Wilson, just wanted you to know that I did end up seeing Andy Goldsworthy’s art, in person, on our trip. I think you told me about it a long time ago? I just put it together now.
I’m a big fan of music in general, but there is a large part of me that gets down particularly hard to electronic music. My guiltiest pleasure in this genre is detroit style elektro. In the vein of Afrikaa Bambaata, Mantronix, and Herbie Hancock’s space-age offerings, elektro is characterized by a snare on every other beat, shuffled bass-drums and tight basslines. While I tend to reject lots of dancefloor music (such as house, trance, whatever) because it is repetitive crap, something keeps bringing me back to elektro: as a genre, it has never quite escaped the relative obscurity of inner cities, and this obscurity gives artists involved in elektro a lot of elbow room. Furthermore, it has a cheesy but involving techno-fetishist aspect to it — entire elektro albums have been constructed around such futurist themes as mapping the human genome, the travails of being a technological outlaw hacker, or the pervasion of tech into the daily lives of all, and how it seperates us from our own humanity. Aren’t these themes somewhat sci-fi nerdy and banal? Yes. Aren’t these themes overplayed in every other genre out there? I don’t think so. You may have to let yourself go a bit to enjoy some of this stuff, but on the other hand, you have to do that with Dungeons and Dragons, too, and I bet you played Dungeons and Dragons… So you don’t get to make fun of me.
One of my favorite elektronischer Sinneshandhabung Fachmann (babelfish it up) is the mystical project of the recently (3 Sep. 2002) deceased James Stinson. Drexciya, the name of this elektronic outfit, was initially a response to an idea given to Stinson in a dream — it evolved into modern-day mythology. Drexciya’s albums relate the tales of an underwater world populated by the descendants of slaves, thrown overboard as they were shipped across the Atlantic, and mutated into underwater-breathing deep-sea fishermen. Stinson effectively turned modern-day man’s fascination with unkown invaders from outer space inside-out, so that we became the aliens his synthesizers warn the aquatically mutated about.
The sound of Drexciya is difficult to describe, suffice it to say the underwater theme is pervasive and apparent. Stinson discovered an entirely unique source of inspiration, and brings us there with dynamic, epic strokes. His music refines minimalism, but it is not minimalist — his catalog of work spans over a decade and hundreds of releases on dozens of labels. Adding to the mystique of Drexciya is the almost complete anonymity Stinson operated under. Oftentimes the labels that released his works didn’t even know his actual name. Stinson, and those he worked with, went to great lengths to conceal their identities. The result is that for over a decade, Drexciya’s listeners were able to enjoy music and music alone, absolutely untouched by any personal fame Stinson may have accrued otherwise. This surprisingly normal man had mastered the techniques of sonically abstracted storytelling…
Stinson’s identity only became widely known shortly after he died — the thousands of musicians and listeners he had influenced over the years were shocked and saddened by the news that their own Aquatic King had been taken from them. His dedication to his music became known in turn; He financed his music-making ventures by long-haul trucking across the nation, living a relatively quiet life, recently relocated to Georgia, taking care of his seven children. Months prior to his passing (from heart complications), he delivered instruction to his labels on release schedules in the event he should die — bestowing upon his listeners more chapters in the Drexciyan odyssey, despite the ultimate contingency.
Yes, it is dance music in format, but the sounds of Drexciya transcend that classification dramatically. Cerebral, imaginative, and perhaps even religious, Drexciya provided us all with music that makes us listen for something more than a convenient beat to shake our booties to, though shake them we will. Drexciya gave us a story to hear, and a story to tell.
Drexciyan links:
http://www.phinnweb.com/links/artists/drexciya/
http://www.discogs.com/artist/Drexciya
http://www.futurebpm.com/drexciya.htm
