XKCD Does It Again

Classic. So true! Thanks for the laugh M.E.!

Brian-

Well, thank XKCD.

I couldn’t agree more. =)

I love electronica, but even I have to agree…

Bad techno, sure. And yes, the overwhelming majority of it is bad.

I’m curious about why you don’t like electronica and how you define “electronica”. For example, is Matthew Herbert’s music electronica? It’s heavily loop-based and normally done in the style of house music, but it mostly involves actual recorded audio. He doesn’t use pre-recorded samples.

How about modern pop music, most of which makes heavy use of synthesizers and computer-provided effects?

What about Nine-Inch Nails? Trent uses tons of synthesizers and fairly frequently has dance-like bass and drums, but his music in general is closer to rock than techno or trance.

Zimmie-

Honestly, the majority of techno that I’ve heard is repetitive to the point of absurdity. I understand that all dance music really needs is a beat that stays consistent for about 90 minutes, but I never understood how people can listen to that kind of thing in their car or office.

It’d be like watching the same episode of a TV show again and again and… After the first 64 bars of the same riff and the same 3 chords, I’m ready to move on to the next genre.

As for pop and rock (and even some techno artists), they focus on a melody and a direction. I’m certainly not above using loops and sequences (have you heard A Cautionary Tail?), but too many “artists” think they can string out an 8-bar progression into a 10-minute “song” and call it a creation.

It’s more of an idea that never got a chance to be fleshed out, a painting that never made it past the sketch.

Huh. For some reason, I didn’t get subscribed to comments on this post. I thought I checked the box, but maybe I didn’t.

Anyway, yes, quite a lot of techno (and electronica in general) is very, *very* bad because it’s so *easy* to just throw a bunch of loops together. This is the same reason so many ads just use a loop or two from GarageBand now. It’s easier, faster, and cheaper than hiring someone to write music for said ad, and most people won’t know the difference.

There are also several rock artists who put out incredibly repetitive music. A lot of modern pop music is a single hook repeated over and over with changing vocals. I don’t like pop music, myself, and it’s mostly because so much of it is uninspiring and simply gets tiresome after two or three plays (read: twenty minutes of listening to a single radio station). ClearChannel’s playlists are completely randomized! Whenever any song ends, every other song on the rotation has a 50% chance of coming next.

When I listen to instrumental electronica, it’s mostly to help cut down on distractions. It gives my ears something to do while I’m trying to concentrate on building out a customer’s firewalls or whatever. I can do this with practically any music, but it takes the least concentration to do it with something that maintains a relatively consistent sound.

I get the feeling that we agree in general about what I classify as “bad electronica” (perhaps “lazy” would be a better word), I’m just wondering why you seem to have generalized this to *all* electronica.

Finally, no, I haven’t heard that particular song. I’ll have to find a copy and give it a listen.