childhood synth nostalgia feels.

thirdform

pass the sick bucket
cluster zuckerzeit, Sowiesoso.
klaus schulze entrance.
suzanne ciani buchla concerts, seven waves.
black dog productions bytes.

i was listening to boards of canada in bed the other day, kinda ok but really quite boring in 2018.
 
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entertainment

Well-known member
Funny. In my mind, I've got Klaus Schulze totally categorized as mind expanding/infite space venturing/exploring the unfathomable concept of existence stuff. Cluster is always an emotional memory reflective experience, tho.
 

thirdform

pass the sick bucket
entrance is a weird one, velvet system and alpha numerique almost precedes late 90s supersaw trance by 10 years but done tastefully of course. it's exhilirating comfort music to bathe in when bed, can get a bit samey but hey thats just how it is.
 

john eden

male pale and stale
It might be interesting to compare childhood synth nostalgia across the generations. That whole radiophonic workshop schtick must seem like ancient history to people who were kids in the 90s.
 

droid

Well-known member
BOC is basically where hauntology started, right?

Yeah, the musical encoding of nostalgia and the overt retro aesthetic. Led directly to moon wiring club, ghost box and the rest...

Throws the whole enterprise into disrepute.
 

john eden

male pale and stale
Yeah, the musical encoding of nostalgia and the overt retro aesthetic. Led directly to moon wiring club, ghost box and the rest...

Throws the whole enterprise into disrepute.

It might be an example of something that was both a good and terrible idea initially.

Like, I know you hate breakcore, Droid - but I would argue that some of the early records and the scene around it where pretty great - but it was almost inevitable that it would crap out into cartoon nonsense and heavy metal.

The trouble with nostalgia is that it is ALWAYS a piece of piss to turn it into something boring and reactionary. So someone will.
 

droid

Well-known member
I was moaning about them to another Dissensian just the other day actually. I hope he doesnt mind me recycling my gripes:

I remember being excited when that first 10" came out - it was at a time when I was deeply immersed in the scene - when there was a scene, before that bubble burst. I played the LP out quite a bit at the time, but I was never as mad about it as a lot of my peers, and it lost it's lusture fairly quickly.

I think my main issue with it is the hype, and that they were an odd fit with SKAM/WARP type electronica at the time. Their use of breaks, the tempo of all their stuff (90-110) mostly. To my ears they fit more with the Ninjatune breaks chill out crowd that the cutting edge IDM thing. DJ Food or Irresistible Force with a more knowing retro tinge and more developed aesthetic.

I would also hold them responsible for pushing the more hip hop influenced electronica sound to the foreground, which quickly became an exceptionally dull mainstream default.

That said, I saw them live in London in '01 and they were really good, but as I mentioned, I trawled through every single track they've done for a mix and found almost nothing I could use. I wouldnt begrudge them their fans, but IMO they are nothing like in the same league as auteurs like Aphex, AE and Clifford, more like a Plaid that happened to hit the zeitgeist at the right moment.
 

entertainment

Well-known member
haven't really dived into Autechre yet. I think I read somewhere, that Simon Reynolds listed them as one of the most overrated artists of the nineties so I'm surprised to see the consensual acclaim on here. Anyways, I've really enjoyed most of Aphex' stuff so feeling enthusiastic about it. Any suggestions as to where to begin with them?
 

droid

Well-known member
I'd suggest starting with Amber, then Tri Repeate and the Garbage and Anti Ep's. That's basically their golden age and probably my favourite era.

After that, Anvil Vapre, Chichlisuite, Chiastic Slide, LP 5. There's also the remixes, tons of remixes, varying in quality.

From EP 7 on they start becoming more abstract and experimental. There's good stuff on every record but it gets more specialist and more of an acquired taste.
 

thirdform

pass the sick bucket
haven't really dived into Autechre yet. I think I read somewhere, that Simon Reynolds listed them as one of the most overrated artists of the nineties so I'm surprised to see the consensual acclaim on here. Anyways, I've really enjoyed most of Aphex' stuff so feeling enthusiastic about it. Any suggestions as to where to begin with them?

tri repetae is the link between incanabula/amber/garbage ep and their later abstract stuff so start there i think. the last track rsdio even sounds a tad grimey. 2010s i really like exai and the live in dublin recording.

i hate lumping them in the idm category really nothing comes close. arovane etc all shit.
 

thirdform

pass the sick bucket
i really love dave monolith/photodimensia, yeah it's 80s sounding electro done in an afx stylee but it's so funky and melodic and just can't get enough of that sound yum.


 

droid

Well-known member
tri repetae is the link between incanabula/amber/garbage ep and their later abstract stuff so start there i think. the last track rsdio even sounds a tad grimey. 2010s i really like exai and the live in dublin recording.

i hate lumping them in the idm category really nothing comes close. arovane etc all shit.

I would say the LP5/EP7 are the real tipping points. Everything after that involves software based compositional experiments, live control & generative stuff.

There is a definite grey zone between tri repeate > LP5 where they experimented texturally, but the writing/sequencing method is more or less standard.

Dunno if its fair to throw all other 90's electronica in the bin. Much of it is quite derivative of early AE, but there are some decent moments from various people.

Havent mentioned Gescom yet. Might be worth a look for those fond of more abrasive stuff.

Which Dublin gig do you mean? The one from a couple of years back?
 
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