Can You Feel It vs. The Bells

Can You Feel It vs. The Bells


  • Total voters
    14
  • Poll closed .

version

Well-known member
any other techno track would have been ok. the bells is just too awful to work. nobody likes comedy music other than frank zappa fans and they technically don't count as proper human.

My dad's a Frank Zappa fan. He has custom tapes with his own artwork and stuff.

:crylarf:
 

catalog

Well-known member
I saw jeff mills afew times live in the early 00s, he was definitely one of my favourites. All about the three hour sets with a lot of beans. I always hated the bells though and never liked anything of his on CD all that much, apart from ‘live at the liquid room’ which has an amazing bit of mixing
 

Leo

Well-known member
and then maybe you can make further distinctions within each camp.

the bells is about driving you out of your head but it's not "sonic warefare" the way thirdform core often is. it's aiming for lightness. trying to create a frenzy without resorting to violence. as barty suggested it's almost like folk dance music. no scary cacophonous sounds of modernity. no "insane sonics".

this sub-archetype is the most normal form of "uncompromising" techno, which is maybe why i have trouble appreciating it.

aggro insane sonics is low-hanging fruit, though. any chump can press the harsh noise button and lay it over a 4/4 beat. "the bells" doesn't take that easy way out.
 

Leo

Well-known member
"the bells" is getting wiped out because it's pitted against one of the greatest house tracks of all time, not really a fair fight. not sure I know of a more appropriate techno track to use. "strings of life"?
 

Leo

Well-known member
it's hard to feel inspired and uplifted by DJ tools, they serve a different purpose.
 

thirdform

pass the sick bucket
aggro insane sonics is low-hanging fruit, though. any chump can press the harsh noise button and lay it over a 4/4 beat. "the bells" doesn't take that easy way out.

true, but it takes the easy route of being a throwaway dj tool clearly intended for appealing to the berlin crowds. it's the least detroitish of his works.

compare with this mix. it's detroit because it's got a deep funk influence in it, which surgeon and regis got from the detroit sound as well. otherwise they would sound like Coil


As for jeff mills:





i rest my case.
 

thirdform

pass the sick bucket
Mills approach is a bit different to european hardcore people though. his intensity is about bringing back the jack loop of house, which wasn't there in trance. it is quite indebted to chicago in that regard.


out of all the tracks the bells is the worst possible tune to demonstrate that. you gotta hear him in the mix like this set to get it.
 

pattycakes_

Can turn naughty
The opening synth vamp is fierce as fuck. The drums bang. But the famous riff loses its power after years of over play. The first time I heard it it was immense and easily the standout track from the night. Was also the first time I saw Jeff Mills who by that was considered one of the greatest techno djs ever. And to people who actually got techno, unlike most here, evidently, the bells was his signature track. It would regularly tear down a club.

any other techno track would have been ok. the bells is just too awful to work. nobody likes comedy music other than frank zappa fans and they technically don't count as proper human.

:rolleyes:

Ah, Barty. continuing to talk smack about shit he clearly doesn't understand with all the confidence of a made man. First it's Prince and now one of the all time techno classics. Stick to your tresillos and cocky, mate.
 

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
that was not the one to pick for a poll tho

The Bells is literally the moment where Jeff Mills goes to shit as a producer (as a DJ obviously he has been and still is awesome, basically forever)
 

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
good Mills is yeah, both Waveform Transmissions records and all the early 90s UR stuff w/Hood + Banks

it's been a long time so I don't remember specific tunes really
 

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
I can imagine in a dark strobe lit club, four pills down, The Bells being just the ticket.

For everything else there's Can U Feel It.

Larry Heard is one of the best producers of all time.

All the techno I really like is tuneful - Hi Tech Jazz, Timeline, Strings of Life, etc. As Leo (?) says, it's hard to feel affectionate towards a pounding kick drum plus three notes.
 

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
and anyway, Jeff Mills is totally not the person to put up against Can You Feel It

you needed something by May, Atkins or maybe early Carl Craig

the comparison for Mills (or Hood) would be early 90s garage/deep house

something off Nu Groove, Strictly Rhythm, etc. Larry Heard did actually make some records like that (i.e. Gallifre - Don't Walk Out On Love).

or actually you know a great comparison would've been one of Pierre's Wild Pitch classics
 

Leo

Well-known member
are these polls best when they are:

a) which opposite thing do prefer (high or low, light or dark, Eno or Ferry)?

or

b) which of these two similar things do you think does a better job in achieving the goal that they share?
 
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