Aphex Twin Telegraph blogger Lucy Jones & Clark VS IDM

http://blogs.telegra...lark-thinks-so/

Is Intelligent Dance Music the worst description of music ever? Electronic legend Clark thinks so

Don't you love those preposterous hipster monikers for music genres? Death jazz, blubstep and witchhouse remain my current favourites. Perhaps the most ridiculous granddaddy of all is "Intelligent Dance Music", or IDM for short, first used in the early 90s. It's long since been a catch-all term that makes British electronic artists such as Aphex Twin squirm, blaming it on our American cousins, and cringing at its snobby, arrogant air.

Clark, one of the Warp stalwarts, is no different. Although the British electronic artist (formerly known as Chris Clark) is often bracketed in to IDM, it's a term he's uncomfortable with. "It's just pretentious and elitist. Americans thought it would be cool to make this music sound superior by saying it was intelligent. I've never really though of my music as IDM," he told me when I interviewed him the other day.

However he did write his sixth album – the stunning Iradelphic – "assuming the listener is the most intelligent person in the world". He explained more: "I didn’t want anything that was lazy or compromised. As soon as you do that it’s a downward slope. I wrote it assuming that the listener would listen to it in as much details as I did."

Clark's album is a good record to try if you're a classical music fan investigating 'popular' music. At times it even sounds 'modern classical' (another horrid term), with psychedelic, folky flourishes. Clark's told me about the change of direction, explaining that he wanted to make an album that didn't sound like it had been made in Berlin, the home of electronica.

Recorded across the world in Australia, Brussels, Norway, Wales, Cornwall and the Snape Concert Hall in Suffolk, it's impossible to place the sound geographically. The appearance of a harpsichord at one point prevents the album from sounding modern and adds to its suspended-in-the-air ambiguity.

Clark moved out of his comfort zone for Iradelphic (he wanted to call it Iridescent but that was too cheesy), committing himself to a new sound that sounds intelligent, whether he wants to be modest about it or not.

i call it "electronica"

Have come across that blog before. Totally pointless. Yes, IDM is a stupid term, everyone already knows that.

Its actually been quite a while since we had one of these "complain about IDM" threads.

FUCK IDM

Death Jazz sounds interesting. Whatever it is....

there is not story

People like to compartmentalize stuff, holy fucking shit

Lucy Jones for most IDM 2012

one more person in the world of IDM/electronica hates the term 'IDM'. has anybody in the world of IDM ever liked the term, ever?

apart from fanboys?

  On 4/2/2012 at 9:25 PM, sirch said:

one more person in the world of IDM/electronica hates the term 'IDM'. has anybody in the world of IDM ever liked the term, ever?

apart from fanboys?

That one guy who made it up. But then he got lynched in the UK.

Experimental Electronic Music

That's what it should be called. Because that's what it is.

death jazz is like bohren, isn't? it's pretty "bohren" lolololol ELECTRONICA

Is there much experimentation left?

  On 4/2/2012 at 9:47 PM, psn said:

Is there much experimentation left?

Not in Chris Clark anyway.

  On 4/2/2012 at 10:00 PM, jim said:

  On 4/2/2012 at 9:47 PM, psn said:

Is there much experimentation left?

 

Not in Chris Clark anyway.

he's experimenting with being rather bland.

So a rehash of 10 year old news?

who the fuck cares what it's called

experiMENTALonica

i dont believe in genres

  On 4/2/2012 at 9:34 PM, Npoess said:

Experimental Electronic Music

 

That's what it should be called. Because that's what it is.

Really? Not from where I'm sitting it isn't. In my mind it's more people pretending to be experimental. Sure some of it is... Most of the time though it's like sheep music.

pwhha everubody turns into George W Bush when the Idm word comes around. "Smart stuff?? me??? nah i HATE smart ppl, so fuckin pretentious."

repping idm in 2012 is like the burzum of big bang theories

  On 4/3/2012 at 5:37 AM, goodwillsidis said:

repping idm in 2012 is like the burzum of big bang theories

holy shit so many metaphors

repping idm in 2012 is like the george carlin of snakes on a plane when you're a reverend who is doubting his faith but is addicted to roquefort and BBW porn.

I actually like "IDM" more than "electronica", because even if it's a silly historical and arbitrary term it often gives a better context of what the music actually sounds like. Electronica is about as vague and marketing oriented as "world music" or "indie." It's a descriptor I see added to say, an otherwise unimpressive rock band or pop group that decided to add a synthesizer or sampled breakbeat to their song. On the other hand, I see "IDM" more often than not used in good reviews or tags for more novel house, techno, and garage releases...like say something off Hotflush or Planet Mu. It makes me have a better idea what of percussion, synths, tempo, and timbre I could expect if it's mentioned properly. Experimental should not be used unless it's truly out there or recorded in a context of improvisation or some very novel recording method (which is why I wouldn't call Clark "Expermental Electronic Music") Clark is electronic, and from there I'd describe with far more detail than try to pigeonhole it in a specific genre. I dunno, people either know too much about electronic genres or have they have no fucking clue what IDM even is. I don't like people who dimiss the role of genres nor do I like those who get carried away with using them. It's even worse now that microgenres flourish then disappear whereas in the past even the most gimmicky trends like happy house or big beat at least had a social context and timeframe attached.

  On 4/3/2012 at 5:39 AM, kaini said:

  On 4/3/2012 at 5:37 AM, goodwillsidis said:

repping idm in 2012 is like the burzum of big bang theories

 

holy shit so many metaphors

 

repping idm in 2012 is like the george carlin of snakes on a plane when you're a reverend who is doubting his faith but is addicted to roquefort and BBW porn.

And this is why Clark is a Featured Artist and is my Hero