Wow, it's been a while. I'm too mentally exhausted to give a general update, so I'm just going to talk about an IDM artist now. Hey, music is art, and therefore, I am allowed to ramble about it here.
So, this artist has come up again on my Pandora list (on the SubtractiveLAD station fyi), and it's the third or so time that it has caught my attention. The artist (or rather artists) are named Mouse on Mars. According to wikipedia, Mouse on Mars is a duo composed of Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma from Germany (which really shouldn't come as a surprise). They've been creating music since 1993 and it definitely shows; their music is solid, the beats are slightly repetitive, but there is enough variation to keep it from getting too insufferable.
But there is something that has made the few tracks of theirs that I have heard stand out, and I will attempt to put it into words. Throughout the songs I've listened to, there are these delightful little sounds that play throughout (most notably for me in Tensual on their Niun Niggung album, but also in X-Flies on Autoditacker). The only way that I can describe these sounds is this: imagine in your mind a varied group of insect-like creatures. Now, imagine that several of these creatures have decided to form a band, and play preposterous instruments.
Ok, so maybe that's a little weird, but it's what comes to my mind when I hear their music. Maybe it's just my overactive imagination (or frequent bouts with insomnia), but I get very clear, visual images when listening to these songs. And that, my friends, is why I started listening to IDM a few years ago (well, among other reasons as well). To me, a lot of music in this genre creates images or moods or thoughts without even needing spoken word. These are musicians who aren't afraid to take risks with complex metering structures, syncopation, and noise effects that a lot of people don't even consider music in the first place. As someone who has taken way too many music theory classes for her own good, I'm finding myself bored with traditional music genres (if you've heard one amen chorus, you've heard them all). I'm tired of being able to sing along with a song the first time I've heard it; I want a song that disarms you, then trips you, then helps you back up again, and then shoulder throws you into a muddy river bank. Tortured metaphors aside, all I'm really looking for is something NEW and EXCITING, not the same old power ballad that's been remade and remade and ingested and regurgitated since 1970.
If that means I have to endure a few songs of 15 minute Norse wailing, then so be it, as long as I get a few groups like Mouse on Mars in return.
P.S. I apologize if any of this doesn't make sense/isn't grammatically sound. I've been awake for far too long today.
