What do you think about BT?

leisuremuffin · Post by **leisuremuffin** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 3:49 am

wellllll, not everybody likes his brand of electronic music either.

I think that one of the reasons folks (like me) who *really* don't like Sasha, BT, and other "superstar" dance guys is that they end up being the face of all electronic music to the uninitiated.

Their music isn't that bad, it's just that it isn't really that good, and unfortunately it represents electronic music as a whole more than it should.

I honestly think that it's part of why electronic music has failed in the US----> A lot of people who might actually like some of our music get turned off by the club stuff (or smoothed out lounge stuff).

.lm.

ethios4 · Post by **ethios4** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 4:04 am

Most of the people I know in the US are turned off by electronic music becuase they try to interpret it through a rock/folk idiom instead of appreciating electronic music as it's own thing. With that in mind, I think people like BT, who write melody/song-based electronic music, have helped to bridge the gap for a lot of people. Then again, Aphex Twin has turned a lot of people on to electronic music (myself included) and his style is hardly song-based.

I don't know what it is here in the US....maybe the rock idiom is too deeply ingrained here, or maybe it's a holdover distaste from the "death-before-disco" days...seems like it stays on a mostly superficial level here.

The US is a strange place these days...

leisuremuffin · Post by **leisuremuffin** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 4:24 am

well, aphex is pretty rock n roll.

lots of edge to the sound, somewhat sparse, driving and aggressive.

In fact, i'd say it's more rock n roll than BT.

I really don't think the issue is entirely about melody or song stucture, i think it's more about the "attitude" of the music.

.lm.

jb61264 · Post by **jb61264** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 4:45 am

To answer the topic of this thread...I like BT's music in general...like most of the musicians/producers/songwriters/etc that I like, they have stuff I like and sometimes stuff I dislike. One of my absolute favorites is Sting and I can say I like 95% of just about everything he's ever done but there are the one or two songs here and there that just don't sit with me. Same with BT (although he's a far far cry from Sting...LOL) like a lot of his stuff but there's definately stuff I don't like.

leisuremuffin wrote: I honestly think that it's part of why electronic music has failed in the US----

Just curious lm...how would you measure electronic music being a success in the US?...at a certain percentage of overall music sales or more time on the radio?

leisuremuffin · Post by **leisuremuffin** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 5:02 am

do you live in the US?

I would measure it by the size of the audience and the amount of events i can go to to hear electronic music at at any given night... Radio is kinda irrelavent to people who actually care about music in the us unless we're talking college radio.

.lm.

ethios4 · Post by **ethios4** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 5:07 am

leisuremuffin wrote: I really don't think the issue is entirely about melody or song stucture, i think it's more about the "attitude" of the music.

Ahh, good point!

jb61264 · Post by **jb61264** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 5:10 am

leisuremuffin wrote:do you live in the US?

Yes, and I'm absolutely not disagreeing with you...I just wondered at what point one could say electronic music was sucessful in the US. Where do you suppose it is most sucessful? UK, Germany?

leisuremuffin · Post by **leisuremuffin** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 5:21 am

Ahhhh, i see.

I guess i just want to be able to go out any night in the nearest city and be able to hear the kind of electronic stuff i want to hear. For me, that city has been NYC. I actually lived there for six years, and have been lurking around the ny live pa scene for a little bit more than a decade.

To give you an idea of how bad it is, consider this:

Nobody knows who the hell i am as an electronic musician, yet the scene is so small, even in ny, that i play the same venues that Monolake plays when he rolls through town. I've opened for Oval. I've opened for Jake Mandell. How the hell does that happen? I'm nobody!!! I've seen great acts play in a tiny room, and i always see the same 20 people at those shows.

on the other hand, if i wanted to go out to a club and hear a dj play dance stuff, i could choose between a bazillion different spots any day of the week..... Not that i don't like to go out and dance every now and then, but that isn't the alpha and omega of what electronic music is.....

As for where it's really happening, i don't know. Somebody want to clue me in where it is?? Of course it would just be torture to find out, because i certainly don't have enough cash to pick up and move across the ocean.

.lm.

mdk · Post by **mdk** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 7:16 am

bt is to electronic music as kenny g is to jazz.

wilxon · Post by **wilxon** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 7:22 am

klarky wrote:i think bt are a poor telecoms provider and their inability to invest in the uk phone line infrastructure means i have shitty slow broadband

I have this theory abut glastonbury tickets.

People in my area had no problem getting them, i was forever bumping into people i know last year.

People from city areas like Gloucester, Bristol, London, Birmingham, etc had real difficulty.

I thik its because in busy parts the broadband exchanges got overloaded, and quiet areas did not.

Because of BT.

I like this because i can get glasto tickets again next year, if this is the case.

kechambe · Post by **kechambe** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 8:22 am

A year ago I drove from Seattle to Vancouver (~150 miles) to see Above & Beyond. BT was opening for them, more or less, and I was excited to see his live stuff.

During his set there were 10 or so girls on stage in front of him. The view of the crowd was 90% blocked. These girls were acting like they were part of the show, blowing kisses to the crowd, etc. You know the type. It was annoying to say the least and I was shocked that he would allow it.

I complained to security during this set and the head security guy said they were friends of BT's manager. The guy pointed out as his manager was wasted and acting like a fool himself. So they basically said 'there is nothing we can do'.

When the show was over BT was signing a couple autographs. I told him that I thought he was disrespectful for him to allow that sort of distraction. He say "what can I do? I'm just here trying to do a job'. I told him he can own his performance.

Above & Beyond didn't allow the same thing to happen. When those girls got in between them and the crowd they would ask them to move.

jdoty · Post by **jdoty** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 7:09 pm

I think that alot people are confused on bt. His music isnt that great. I mean he has had some sucess, but it is because of the remixes of his tracks none of his tracks are danceable. I mean if you want something to wind down with its ok. Just because him and Taylor did the Anomaly " Calling Your name" which is a track i cant even stand to hear any more. Producing wise he is good at what he does which is mellow melodic trance. He couldnt make a good beat to save his life though.

melocoton · Post by **melocoton** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 7:21 pm

I think the "problem" with electronic music in the US is that a lot of Europeans (and Americans who like European electronic music) don't accept the fact that hip-hop is electronic music and wonder why the US doesn't produce the same kind of stuff that comes out of Berlin or London. Plus the whole club scene is entirely different due to legal and geographic reasons. And most Americans are probably exposed to various electronic music genres through commercials and soundtracks so they associate it more with background music rather than being tied into any kind of youth culture.

CaseyDC · Post by **CaseyDC** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 7:57 pm

Does anybody know what he does for his "Laptop Symphony" sets? I am curious about that.

kent_sandvik · Post by **kent_sandvik** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 8:08 pm

CaseyDC wrote:Does anybody know what he does for his "Laptop Symphony" sets? I am curious about that.

I saw one laptop symphony in SF about a year ago or so. Basically triggering a lot of Ableton clips (long ones), and playing on the keyboard now and then, and triggering the same effect/cymbal sound from time to time.

I suspect the new tour will be more interesting, he has two other musicians assisting. --Kent