With regards to whether or not the future of electronic music will be
mellower. It is difficult to get much more mellow than the extreme ambient
recordings that already phase in and out of the middlebrow niche market. The
most extreme example of this among others is "Neroli" by Brian Eno.
The potentials of digital media to "smoothen" sounds, tends to breed
nostalgic sentiments and demands for rougher and more abrasive textures.
Even German minimalist ("Ambient") composers such as Markus Popp (Oval) and
Stefan Betke (Pole) seem to approching texture and structure in a mannerist
fashion by self-consciously adding pops, clicks and glitches. Of course,
this is the trendy present.
Now that we are supposedly witnessing the "end of irony", who knows what
will really happen? In my own compositional work, I have been striving to
realize musical forms that reduce as much possible the associations with
programmtic linearity. I see my musical form functioning more like virtual
objects than a musical journey through time. In about a week, my interview
with Janne Vanhanen will be published on this subject but I can email an
advance copy to anyone who is interested. www.ctheory.net Nevertheless, I
doubt that these personal investigations will influence the majority of
musical thought present or future.
Please keep this discussion going. I am enjoying it :-D
Best regards,
Jeremy Turner
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