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Title:unscrewable
Author:prinsW
Genre:Beats, Electronic
Comment:mixture of styles
Size:3 KB
File:prinsW - unscrewable.zip
Date:2003-10-26

Inge:   Bad

PrinsW - Unscrewable

One of the most famous 'odd' tracks is Aphex Twin's ‘Bucephalus Bouncing Ball’. The main theme of this song apparently is the sound of a bouncing rubber ball, and the variations these sounds can generate on both the melodies as the beats. Odd, as I said, but very refreshing and eye-opening. Aphex Twin has developed a complete new style of electronic music with these experiments with beats and melody and their interchanging character, and after him a huge track of followers has arise. Automatic coffee-makers are sampled, infant sisters must sigh before a microphone, drum computers are being triggered by a random pulse from a malfunctioning oscillator, and the concept of ‘conventions’ (together with ‘melody’, ‘structure’ and ‘commercial’) went into the trash bin. Some call it breakcore. Others elektroclash. I simply say electro. Conventions suck anyway.

PrinsW’s ‘unscrewable’ is one of the offsprings of this electro movement. This song will most certainly sound refreshing if you’re new to this area of production. No three minutes alike trance anthem breaks, no repetitive vocals that enter the soundscape just before the lead kicks in, no 909-ish drum samples, no furious growling bass lines, and no JP 8000 sounds. But now the hard part: is this a good or a bad thing? I will try two approaches.

Approach one: comparison with the electro genre. I had a hard time with Aphex Twin’s latest release ‘druks’ (2002), because it gave up melody and jumped into experiments with creating bizarre beats with bizarre samples. Nevertheless, the experiment itself was performed with an amazing determination and creative approach. I never heard something like it, and every three seconds of listening induced a new feeling of ‘oh-my-gosh-I-could-never-reproduce-this’. ‘Unscrewable’, on the other hand, does not leave me with this feeling. It leaves me with a feeling of a not-so-inventive method of jumping on the electro-train. Yes, the bizarre drum programming is there. Yes, the absence of a main theme is there. Yes, there is no structure to be found. But no, it does not impress me. Songs like these should compensate for lacking the three points above with creativity, surprise and wonder. And I wasn’t touched one moment, apart from the fact that this was the first MadTracker song I heard in this genre.

Approach two: comparison with the overall musical field. Yes, we are talking about massively unconventional here. We are talking about exploring the borders of what can be perceived as music. We are talking about a new approach on the concept ‘music’. I think it’s a very good thing to step of the railway others have placed on the ground, and go to your destination via another route. It enables you to destroy the automation of your normal way of producing music. It shows new ideals of music, unconventional ways of programming, beautiful methods of creating an atmosphere. ‘Unscrewable’, unfortunately, is just not a very good new railway. It leads to somewhere, but not a place much people want to be. I actually think even the author didn’t want to arrive there, but still has to learn where the place is he wishes to go, and how he could get there.

To the author: I find ‘unscrewable’ conventional in its unconventional character. Even though the things written above are somewhat harsh, this doesn’t imply that this song is bad. I’ve rated it average, because you certainly know how to use MadTracker. You are a gifted crusher of borders, but I strongly think that you’re crushing the wrong borders. You’re not finding new places behind the wall you destroyed, but only a place that others have already left because they found it unpleasant and unattractive.
Less abstract: you definitely need to implement some sort of hook in your songs. I can’t grab anything that makes this song stand out in the crowd of electro-songs. You need to implement fresh, exciting and surprising components. I will not go more concrete, because we’re talking about the unconventional here. I am eager to hear new music from your hands, especially since the mp3’s from your site impressed me much and much more (Scratchdiskdevicecontrol is a good example of – by my ideals - an excellent song). May the unconventionality be with you!


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