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Experimental Music


JakeBrownBass
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Love it! I'm all for this kind of experimental stuff :)

Reminds me of an experimental jazz/electronic night I used to go to upstairs at the Briton's Protection in Manchester, hosted by a group called '1bpm':

http://www.1bpm.net/

Used to host some truly innovative and often crazy performances... some would have me in awe, others would have me in stitches. All brilliant, but certainly not everyone's cup of tea.

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[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1344248507' post='1761585']
Can you elaborate on that? I'd welcome your views.
[/quote]

It's a fusion music. It's basically post-Schaumburg, Euro style, free-improvisation that had it's heyday in the UK in the 70s (Evan Parker with Derek Bailey Gavin Bryars, etc) but is still practised regularly at London venues. That combined with a bit of free-jazz. Thats where the chord sequence comes from. This has also been mixed with a light smattering of modern electronica (Microstoria, Oval) hence the noodling with chaos pads and the like. Free-impro and electronica have been faithful bedmates for years. After you establish the form and come armed with the chord sequence it's basically a cosmetic decision as to how you arrange the track and where you place the pockets of free impro.

I think they do it quite well, although, as I said, I don't particularly like their free-impro noodles.

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You can also tell a lot about where they're coming from by their choice of instruments and sounds, ie, the keyboardist is using a Fender Rhodes sound in time-honoured fashion and the bassist with his fretless Pedulla. Theyve listened to a lot of Jazz rock as well as Brit Free- impro.

You can read where the music's coming from if you can spot the influences. I
This sort of thing is only 'difficult' for groove -obsessed bassists and fans of the rock band, U2.

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[quote name='Spoombung' timestamp='1344255174' post='1761722']
It's a fusion music. It's basically post-Schaumburg, Euro style, free-improvisation that had it's heyday in the UK in the 70s (Evan Parker with Derek Bailey Gavin Bryars, etc) but is still practised regularly at London venues. That combined with a bit of free-jazz. Thats where the chord sequence comes from. This has also been mixed with a light smattering of modern electronica (Microstoria, Oval) hence the noodling with chaos pads and the like. Free-impro and electronica have been faithful bedmates for years. After you establish the form and come armed with the chord sequence it's basically a cosmetic decision as to how you arrange the track and where you place the pockets of free impro.

I think they do it quite well, although, as I said, I don't particularly like their free-impro noodles.
[/quote]

Wow, impressive diagnosis... don't know what it means but it sounds impressive :D

I understood [b]LONDON[/b]

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The groove obsession is certainly a barrier to the acceptance of less repetitive genres. Personally, I find 'groove playing', particularly when it is locked into one or two chords, increasingly tedious, both as a listener and as a player. If the harmony is moving, it becomes less irritating but if the rhythm and harmony are static - yeeuch!

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One of this country's great overlooked talents !

most people tend to only remember Bill Nelson for Be Bop Deluxe and Red Noise but his solo catalogue since then is quite staggering

[url="http://soundcloud.com/billnelson"]http://soundcloud.com/billnelson[/url]

[url="http://www.billnelson.com/html/salon/index.php"]http://www.billnelso...salon/index.php [/url] free downloads at bottom of page :D

Edited by steve-bbb
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[quote name='Spoombung' timestamp='1344258845' post='1761786']
You can read where the music's coming from if you can spot the influences.
[/quote]
Definitely. Absolutely nothing whatsoever surprised me about that clip, I pretty much knew where it was going as surely as if they'd being playing a 12 bar.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1344261326' post='1761837']
The groove obsession is certainly a barrier to the acceptance of less repetitive genres. Personally, I find 'groove playing', particularly when it is locked into one or two chords, increasingly tedious, both as a listener and as a player.
[/quote]
I agree with you totally on that.
I've never understood this obsession with "groove"; it's a very american attitude IMO.
Most of the music I really enjoy, and have done for years, is not groove based; it's the thing I love more than anything about the english progressive rock bands of the 70s.
Americans just cannot do progressive Rock IMO; they invariably turn it into a technique-heavy bastardised form of jazz fusion and the bloody rhythm sections are always too hung up on "groove", being "in the pocket" & all those other ghastly terms.

When I was gigging if I saw people dancing then I knew I was doing something wrong. :D

Edited by RhysP
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[quote name='Spoombung' timestamp='1344255174' post='1761722']
I don't particularly like their free-impro noodles.
[/quote]

Is that a very polite term for 'hitting things very quickly with palms and elbows'? Because that is what the keyboardists is doing for some of this. I am not being flippant here, I have time and respect for all kinds of music, as long as it has some skill and merit but I am not sure what value hitting a keyboard with your forearm and palms brings to the table. Unless you are auditioning for a PG Tips advert.

Challenging for the most part with spurts of vapid contradiction.

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[quote name='Spoombung' timestamp='1344268510' post='1761988']
Before we start a groove versus non-groove war.....
[/quote]

Not my intention at all; I like plenty of what would be classed as "Groove" music, it's just that some people seem to think groove is the be-all and end-all of the function of bass playing and I would beg to differ, that's all.

Edited by RhysP
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I must admit I don't get it, but then the music I really enjoy - sit and listen to intently rather than hear as background music or dance to - has a powerful emotional influence on me. Hair standing on end, goose bumps and sometimes tears. What does this music do for those of you who enjoy it? Is it simply a kind of academic appreciation of the structure and technicalities, or something else?

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I really liked parts of it, well most of it TBH. At the end of the day its subjective innit, saying why you enjoy it or not would not change the opinions of someone with an opposing view.

@ Jake: That drummer had a great bassdrum tone. Any idea what the shell is? Looks like a Yamaha Studio.

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[quote name='dincz' timestamp='1344270136' post='1762032']
I must admit I don't get it, but then the music I really enjoy - sit and listen to intently rather than hear as background music or dance to - has a powerful emotional influence on me. Hair standing on end, goose bumps and sometimes tears. What does this music do for those of you who enjoy it? Is it simply a kind of academic appreciation of the structure and technicalities, or something else?
[/quote]

I can't say it brings me out in goose bumps; that's not what I get from this sort of thing although I do enjoy it.

For me it's partly academic - I'm interested in sound synthesis, so I like to see/hear how different sounds are made and by what 'instruments' (that term often being loosely applied!). So I guess I like the creative aspect of it; the not having to give a **** about holding down a melody or groove, or worrying about whether people are dancing. I think that sort of freedom allows people to really let their imaginative hair down.

I also find it inspirational. From what is on the surface quite random noise I've often picked up little nuggets that can be used to enrich more traditional or 'musical' compositions. I work pretty much exclusively with electronic music, which is an area where new sounds are the forefront of musical progression - arguably more so than in traditional guitar-based music - so I love the weird and wonderful noises that come from experimentation.

Lastly, there's a psychedelic side to all this which chimes with my inner hippy. Man ;)

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I never questioned his skills at all, he is clearly an accomplished musician. I won't be eating any words. I just find his use of elbow and palm absurd and when I saw him do it, it lost all credibility. In my view, I don't see how it added to the piece and I think its purely for show, which ruined it for me. The drummer using the other end of his drum stick to tickle his cymbal was also frustrating.

I mean, if I was watching Herbie Hancock perform a piece and half way through he wolloped the keyboard with his forehead, I would assume he was having a fit.

If it wasn't for the pretense, I would have found it wholly credible. But as it is, it is far too like a Mulligan and O'Hare sketch.

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[quote name='jaydentaku' timestamp='1344289131' post='1762420']
I mean, if I was watching Herbie Hancock perform a piece and half way through he wolloped the keyboard with his forehead, I would assume he was having a fit.
[/quote]

I'd assume he was copying Jerry Lee Lewis but couldn't get his leg up high enough... ;)

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