Boards, Aphex, Autechre

I am teaching a high school course on British literature and culture. It is my third year at this school and I have virtually no oversight in terms of curriculum choices at this point, so I was like 'fuck it, gonna teach my favorite 'British' music.' Wanted to ask for any suggestions, especially if anyone knows of a good overview of Aphex Twin. I think for interviews, I'm going to take snippets from the syrobonkus interview and the one he did with that Korg designer. This is the last few weeks of the class. Any thoughts on readings or song selections . . . ?

 

 

   

 

5/7 (T)

Samuel Beckett

Krapp’s Last Tape

 

5/9 (TH) Lab

Recording Technology and British Culture

History of the Recording Studio as an Instrument: https://www.ableton.com/en/blog/studio-as-an-instrument-part-1/?fbclid=IwAR0bOFWX4aA2At7nBRHntsGcBoKyaMP3sg9AmL5UFpBbvriej95Gngbqf98

 

Part II: https://www.ableton.com/en/blog/studio-as-an-instrument-part-2/

 

BBC Documentary on the Radiophonic Workshop: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5579ti

 

 

 

Week 10 – Electronic Music (continued)

 

5/13 (M)

Boards of Canada

 Influence of Music Has the Right to Children: https://pitchfork.com/features/article/why-boards-of-canadas-music-has-the-right-to-children-is-the-greatest-psychedelic-album-of-the-90s/

 

Boards of Canada Interview: https://bocpages.org/wiki/Two_Aesthetes_of_Electronic_Music

 

Song Selections of Boards of Canada (please do not listen on laptop speakers or earbuds):

‘Roygbiv’

‘Aquarius’

‘An Eagle In Your Mind’

‘Telephasic Workshop’

‘One Very Important Thought’

‘Happy Cycling’

 

5/14 (T)

Aphex Twin

 Aphex Twin overview: https://music.avclub.com/a-beginner-s-guide-to-the-many-sounds-of-aphex-twin-1798272281

 

Aphex Twin Interview selections (pdf in Canvas)

 

Song Selections of Aphex Twin (please do not listen on laptop speakers or earbuds):

‘Xtal’

‘Windowlicker’

‘Alberto Balsalm’

‘1st 44’

‘Avril 14^th’

‘diskhat1’

‘#20’

 

5/16 (TH) Lab

 Autechre

 Autechre Interview: https://www.residentadvisor.net/features/2756

 

Review of Autechre’s NTS Sessions: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/autechre-nts-sessions-1-4/

 

Song Selections of Autechre (please do not listen on laptop speakers or earbuds):

‘see on see’

‘altibzz’

‘Rae’

‘Rpeg’

‘ae_live_asheville’ (this is an hour-long live set, please listen to the song that begins at 42:19 and ends at 46:07)

 

 

I quite liked this interview with Autechre - doesn't really go too deep but covers some good ground, especially the quotes about listening to their stuff in the dark.

Sensory deprivation!

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/autechre-something-happens-when-you-listen-to-music-in-the-dark-1.3558048

 

Nominating autechre tracks for your class is very difficult because they cover so much ground.  Should probably choose a track from different eras of their evolution though.

 

Bike (1993), Cichli (1996), Gantz Graf (2002), chenc9 (2008), agree with seeonsee, foldfree casual (2016), Four of Seven (2018)

 

Could also possibly throw in one of their remix tracks, can't decide which one though....

 

Good luck, and good job on teaching your kids about some decent sounds :)

I'd serve them "The Life of Brian" tbh. Or the holy grail. If you want British culture. Britsh culture is monty python, the beatles plus a bit of sex pistols. def needs some punk in there.

 

coming from a non-brit, so ill shut up now ;)

tea, colonialism, spotted dick, ...

  On 3/3/2019 at 3:34 PM, D4M0 said:

  On 3/3/2019 at 3:34 PM, D4M0 said:

 

public response: lol

 

personal response:

Just say “innit” for the entire class

British literature

 

Samuel Beckett

 

 

I had a music teacher impose us his stupid music taste on us as part of the curriculum and I tell you it's nowhere near whatever scenario you've made up in your head

Just show them the entirety of Peep Show (featuring Oscar winning actress Olivia Colman)

  On 3/3/2019 at 6:39 PM, DavieAddison said:

Just show them the entirety of Peep Show (featuring Oscar winning actress Olivia Colman)

'No, Jeremy, we are not in the Euro'

  On 3/3/2019 at 6:14 PM, Crossword Enthusiast said:

British literature

 

Samuel Beckett

 

Irish Samuel Beckett drove André the Giant to school while living in France

 

André rode in the back of Beckett's truck

 

because of his size he couldn't fit in a car or on a bus

  On 3/3/2019 at 6:14 PM, Crossword Enthusiast said:

British literature

 

Samuel Beckett

 

 

Don't worry, bud. I got Yeats and Joyce on there too. Fuck Lady Gregory, though. 

; )

  On 3/3/2019 at 6:36 PM, span said:

I had a music teacher impose us his stupid music taste on us as part of the curriculum and I tell you it's nowhere near whatever scenario you've made up in your head

Haha. This is very correct. Sorry

What kinds of music did those teachers make everyone listen to?

Honestly you should just run with the plan as outlined in the OP, don't let all the negative energy here get in the way of realizing your vision.

 

Of 100 watmm shitposters in a thread 99 will facepalm, but I believe in you. 

Mista Dobalina, Mr. Bob Dobalina! Thanks, amigo! Yeah, I won't let those negative Nancy's get in the way of my vision. I never let people who were clearly vaccinated as children affect my actions. 

thinking back to being 16 when i jabbered on endlessly about AE and tried to get everyone around me into Confield.. 

damn dude, that's sick! I was listening to CCR at that age a lot, the furthest I ventured sonically then was prolly Sigur Ros. Wish I liked AE back den. 

  On 3/3/2019 at 4:13 PM, span said:

 

  On 3/3/2019 at 3:34 PM, D4M0 said:

 

This sounds like a bad idea and there are better ways to do this.  Nobody cares about IDM and it's not really relevant to world culture or the students.  I agree with Span unfortunately

 

Maybe instead have a lesson on genres of music that originated in the UK, with IDM being one small bullet point in the presentation, instead of focusing on AE/BOC/AFX which really is imposing your personal tastes on the students in a way that is an insult to the educational process and is a bit dystopian

 

When someone thinks of British music, not even the IDM obsessed people on this website would immediately have "IDM" come to mind and the lesson for that day would seem completely non-sequitur to anyone analyzing your educational competence

Edited March 4, 2019 by Zeffolia

it could be a fun idea to show them the beatles film a hard day's night

  On 3/4/2019 at 5:37 AM, jellyrajah said:

it could be a fun idea to show them the beatles film a hard day's night

Show them music videos by Chris Cunningham and open up a whole new set of parameters for their impressionable minds.