Less is More!?

     I've always been a fan of both minimalist and extremely dense music. One of the first minimalist projects I was exposed to, years ago, was Mick Harris's Lull.  I wasn't nearly as open minded of a listener then as I am now and dismissed it. The Lull records I've listened to could best be described as low frequency drones. Only recently have I started to revisit some of these recordings with a new found appreciation. Through re-exploring some of these more spatially rich recordings I gained a new perspective on writing and approaching music.
     The first thing that I really discovered about my own writing process was, how dense and harmonically rich I would try and make everything on guitar. Part of the problem was my complex and dissonant chordal voicing's that made some of the material inaccessible to fellow musicians. There is always a time and place for this and of course there is nothing wrong with doing it sparingly and tastefully. But, for me, I wasn't able to make this distinction because I would always unfairly judge my own incomplete material against a band or artists finished product. I ended up trying to recreate as much of the full spectrum a band is capable of with just my guitar. Needless to say, it doesn't leave much room for other musicians to add their own flare and creativity to the piece and can even be somewhat intimidating to get into.
     This brings me to texture, and really where I'm heading presently as a musician. I can still accomplish these dense multi-faceted elements but in a linear and layered fashion. Lets say I create an extremely simple melody as a foundation to build upon, not only can I add as many layers as I want, to achieve this same desired effect, but each layer is based on simplicity and the original melody. Any amount of layers can be added or removed to make room for other instruments or musicians still making it accessible. So I guess less is more, more or less.

3 amazing new albums in one month!

     I must say, the month of February has shaped up to be amazing for new music releases. Now, I knew two of these releases were imminent (Mogwai and Earth) but I think the surprise from Radiohead caught everyone off guard. I've actually gotten into so many new artists/bands this month I haven't even had the time to overly indulge in any one record. I guess I'm going to be playing catch up for a few months, trust me, I'm not complaining.
     I do want to talk about the new Radiohead album "The King Of Limbs" for a bit. Even though I haven't really let it sink in yet the first thing that has really stuck out to me on this album is how amazingly atmospheric Thom Yorke's vocals are. Of course this isn't really anything new, BUT the way they are interacting with the guitars and other instrumentation is completely flooring. This is the most instrumental I've heard Yorke's vocals and I absolutely love it. Even at first listen this album just washes over you sinking into every pore and leaves you wanting more. Songs like "Bloom" and "Little By Little" make me feel cleaner than when I get out of the shower, such a great release.

Bass as a physical experience

     I guess bass has always been a very attractive element in music for me. Whether it's the rhythmic pounding and sweeping oscillations of Dubstep, or the overly crushing distorted bass guitar in bands such as KEN Mode, bass sounds are probably one of the first things that attract me to a song/artist. As I'm sure most people are aware, bass carries with it the most physically translated frequency range in sound/music.
     When I was a student at R.I.T (97'-98'), I had the opportunity of being exposed to a few interesting and new perspectives on music. One thing you may not know, R.I.T is also the N.T.I.D (National Technical Institute for the Deaf). I ended up seeing a decent number of shows, and almost all of them had a translator signing for any deaf or hard of hearing kids present. I bring this up because, for these kids (at least the ones I knew), music was more of a physical experience. Bass played a massive role in how they enjoyed and interacted with the music. I'm still amazed by this, and being a musician myself, I have a hard time even imagining music from this perspective. Just keep in mind, there are a lot more nuances and movements in music that even our ears may get in the way of.
     On an extreme ending note, I went to see Sunn0))) around a year and a half ago in Brooklyn. I remember slowly crumbling to the floor and not being able to stand by the end of their set. It felt like I had 3 or 4 people standing on my shoulders; truly a humbling experience. If I were to guess, I would say a combination of sheer volume and bass were the culprits. It was a very cool experience, especially if you enjoy being physically punished by sound.

What sounds are we attracted to in music????

This is a question that has conjured much thought and yet there is no real definitive answer. I guess we could all give a summary of the sounds we find most attractive in music. Whether it's sweet singing highs, swarming mids, heart stopping lows, all of these together or none at all, I think we each have a certain scope of what we find enjoyable. I had an interesting conversation with a friend today who listens to very different music than I do. Now, I tend to love very textured music on the "heavier" end of the listening spectrum, I guess some would even consider certain artists extreme or barely listenable. She, on the other hand, listens to music with a much lighter sonic footprint and finds the music I like very overwhelming and almost a daunting task to get into. This may seem mundane to some and I'm sure most people are fine with the notion of people liking what they like and leaving it there. But I think there is a lot more at work on a conscious, subconscious, mental and physical level that plays a part in how we interpret and enjoy music and sound in general. Just for context here is my best attempt at a cross section of the music I listen to: Pink Floyd, Isis, Tim Hecker, Scorn(Mick Harris), Sonic Youth, Bjork, De La Soul, Deadguy, Mogwai, Mike Patton, Failure, James Plotkin, Built to Spill, Dinosaur Jr.