Is some of KC dark music?
whoops...wrong thread
Last edited by klothos; 02-06-2017 at 02:02 PM.
dark music is more relaxing, for starters
"Alienated-so alien I go!"
You know, I'm a little impatient with dark music these days. Of course, if I look at my list of faves, there's a ton of dark music there.
But in trying to keep up with modern prog, there's such an overwhelming sense of darkness, loss, death-obsession, etc. that I kind of wonder what happened.
Even bands that were well-known for their darkness in the classic prog era, such as Magma, were very likely to produce something transcendentally joyful, such as Hhai or Udu Wudu. And they were really more often intense than truly dark.
Obviously, Yes had tons of hyper-happy music both ecstasy- and cringe-inducing. Although people value Gabriel's "dark" vision in the lyrics of early Genesis, we wouldn't want to do without the giddy/heavenly instrumental section of Cinema Show or the humor and grandeur of Supper's Ready or the major-key finale of Fountain of Salmacis.
Witness Echolyn's journey from "Seize the truth, seize the day!" on their first album to "What a wasted life, fuckin kill me now" on the latest.
I wonder why it's so much harder for a modern prog band to do joie de vivre, jubilation, euphoria, that kind of thing? All but the most hopelessly depressed of us have access to those states. It's like you can't be one of the cool kids if you go there.
This is pretty close to how I feel.
I listen to a lot of dark music, and there is almost always a feeling of catharsis when it is over.
An analogy may be like the love some people have for very spicy foods. Your brain associates the pain with actual physical harm (which in turn releases endorphins), giving you a high, but your rational mind knows you are not really being harmed.
Or the feeling from intense thrill rides. Your evolved flight or fight system gets activated due to the apparent danger, but rationally you know that actual harm is extremely unlikely. I am sure the parts of the brain activated would be the same our ancestors on the African plains had activated when being chased by a predator.
The vast majority of my music collection is dark.
And if there were a god, I think it very unlikely that he would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence - Russell
I am sure you are surprised to know this-I have a lot of dark music. I find the music to be more creative, on a higher skill level and invoking more emotion. If you listen to the Carpenters, for example, or ABBA, the songs of their true skill are often in the darker, more brooding work. The same is with a lot of the bands I listen to. I think it is harder to do dark music.
"Alienated-so alien I go!"
^^THIS
As a songwriter, writing darker music is a lot easier to me....its a bed that I can create layers of interesting ideas on and go places without too many constraints......Bright music is actually a lot harder to write: to be innovative, deeply emotional, and daring without the use of formulaic harmony/melody approaches....thats a tough order...This is exactly the reason why I mentioned The Byrds and early REM earlier: they both were able to find a fly-zone between light and dark with very good results:
Last edited by klothos; 02-06-2017 at 09:59 PM.
Well put.
Wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world.
Well, I would say that happy music is often shallow.... but stuff like Miriodor or Interference Sardine are fairly happy music, but it's rather complex.
He'd have to play a red DG (like Cipollina), to get the red horns right
Well, I wouldn't call Schizoid or Epitaph happy music.... So it's rather dark in my book.
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
Operation mindcrime is by far the darkest thing I have ever heard. I recall the first time I listened to it top to bottom...
I just sat there with horror on my face. Not sure why it affected me that way, but wow, you talk about dark. That album is a major downer, but what a powerful statement of doom.
I have yet to listen to it again start to finish. Its a killer album, but just soooo dark.
Its appeal is its darkness, but it also is an amazing work. Far darker than the Wall. If you took it any darker, you might risk it backfiring, and turning into something funny - because its just so corny. I like corny - but it isn't all that dark. The guy complaining how his life sucks because he walks around with a dead crow on his head and thick black makeup and a cape, yeah, thats always worth a good laugh.
I got nothin' :
...avoiding any implication that I have ever entertained a cognizant thought.
live samples:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwbCFGbAtFc
https://youtu.be/AEE5OZXJioE
https://soundcloud.com/yodelgoat/yod...om-a-live-show
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUe3YhCjy6g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VOCJokzL_s
A dark style of writing excites the listener. That is a positive. A dark style of writing may creep people out. That is a negative. Different choices of notes such as a tri tone interval or perhaps a minor key can alter mood swings in a room full of people. It's good to understand the difference between dissonant and consonant. One day you may grow bored with both and bounce back and forth between the two, but the important thing to remember is that music has a science and after it is mastered by a musician, along with technique and composition, that the composer will always be inspired by life events/experiences. And they will utilize their music education , get inspired, and express everything associated with their day to day life and the unknown or mystery of life through music . In the end that is what all musicians do. So for me....John Adams, Julverne, Univers Zero, and Birdsongs Of The Mesazoic paint pictures or create images in our minds
Discreet Music by Brian Eno brings back all the fond memories of my childhood. If I sit by the window glancing at the pines in the backyard while it plays the music will create a film in my mind. A film , a visual of fond memories, frozen in time,,but revisited to reoccur through this music. Is it dark? Yes it is. Some people might think, "Well, how could it be dark?" "Eno is using notes in a major key" Major is happy , Minor is sad" But it is dark because it creates an obscure atmosphere. More obscure in the sense that it is not common nor does it emulate a newly discovered pattern of procedure. The overall presentation of composition receives a mixed bag. One individual might say, "This music influences me to daydream" another person might say, " This is just a guy pressing on keys at random sounding like a tinker toy keyboard....I'm disappointed".
Regarding Chamber Rock, Chamber Symphonies, Avant-Garde, etc, it is insulting at times to associate that music with the devil. Reason being that it is not all designed for intent or purpose to be representative of the devil. Instead the theory of the piece being a study is more relevant to the reason why it was composed in the first place. However many pieces are associated with the subject matter of the occult. Many compositions done well are naturally affective to choose what the music makes you feel. Some people may say, "Well, this Kronos Quartet or Univers Zero CD is making me think of evil...Please take it off" Another person will say, "I'm sorry but this music does not make me think of things like that at all...I have a completely different vision than you buddy" What humans consider to be dark music actually serves a positive light in their life. It's not often understood that way because music as a rule creates a contrast in the human mind. People become easily confused by its inability to be one thing instead of 3 or 4. And the realization that humans interpret music differently from each other reveals that music is an art and that it has no boundaries to be pigeon-hold.
Is dark just a euphemism for sad or melancholy? A dictionary would indicate dark, as an adjective, as meaning a lack of light. I listen to early KC, The Beatles and Satie, but see their music as sad, rather than dark. Unfortunately, sad has become a perjorative or slang term in the UK.
Member since Wednesday 09.09.09
"Dark music" would - to me - signal any audio scenario which specifically aims at achieving a listening catharsis through either sombre arrangements of melody and/or sonics or intrinsically mental lyrics. Swans (Michael Gira) are virtuosos of this, with "Failure" standing out as one of the gloomiest tunes I've ever heard - although they had dozens and dozens, and not only "songs" but installations and facades. Kayo Dot (Toby Driver) are masters of the Authentic dark immanence; their music is sometimes seriously downbringing, yet at all times with an existentialist twist that makes it all the more rewarding to absorb.
I never - never - heard any genuinely successful "black metal" attempts at conveying absolute darkness. The cartoonish antic of unintended self-parody in the very execution and "charged purpose of wannabe" simply robs it of all cathartic force - for me.
Melancholy music as such can be both dark and (fairly) jolly, in the latter case often nostalgically sentimental - as in many tunes and themes by such folks as Lars Hollmer, Pekka Pohjola. Purely melancholy moods of darkness are found consistently in much singer-songwriter art, as with Tim Hardin, Nick Drake, David Ackles, Tim Buckley or Harry Chapin, and to the extreme with voices like Phil Ochs and John Martyn.
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
[QUOTE=moecurlythanu;666362]It's cathartic.
It's mysterious, and an escape from the norm.
It has an air of danger, or at least foreboding.
It usually has depth that the happy, frothy fluff does not.[/]
I've always been attracted to dark music. still am. when I heard Ghost Rider's in the Sky on radio I loved it. it scared me a little but not enough to cover my ears. I wanted to know more about it. Same thing happened when I first heard "Riders on the Storm". Loved it. had to know more about the song and who performed it. on the other hand, I love "Penny Lane."
If you have kids, you have probably experienced your child staring at you with a happy and wildly anticipated face saying: "Scare me"
And then you say Booooooh! - or something.
Regarding Nick Drake.... he was just being poetic. Of course many people personalize his lyricism and point out that Nick Drake had mental problems. It's irrelevant to me , it's just a form of art. To me, the term "dark" applies to being deep. Drugs and illness usually do not prevent a writer from being productive on the inside. 1983, A Merman I Shall Turn To Be" was probably the darkest piece Jimi Hendrix ever recorded. Jimi Hendrix and Syd Barrett were extremely influential to the Space Rock movement in the 70's. The essence from their dark ideas prevailed in Krautrock/Space Rock. Hawkwind, Gong, Amon Dull II, Guru, Guru, took the approach steps further. Songs like 1983, Astro Man, Lucifer Sam, and Interstellar Overdrive were influential .
I wholeheartedly agree. Unlike John Martyn (whom he personally knew very well), Drake arguably didn't display many signs of a serious condition - i.e. personality disorders etc. He had recurring depressions and read Camus' on his deathbed, yes - this does NOT imply "mental issues", give or take the melancholy nature of his songs. I actually also find most of his music far less desperately melancholy than that of Martyn's.
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
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