn your head, the timbre of the sound will likewise shift, the filtering will vary, and suddenly you've got a never-ending, imperfect repetition you could listen to forever (or at least until your performance piece got pulled over), as your ears subtly retune themselves to hear not the repetition, but the overarching difference.
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childrentalking's recording of the new Villalobos tune Zieheuer Fizheuer seemed to get a mixed reception here, and by his own admission it's a poor transcription... But it seems to me that Sherburne's analogy describes it perfectly; it's certainly one of the things that made it so engaging for me, personally.

It'll be interesting to see whether his trance moniker catches on in the way that microhouse did. I think it's probably got a bit too much baggage for it to be embraced by a lot of people. I've always hated the trance scene, not least because it always seemed to attract more than its fair share of semi-converted rock fans (the lacklustre pogo-style dancing being the main giveaway). But in spite of that, I think Sherburne's spot on.
 
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D84

Well-known member
Well, there's a lot of minial techno that's "trance-y" isn't there? Maurizio's Domina springs to mind as an example.

I'm not sure if calling it trance will be helpful though - product differentiation and all that.
 
B

blunt

shot by both sides
D84 said:
Well, there's a lot of minial techno that's "trance-y" isn't there? Maurizio's Domina springs to mind as an example.
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Awesome tune.

D84 said:
I'm not sure if calling it trance will be helpful though - product differentiation and all that.
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You're probably right. Probably works better as a description than it does as a label, as it were.
 
swears

swears

preppy-kei
Does it refer to Steve Reich tiny shifts in repitition kinda trance, or does it refer to 90s dancefloor trance, maybe both in a way. I love the idea of telling people I'm into trance, so uncool, it's cool.
 
B

blunt

shot by both sides
swears said:
Does it refer to Steve Reich tiny shifts in repitition kinda trance, or does it refer to 90s dancefloor trance, maybe both in a way.
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I think Reich himself might go for option 3:

[...] Young people now, and in the future, might be moving in a direction where "new music" concert composers and "avant garde" pop musicians inhabited more or less the same world.
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Pretty interesting idea. It appeals to me on any number of levels, and is a nice two-fingers up to cultural snobbery (inverted or otherwise).

And before anyone accuses me of quoting selectively, he goes on to add: "As usual, most music written will not be too good and, as usual, a few outstanding composers will emerge." :)

Full piece was in Saturday's Guardian.
 
M

mms

sometimes
that villalbos track *35 mins is out soon, saw it some presales scripts today. cd with a mix and vinyl, over 2 pieces i think.
 
Corpsey

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
Reading the mnmlssgs blog has reminded me of when I too went to clubs and sought out sets

And now i'm sad
 
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