Saturday, June 09, 2007

electronic music is the sound of science fiction

And that's precisely why I love it so much.
From the theremin (which also obviously evokes horror [often hand-in-hand with sci fi]) to Vangelis' cheesy analogue synth extravaganzas to Autechre's explorations into the increasingly complex and generative, I fucking love it. And it's not just music that uses synths, but music that uses technology and maybe even old and acoustic instruments but in new and interesting ways.
What I think I love most about electronic music is that it combines an aesthetic of the not-yet (or projections thereof) with philosophical ramblings of the limits of experience - just like science fiction. And all of this in a nice, portable and realtime format that's one of the most emotive media available. Well, for me anyway music tends to be the most affective of all media.

Above is a clip by Boards of Canada called Dayvan Cowboy. If electronic music is the sound of science fiction, then BoC are its purveyors of retro. It's the sound of tomorrow today made as though it were yesterday.
And below is Autechre's mindblowing filmclip for Gantz Graf, directed by Alex Rutterford. It's the sound (and look) of tomorrow blowing up.

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