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What song are you playing right now?

robot zombie

robot zombie

Silver Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Was surprised to find out this guy is 1/3 of The Glitch Mob. The Glitch Mob never really did it for me... ...I saw them live once and while they do a cool live set (they're pretty much an electronic jam band,) the music itself just bored me, save for a handful of songs. The core of what they do gets old quickly. Being modular comes at the price of having to tread a lot of the same ground frequently.

It's the kind of stuff that's not really compelling unless you're on a lot of drugs, which, from what I saw, a lot of the people who go out to see them are - that's just their scene, which is neither here nor there (there is a wealth of good music, for drugs and by drugs, that's meaningful for all kinds of people outside of that crowd,) but that is to say most people who simply wanna enjoy the music aren't gonna vibe with it too well. You don't have to be high to enjoy it, but it probably helps. Maybe that's why I didn't get it.

Little did I know one of them was making this tasty, mellowcholic, glitchy IDM back in 2004. Legit shit, he was, in some ways, ahead of his time! Sounds like he was listening to a lot of good experimental electronic music... ...lotsa IDM and glitch hop. Plenty of people go that way when they get into this side of electronic music and don't make a single track that stands out... ...this is no poor man's IDM.

I dunno, it's probably boring, depressing music to a lot of you guys, but this is what I think fans of this style would point to as an example of what it's supposed to sound like.

So what the hell happened with him and his band? How did a guy with genuinely creative and interesting stuff like this rolling around his head wind up going on to make such underwhelming and lukewarm synthpop EDM music? That and this are night and day.
 
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RenoMama

RenoMama

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Member For 4 Years
Member For 3 Years
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Thank you! The day got much better despite the rough start.
 
robot zombie

robot zombie

Silver Contributor
Member For 4 Years
V A P O R T R A P

aka "Cloudtrap"

Oddly enough, has nothing to do with vaping. Just trippy trap beats. The kind of stuff that can rattle your eyeballs, blow your hair back, and still leave you feeling really relaxed.
 
robot zombie

robot zombie

Silver Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Man, this guy never disappoints with the feel-good melodies. He's one of the few really technical guitarists that I can honestly say I listen to for pure enjoyment. He's got tact and taste. It's almost like he has stuff he's genuinely trying to convey rather than just showcasing his hard-earned technical abilities. This music is designed to make people feel things. The proficiency is a compliment or an accent, not the centerpiece.

As a musician myself, I appreciate displays of wonton technicality on an intellectual level, but I really do feel that a lot of the virtuoso players out there are missing something critical to making their music meaningful. It's like they completely don't realize when they're doing things that are completely hokey and obnoxious. They actually think that the music they're making is good and meaningful simply by virtue of taking their technicality to new levels. What actually comes out is something very fatiguing and difficult to digest.

Technical ability is important and most people appreciate hearing it on some level... ...it's dazzling and exciting. It draws you in. But the thing is, literally anybody can learn to do it by just following directions. I'm sure many of you have seen viral videos of small children flawlessly tackling very difficult compositions... ...and while impressive, the end result is always the same. It sounds absolutely soulless.

You can practice and practice all day long for years and years, but there are some things that can't be taught or learned... ...they instead are cultivated through a deeper appreciation for the experience of listening with your heart. The latter is what makes you stand out. It's the difference between skill and talent. Technicality isn't the end goal. It's merely a platform for conveyance. And it's what you convey that ultimately matters the most. Most people don't care how the emotions get there, they just have to be palpable.

It's not about how many notes you can play, but rather the ones you choose not to play.

Any musician can learn to blow minds if they work at it for long enough, but in the process of doing so, they forget that memorable music doesn't just baffle the mind, it moves hearts. That's why I have a lot of respect for Plini. He clearly recognizes that and it shows in the emotional nuance that comes through in his art.
 
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