A Guide To Music Micro-Genres 4: Haunted Halftone

Haunted Halftone:

I feel very bad about this and it has led me to a crisis about my taste in music and ability to discern good from bad// The music is produced with the aid of various music technologies, such as digital recorders, digital signal processing tools and/ a vigorous circular motion hitherto unknown to the people of/ France, Spain et al// Using such technology various sound materials can be combined, juxtaposed, and transformed in any conceivable manner// It has an indescribable feel/ like being on the subway at night in the junkiest stations// The concealment of the causes does not result from a technical imperfection, nor is it an occasional process of variation// It has been argued that measuring and comparing happiness among different people is impossible, not only in practice, but even in principle// It becomes a precondition, a deliberate placing-in-condition of the subject// Vape done fry tie-died my hide.

My secondary school had a building opened by Kriss Akabusi and my parents had a photo of him and my brother on their mantlepiece for years// In this context the compositional method can be seen as a process of sound organization// It focuses on the question of human existence, and the feeling that there is no purpose or explanation at the core of existence// Other aspects traditionally thought of as 'musical' such as melody, harmony, rhythm, metre may be present but more often consideration is given to/ public information films, scary kids' TV show, bleak adult dramas/ programmed beats, psy guitars, slappy bass/ a proper mountain gorgonzola// What's there not to like???

Again, apologies for my ignorance// The headphone cable popped out of my computer at work...

A Guide To Music Micro-Genres 3: Vitriol

Vitriol (See Also: Baltic Spleencore):

If this actually exists I must hear it... If it doesn't exist, it fucking should/ be manufactured from scratch in a board room after rigorous data mining has taken place and focus groups have been consulted// Except I know it exists. And that it's good!// In fact a lot about the entire genre and the people who perform it worries me, but whatever. i need some brutality in my life and it seems like a good place to go for it// It focuses on the the question of human existence, and the feeling that there is no purpose or explanation at the core of existence// There's good music in and around, about 4% like most genres, but the rest is just/ a certain awareness one has of the experience while living through or performing it// Rough estimates are usually sufficient/ cos it has that whispering, barely audible voice work that a lot of modern "horror" filems could learn a lot from.

I swear this keyboard is haunted. I type shit out and nothing, then maybe 30 sec. to a min. later it types out a bunch of nonsense not even close to what I typed// I find this stuff p embarrassing// Only someone who has visited one of Tibet's charnel fields and witnessed the offering of a corpse to the vultures may be able to understand/ that calories and fat are complete red herrings// Melancholic and fascinated, such is our general situation in an era of involuntary transparency// Sugars and carbs including bread are the real problem, meat, eggs and dairy are just fine/ to take the place of the mud shark in your mythology...

Being a vast genre with multiple subgenres/ even band names become abbreviated to signify/ the general mood of despair at a perceived pointlessness of existence// There's not a moment to waste// I dip my toe in everynow and again, but I just can't seem to float my mind back to that perfect spot where it used to be. Maybe I'm just being nostalgic// The apocalypse is finished,...all that remains, is the fascination for desertlike and indifferent forms, for the very operation of the system that annihilates us// Many artists would disagree though, as one of its tendencies is to always push the boundaries (shifting away from "popular" approval) and becoming even harder, faster, stronger, and more reckless// There are no necessary norms, rules, or laws/ but rather/ chaos, shrilling/high-pitch sounds, velocity/ and the private parts of the band.

Once you get past second wave then it's kinda...meh// Who knows. I think some of you may know what I mean.

A Guide To Music Micro-Genres 2: Gazewave

Gazewave (UK/US) / Digi-Gaze (Aus) / Nu Gaze (EU):

What i really like about this genre is the idea- this tv/video sound that's stuck in the past// It's all nostalgia fuel but it's funny to me that both the kids and get-off-my-lawns are seeing eye to eye on this one/ particularly its notion of the fixity of the relationship between the signifier and the signified// I find this music a lot more emotionally charged and interesting when done right// It serves either to break any (awkward) silence and mask irritating background noises or to increase working productivity// Within this seamlessly endless repetition, the mind is being taken on a transcendental journey// A beacon of familiarity (and some might say cheesiness) emerges// Even the more gimmicky copycat stuff can be cool.

There are interpretations through which we understand the world and give it meaning. Interpreting is something we can not go without// Does anyone remember when I went insane and came up with a concept called 'the octopus lounge'// I figured out that if you applied just the right amount of pressure to the pause button of the recording deck, it slowed the motor down/ which seemed to promise everything and yet not quite to deliver// Now, fascination (in contrast to seduction, which was attached to appearances, and to dialectical reason, which was attached to meaning) is a nihilistic passion par excellence, it is the passion proper to the mode of disappearance// It is just odd seeing accolades thrown at people for things they aren't even doing// Structures are the "real things" that lie beneath the/ appearance of meaning// It's like the whole thing is based on suspension of disbelief.

(i'm not going to become a defender of this "genre" fyi, so if you have an axe to grind i'll kindly step out of the way)// It is necessary to utilize a variety of perspectives to create a multi-faceted interpretation of a text, even if these interpretations conflict with one another// There's no fucking way this will become anything but a bunch of/ sarcastic anti-capitalists/ who don't actually remember the 80s or 90s taking a piss// Language enchantment is focussed on as their last hope/key to possibly unlocking the traps/ and slippages of modern techno-culture// I can't believe they make money from/ a genre based around albums that never actually get released, but the creators release 10 second samples every 5 years or so & millions of fans maintain that this one'll be a game changer/ shivering with delight upon each new wave of delicious sound// The thing that bothers me about this is the trust fund kiddies making this really easy, minimally composed/altered stuff have so much free time they could actually learn how to be musicians first// The dissolution of civilisation wrought by capitalism should not and cannot be resisted, but rather must be pushed faster and farther towards the insanity and anarchically fluid violence that is its ultimate conclusion// SLAKE MY BLOODLUST, I HUNGER

A Guide To Music Micro-Genres 1: Hedomatic Skepto-Crunk

My recent return to considered criticism have reminded me just how baffling and complex, the edifice of music has become.  In order to 'dance about architecture' successfully, some sense of context has always been necessary.  However, in our current digital age, the categorisation of music into an ever more fractal  labyrinth of genres, sub-genres and micro-genres has made understanding a specific piece of music's place in the grand scheme of things near impossible.  If we are to continue to shoehorn musical expressions into arbitrary pigeonholes, or to appreciate how they may now even be tailored in their genesis to the parameters of genres devised as specific marketing tools - some clarification seems necessary.

Here then, is the first in a series of hopefully useful definitions, designed to provide a little clarification of some of contemporary music's more obscure micro-genres... 

Hedomatic Skepto-Crunk:

This was one of the first of these musical movements to integrate a meaningful sampling of corporate/commercial aesthetics/ rejecting all conventional desires for health, wealth, power and fame// In this glass bubble, certain trends and techniques are used to the point of exhaustion, and it is the normative claim that we should always act so as to produce our own pleasure.

What we have here then, is without a doubt the least prominent of all music genres// It's on no local radio stations, besides perhaps once a month on a small Indy station// However, it does accept the idea of declining marginal utility/ just more fucked-up and better// Everything just sounds good slowed down with reverb// It has an indescribable feel; a special something that/ furthers the interests of a well-off individual to a lesser degree than it would the interests of a less well-off individual// For those that like their ice cream way above and beyond the regular taste/ eventually, there will arise a need for more content, and different angles at which to approach things.

Music Re/View 5

What a time to be alive// Outright comedy is on the agenda/ but we cannot recognize it any more// I already feel like my review may not do this album justice with it/ reading like the work of an online Sun Ra album name generator// It's not really that good/ but if it was background atmosphere for a board game night I would not complain.

I am writing this on a flight surrounded by sleeping people// I grind my head in circles and listen to my neck popping, waiting for the current song to finish// It’s a feast for the senses/ feeling like the end and me being bored as fuck but it doesn’t come so I just/ get pretty sceptical// The concept of a jazz album with heavy use of electronics is a bit eyebrow raising, and sub genres like Jazzstep and Electro Swing certainly don’t help// When the two feelings combine it becomes uncomfortable// This likely goes without saying, but these three musicians are deep cats// We see that robot that is obviously a robot but still vaguely feels familiar, and we shun it as creepy// I am sad about this as the synth initially excited me// The future is going to be worse than we probably imagine// Its a bit more unknown for us/ and I think the mystery is not saying what it is, not knowing what it is yet . . .// With only electronics, drums and saxophone, each of the member provides an amazing performance individually/ but I can’t apply for a credit card even if I wanted one as I am untrustworthy// You wonder how on earth only three people can make this much noise// I damn with faint praise here to recommend them more than anything else, as/ the apps have made our lives worse// This is a band that should rightly be finding an audience well beyond old bores like me.

Ew gross// The constantly shape-shifting and explosive dynamics of this brutal yet accessible blaze of glory are borne from/ a giant wooly mammoth wrecking a telephone booth// It aims more to build a heavy atmosphere and/ it’s a total banger// It will manifest new realities, perceptions, levels of awareness and abilities to coexist// There is some good mammal character checking stuff out in a cute way whilst more ominous things are happening in the background/ with characters being introduced and having a montage and some kind of progress// We might not necessarily know what that looks like/ and that’s significant/// We just keep marching forward unwavered, uninterested, guilt-free// The influences are often 70s prog// Only the saxophone offers any tension as it floats atop a calm ambience// It's true that the uncanny valley is often not the most attractive, but I've always found it the most interesting/ and the electro-experimental is often so otherworldly and odd that it becomes fascinating in how little familiarity there is in it// Its vibrant and joyful and I think of supermarket shelves stacking themselves with loads of enthusiasm// Also, the cover is awesome - a Neowave dream by some bright spark.

This isn’t just a band that works on high-level concepts or highbrow musical vision/ effortlessly outclassing the competition// They face down the end times with radical space-jazz and celestial funk/ building to an overwhelming peak that would’ve been interesting if it was done in a different way// You instinctively grasp the trio's liberation from received jazz wisdom, let alone any form of decorum// All they accomplish together is making music with more yelpy texture// The tools are no more human than others. A guitar is not closer to homo sapiens than a synthesizer no matter how more rootsy or authentic it sounds// There are no monsters or civilizations, just the cold harsh climate of the unknown, and as the experiences deepens you begin to find some affinity for the place.

These cats have no interest in revivalism; theirs is an evolutionary new thing// Its rules don't make sense, but neither do humans// Cosmic jazz tends not to fully lift the lid on and release bitterness/ so you get along fine// The production and mixing is scintillating/ and over time you see/ it builds and trills and sounds spacey and baron like someone is lost// I really don’t think you need any particular prior knowledge of Jazz// I listen to that stuff, and I think, well if that’s jazz/ carnivores may pray for mercy and vegans may pay for a hamburger// [Jazz has] this very deep tradition that goes back a long way, and it’s hard to really claim it and say that I’m a jazz guy, because/ Bruce Willis/ just drooled all over me// If that’s jazz/ I didn’t get it// I tried to buy some cigarettes on the plane I am on as they where duty free. I knew I shouldn’t but it was $47 Canadian dollars for ten packs (it’s like £12 so about $20 for one pack for 20 in the U.K.) As someone not particularly Jazz-literate, this is brilliant// There is an incredible amount of historical evidence/ but I also knew I would smoke some and I am trying to quit or at least cut down.

It’s not hard to imagine fans of instrumental grime or darker jungle finding and loving/ cosmic streams of sludgy spirituality and twinkling sax freakouts// Our basket of cultural allusions might also accommodate a cheeky artifact like this/ implying mischief, in a meta sense, even when they're playing it totally straight// As much as it’s bound to piss off bebop purists and avant-garde experimentalists alike/ the album closed with a big long fart// Maybe that alien planet we woke up on is our own.