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Electro shmelectro
Apr. 17th, 2010 07:26 amI said this over on Tal's Tumblr. Not that I haven't said it before in better detail, but I don't think I've said it here:
"Cold" versus "hot" and "electronic" versus "not electronic" are unrelated issues, since there's nothing either inherently hot or inherently cold about electronics. Feedback and power chords are just as electronic as vocoders and synth washes, and what makes vocoders register as "electronic" is that they sound like low fidelity microphones or transmissions that are interfered with by static - which is to say accidental features that occur because of inadequacies or defects in the technology. When electronic music sounds "cold" it's usually because of a self-conscious attempt to sound like a 1950s science fiction idea of technology - so it's a deliberate choice to evoke or symbolize the opportunities or risks of technology, and to sound "futuristic," but the sounds aren't actually inherent in the technology.
( And I have said this here already )
"Cold" versus "hot" and "electronic" versus "not electronic" are unrelated issues, since there's nothing either inherently hot or inherently cold about electronics. Feedback and power chords are just as electronic as vocoders and synth washes, and what makes vocoders register as "electronic" is that they sound like low fidelity microphones or transmissions that are interfered with by static - which is to say accidental features that occur because of inadequacies or defects in the technology. When electronic music sounds "cold" it's usually because of a self-conscious attempt to sound like a 1950s science fiction idea of technology - so it's a deliberate choice to evoke or symbolize the opportunities or risks of technology, and to sound "futuristic," but the sounds aren't actually inherent in the technology.
( And I have said this here already )
