John Cage, Infected Mushroom, and Sounds (John Cage, Electronic)

I realized something recently, in my month long hiatus of packing, vacations, and assorted activities, which is music is fundamentally about something simpler than harmony or rhythm - and that is sound. Music is, of course, the various ways of organizing various sounds, which means that any sound is musical: the sound of a car turning on is musical, the sound of clothes rustling, the sound of a door slamming, or a distant splash of water. This is where a lot of musicians that seem so esoteric and frightfully post-modern seem to draw their some of their brilliance - in the use of sound as an elementary constituent element of their music.

John Cage explicitly believed something similar - his music is all rich with various klings, klangs, beeps, and buzzes. The turning of a dial on an old radio to hear the varieties of static, as well as banging cans together and dropping various instruments into other instruments. Similarly, the Israeli electronica group Infected Mushroom uses all sorts of amazing and specially constructed electronic sounds. They work in a specially designed studio so that there is almost 0 Db of background noise; they put all their computers in soundproofed cabinets and the walls are lined with spiked foam to absorb sound. They infuse a lot of Hebrew and Eastern European melodies into already very solid electronic dance music, and then they really make it their own style by hand crafting each bass kick, lead synth, and stab etc. into a very engaging and trancey musical experience.

It seems to me that the successes of these two, among which I have to cede Cage as the superior, is due to their attention to sounds at the start. And, especially in the case of Cage, how this can be an almost philosophical statement about music. So the next time you hear something you think is pretentious and stupid, think about how those pretentious hipster snobs actually created all those random boings and chongs and you'll perhaps find something worth listening to in that.

http://grooveshark.com/#!/artist/Infected+Mushroom/2590 - Check out anything on Army of Mushrooms
http://grooveshark.com/#!/artist/John+Cage/5422 - Take a look at any of his Constructions

My trends in music

Today happens to be my 365-day non-death anniversary, so in honor I'll share some of the various new things I've been listening to a lot lately. Generally, I like to plunge myself into another world of music until I really, fully understand it, and consequently, enjoy it to the fullest.

So right now I've been listening to a lot of math rock/DJ entstep, pop and punk from the 90s, and American folk music from the fifties.
The first is a fast paced genre based on metric modulation, complex harmonic structure, and death metal. Often involving algorithm-based drum patterns, it's a very cool genre to me because it combines the pop-like qualities of regular progressive rock with a Bach-like precision that makes it very fun to listen to. I recommend bands Uneven Structure, Chimp Spanner, The Algorithm, and Circles.

The next is sort of a nostalgia trip for me, but I've been attempting to remove the music from nostalgia and see what it's all really about. Specifically, I've been listening to Aaron Carter, Blink-182, Simple Plan, and N*sync, as well as a few other similar such musicians.

And the last is really just things from this page http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/2691/folkessential1.jpg (thanks /mu/ essentials). My favorite has got to be Odetta, a black woman with an amazing voice. Just listen.

Special Features - You and Me (House)

Just another solid house track, comin atcha. Special Features is a London-based house and electro producer who has somewhat recently started pumping out tracks. I like this one in particular because I think that house tracks with a female-vocal lead are somewhat overdone, and this one replaces that standard, if it can be called such, with a groovy synth solo. You just can't go wrong with something this simple.



You can also download it here by giving him a like on Facebook

Star Wars: Main Theme - Dave Matthews (Funk/Soundtrack)

The funkiest hunk of junk in the galaxy, this track is seriously one of the coolest and funkiest things I've ever heard - and it isn't funky just because that's the genre, funk, but because it's also an extremely unique and odd rework of John Williams' Star Wars: Main Theme. It's almost an homage to Williams, demonstrating how strong of a backbeat he incorporated into the original classical version that only needed a little encouraging to reach this god-like funk level. In addition to just being mesmerizingly well done, it also has one of my favorite drummers, Steve Gadd, keeping time and just rocking out as well as keyboardist and arranger David Matthews (no, not Dave Matthews) who also worked with artists like Nina Simone and Ron Carter in the 70s. All around it's simply an all star team doing a lot of justice to one of my favorite soundtracks and I just had to share it.

Bela Bartok - 27 Two and Three Part Choruses, for Children's and Female Voices (Choral/Classical)

Bela Bartok is an extremely interesting Hungarian composer who is considered to be one of the most important composers of the 20th century. He was invested in folk music, which I think is very cool and beneficial in any musician, and although I know him more for his full Orchestral works, he actually also wrote a BUNCH of two and three part choruses for children and female vocals and they're pretty cool. I expected them to be somewhat atonal or harmonically unconventional, but surprisingly they have a sort of classical feel to them. Try listening to just one: Bolyongas, and if you like it you can find a pretty good recording of the rest here on Grooveshark.

Audio Bullys - We Don't Care (House/Electronic)

This one is a big blast from the past for me. Audio Bullys is an electronic music duo from London that began in 2003 with their debut album Ego War. They released another popular album in 2010 called Higher than Eiffel, and in 2012 announced that one of the two (Thomas Dinsdale) had left the group. Nonetheless, this particular track has that early 2000s, Fatboy Slim feel, and it was featured on the SSX 3 soundtrack (where I first heard it). It's a pretty good song, and the SSX games all had a pretty killer soundtrack if you feel like checking them out. Here's We Don't Care (there's a music video too, but embedding is disabled by request).

CHLLNGR - "Datter" Yalls Remix (Dub/R&B/Electronica))

CHLLNGR, Copenhagen based producer, has been rapidly rising through the ranks of producers with a slew of remixes and a debut EP entitled Haven released in May of 2011. He has a mellow and somewhat haunting sound and uses a lot of mournful samples and heavy synths layered on top of one another to produce a unique, murky feel. But to be honest, I'm posting this remix because of Yalls: I really like Yalls. Dan Casey comprises the whole of this funky, pop, ambient electronic band from Berkeley, California, and I recommend you peel open those heary things on the side of your head to both CHLLNGR and Yalls.

Armin Van Buuren ft. Ana Criado - Suddenly Summer (Heartbeat Remix) (Trance/Uplifting)

If you don't know who Armin Van Buuren is, you'll be surprised to learn that he's one of the most well known DJs in the entire world; he was #1 in DJ Magazine's top 100 in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and was second in 2011, and he hosts one of the most popular radio shows in the world A State of Trance with about 15 million weekly listeners. I was certainly surprised. Of course he's also Dutch because every mega famous DJ and their grandmother comes from Europe.

Anyways, he recently released a pretty solid track that I gave a listen. I always like these European super-DJs because they consistently produce really solid jams - there's no big cheesy hook, the songs dont revolve around some massive "uber-stinky" bass drop, and they're really designed just to rock out to for hours on end. If you listen too closely though you might become a little fed up with the female vocals - drop - plateau formula, but try not to listen to closely. Here's Suddenly Summer (Heartbreak Remix):

 

Rural Alberta Advantage (Canadian Indie Rock)

This is a very guilty post for me. I hadn't even heard of Alberta Rural Advantage until today, when I heard them on the radio, plebeian I know, and there was nothing unique from the average Canadian indie rock (sorry), but I was strangely attracted to it. That's what music is all about right? Enjoying yourself? Well I enjoyed this song.

The chord progression is simple, somewhat overused, but compelling nonetheless. The vocals are mostly lazy and soft, but sometimes bore that little Creed-esque edge that fills in some emotion to the track, and the lyrics are relatable but not overpoweringly present. Lay back and listen to In the Summertime, and be not ashamed.

Rural Alberta Advantage - In The Summertime

Little Women - Throat (Avant Garde/Contemporary)

So this album has a lot of people GOING CRAZY in the music world. Some people hate everything about it and ardently posit that anyone who listens to Throat is a pretentious fuck, and some people champion it's complete and smashing brilliance in all aspects and how it'll change your life after one listen: just take a look at this, or this.

Little Women, the men behind Throat, are a quartet from Brooklyn and are the self-proclaimed weirdest band in the world, but I am simply not moved one way or the other. Yes, this music is very weird, and it is also very cool as avant-garde goes, but at the same time it honestly sounds like it could have been completely improvised - you may be surprised what trained musicians can pull out of their butts when put on the spot. But apparently a LOT of people think this album is one of the greatest they've ever heard.

And history has seen a lot of this phenomenon: Anthony Burgess said he wrote a Clockwork Orange in only two weeks trying to pick up some extra cash, and it's hailed as one of the greatest books of all time. I'm not saying it's a bad book, I'm saying that just because it's weird and different doesn't mean it's genius. And if you've read Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead, you'll recognize this social pattern immediately. In the novel, the main villain takes control of a major media outlet to promote avant-garde writing and music, similar to Little Women,  as "only for the most advanced and infastidious citizen," and people completely buy into it, which drives the overall standard for art into the ground (the villain was a communist, by the way). I feel like that's happening here, people think they're really smart and advanced for liking this sort of music, and the more they praise it, the more people will respect them for their extraordinary musicality.

Personally, I don't buy into any of it. You can check out the album on Grooveshark, because I don't have it on my computer anymore.