Electronica beats me!

Why I have no love lost for electronica?

Its supposed to have started as underground music; it’s a music that is often frowned upon by the traditionalists; it’s a music that helps you bond and connect with new people; it’s a music that almost compels you to dance – all these parameters are sure recipe for success in my books. That’s precisely how rock-n-roll was perceived too.

Do you know that the very phrase rock-n-roll used to connote conjugal delights amongst couples in days when pre-marital sex was still a taboo. Except for western classical and opera music, most popular music had rebellion as its roots. So any music that has its beginning as underground, any music that makes its audiences experiment with substances or lifestyles, ought to be kosher in my books. That’s how most of us have grown to love music.

Yet, I can’t stand electronica. Why? I’ve tried my best to give it the benefit of doubt that it deserves; I’ve tried my utmost to discover nuances of this music, tease open some deep insights that the music is hinting at. Why, I’ve even attended rave parties and done X and danced through the night with a large beatific grin pasted on my ugly mug throughout, but alas, electronica still fails to spur me.

They define it as dance music, and if you happen to get into details, the kind of sub-genres that exist within electronic dance music, will perhaps exceed all of Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Bach’s repertoire put together. At my last count there were over 150 sub-genres of electronic music with names exuding strong spoors of Sci Fi characters. I can’t claim that I’ve heard all the 21 electronic music genres, each having sub-genres like Illbient and Psybient belonging to Ambient genre, or turntablism, NuNRG, Nitzhonot, Technoid, Suomisaundi, to name just a few, but if you start permuting and naming each scratch, each loop, each repeat, differently, I guess, the sky’s the limit.

At the very least, I can almost imagine the snobbery amongst the electronica fans and the casual oh-so-carelessly-bandied-yet-another-name-of yet-another-sub-genre that should make them electronica-evolved citizens. {Oh, I’m only into illbient and Psybient with a dash of Nitzhonot thrown in for good measure, otherwise I would rather burn the floor than the disc}

Why do we appreciate music? There is a primal reason and an evolved reason. The primal reason must have something to do with the inherent rhythm in nature that our body, mind and soul resonates with. Its nature’s metronome like the howling of the wind, the rustling of leaves, the rhythmic chirping of birds, the metronomic roar of the sea, etc. etc.

The evolved reason, I think is the awe factor. Awe at skilled permutations and combination of notes, harmonies, lyrics, rhythms, beats etc that again resonates with your own evolution of taste and liking. Awe also at those who are skilled and talented enough to create such combinations that just mesmerise you. And of course awe at a phenomenon that you think you can not replicate. More or less these are the reasons with varying degrees why one really loves music.

To me electronica, at best, falls under the first premise. It’s a primal rhythmic beat created electronically that resonates with our inherent sense of rhythm. It is primal. I don’t know if this has ever been experimented, but my guess would be that if you make primates listen to electronica for some time, even they would start swaying to its rhythm. If that is the reason of its popularity and its hold over the masses, give me a break! I mean, come on, surely, we’re far more evolved than the primates. I don’t mean to be a musical snob, but this affinity to our primal sense is boring beyond doubt. Otherwise, we would record the roar of the sea waves, loop it over and over, and listen to it for hours.

At the same time, its equally true that if any music doesn’t follow an innate sense of rhythm or harmony, we wouldn’t like it. In fact the theorists have spent centuries honing the harmonies and rhythms under a guiding time tenure to appeal to our inherent primal sense of rhythm and harmony. That’s what we call melody. My point is that given these constraints, I look for more than quenching a primal rhythm need from music.

I like the way the beats go all berserk only to come together at some point when it suddenly dawns on you the virtuoso skills with voice or instruments were, in fact, all in the same melodic beat all this while. I love when a voice modulates, pitches, here and there and then wows you with a particular rhythm that was seemingly amiss but suddenly made sense and rhythm. I like when brilliant lyrics can manage to be kept under the guidelines without you as a listener ever being aware. I love when an instrument shoots from one range to the other, from one extreme to another only to fall in line with that melody that you would not have thought were possible.

That’s what musical evolution is all about. That’s what separates – or links - a Beethoven from – or with – Bono.

That’s why I still prefer AC/DC to some DJ with alpha-numeric name who can take a timeless riff from BBKing or a sax wail from Coltrane, loop the same over his Mac at different speeds, add some loud pulsating drum thumps and presto, the glittering cleavages start jiggling.

That sure is nice to watch. The music continues to bore me. And thus I walk out.

Will someone please furnish a rational, logical or emotional reasons why they like electronica? I’m all willing to be converted.