These are very interesting points. Specifically to my own music and the way I've always worked, because novelty is subjective. The pleasure of discovering something new is about the listener's subjective experience of it as "new". That's a problem for me.Machinesworking wrote:what isn't played out? that's the bigger question.
I can't truthfully say I've heard anything groundbreaking or truly new in years.
Mostly once new innovations in hardware happen some new music comes out, after that it's just sub genres of the same old. Then imo what matters is whether the song itself is good, not the genre etc.
My whole life I've wanted to do something slightly different than whatever other people were doing. I think that has been a mistake. I mean, I enjoyed the act of creation, the part where I make something innovative. That is the satisfying thing for me, as the creator. That unfortunate path leads into the sound-artist-experimental-jazz woods, where nobody goes. That is a problem, a big problem!
I was thinking about the phrase "the comedian's comedian". It is usually applied to a person who has struck an idiosyncratic path which doesnt appeal to audiences as much as it does with comedians. They are sick of "hacky" setup-punchline formulas, they strike out into weird territory, often "unfunny' . Other comedians love them because other comedians understand the weariness and disdain of tropes which has led to this point.
It's a comedian making art for other comedians. Most comedians LOVE "The Day the laughter Died" by Dice Clay. An album of him bombing hard, on purpose.
Meanwhile, comedy audiences actually LIKE cheesy crowdwork. Audiences love a good setup & punchline with a well established premise, etc. It only needs to be very slightly different to be "innovative" comedy. The comedian's comedian is not to their taste. They want things which make them laugh. Jokes. Stuff which they can relate to.
The same is true for techno, and music in general.
If it's new and exciting to the audience, that's good enough for the audience. And they decide value.
It's a topic I think about a lot. The tendency to make music "for yourself" becomes a big problem as time goes on. The idea of pandering to the audience with ideas I first discovered in 1992 seems very unappealing . My personality type is of investigating, discovering the new, novelty, inventing and creating. I make music for me! It's a big problem because of who "me" is. Me is an old guy now. Me has heard a fucking hell of a lot of techno.
Consequently I cannot make techno anymore.
The world keeps turning.