Ishkur's Guide To Electronic Music
Saturday, 16 February 2008 09:03
There are eight hundred bazillion little dialects and subgenres of electronic music... what's the difference between House and Acid House? Darkwave and Coldwave? Miami Bass and Dirty South? To solve your bleep and bloop troubles, refer at once to Ishkur's Guide To Electronic Music. Every dialect of techno, house, jungle, breakbeat, and so much more is snarkily expunged upon in Ishkur's inimitable style. But there was one part that we especially liked:
ECC as one of the important examples of sound collage? Awww Ishkur, you're too sweet. His explanation of the sound collage aesthetic is hilariously accurate and worth repeating in full:
To the anarchistic, culture jamming, kopyright liberating post-punk pranksters who make it known that music is free, sampling is an end in itself, not a means. It is both art, canvas, paint and brush. But it is more than just a form of music. It is an ideology, encapsulated within the fundamental belief that art is an expression, not property. It is to be explored, not controlled. Yet this simple recognition of the aesthetic worshipping of sonic liberty has made it the most illegal music in the world. But you know what? They don't care. They will sample anything they damn well please. You can not stop them. They will sample your hit single. They will sample you complaining about sampling your hit single. They will sample you trying to stop them from sampling your hit single. And when you sue them, they will sample that too. They will take anything that fuels culture and powers society, and appropriate it for their own uses. To them, anything you say is simply raw material.
Amen.
