Robert Hood: genius or hack?

[audioconsult]

Originally Posted by Dogboy73

Im not sure if I'd stretch to genius. But he's certainly a master craftsmen of minimal techno. Has been for as long as anyone.

Master is a better term..but craftsmen?? He is a musican, and music is only a craft when being performed by hacks.. also known as tools, fools or copycats..

Some artists start to copy themself when having found theire niche.. maybe they perform a craft than.. crafting their own art..

But to differentiate from the mean craftsmen we still call them artists..

picasso played with that quite well.. especially in the painting business they dont allow an artist to moove too far from the style he has founded.
Irritates the collectors.

and in reallity..its quite the same in the edm biz.. i really rebbelled against that and never repeated myself.. up to a point where the lables dont wanted to release my music anymore. i gave a **** and did only for me in private and live for a long time.. In the early times of techno theese suckers was happy when you was able to deliver something that even only remotly felt into the cattegorys of that new music..and a few years later they started to cut the first 3 minutes intro of the track without asking you and dared to ask you .."can you do us a 135bpm version? the track is great but the dj´s cant play 123bpm.. "

My answer to that..was a plain **** off :-)

Anyway.. when you want to make money its probably wise to become a craftsmen at one point and just play your role as slave of the industry or fanbase. When you have found your thing and dont like to experiment too much that might not even feel like slavery.. you can call it an employment than...

But to make you a name as an artist you better break with conventions and build an own style.. otherwise you always be a hack..

So having a craftsmen attitude from the start, as many do today, is not helpfull. A release should be a statement and not just a useless addition to an already overcrowded market. You should release it on a own label when everybody wants it..and not the other way around..

See Luciano.. he made it just right.. had releases on known labels for a while..but when he had this orange mistake burner he started an own label with this track.. wise move..

[Spip]

Originally Posted by Barfunkel

Plenty of copies available at Discogs.com.

Edit: At least of pt 1.

Indeed only the pt1 and if possible I prefer to buy, by downloads.

Anyway, thank you.

[Goa-Dubs]

Originally Posted by audioconsult

Master is a better term..but craftsmen?? He is a musican, and music is only a craft when being performed by hacks.. also known as tools, fools or copycats..

Some artists start to copy themself when having found theire niche.. maybe they perform a craft than.. crafting their own art..

But to differentiate from the mean craftsmen we still call them artists..

picasso played with that quite well.. especially in the painting business they dont allow an artist to moove too far from the style he has founded.
Irritates the collectors.

and in reallity..its quite the same in the edm biz.. i really rebbelled against that and never repeated myself.. up to a point where the lables dont wanted to release my music anymore. i gave a **** and did only for me in private and live for a long time.. In the early times of techno theese suckers was happy when you was able to deliver something that even only remotly felt into the cattegorys of that new music..and a few years later they started to cut the first 3 minutes intro of the track without asking you and dared to ask you .."can you do us a 135bpm version? the track is great but the dj´s cant play 123bpm.. "

My answer to that..was a plain **** off :-)

Anyway.. when you want to make money its probably wise to become a craftsmen at one point and just play your role as slave of the industry or fanbase. When you have found your thing and dont like to experiment too much that might not even feel like slavery.. you can call it an employment than...

But to make you a name as an artist you better break with conventions and build an own style.. otherwise you always be a hack..

So having a craftsmen attitude from the start, as many do today, is not helpfull. A release should be a statement and not just a useless addition to an already overcrowded market. You should release it on a own label when everybody wants it..and not the other way around..

See Luciano.. he made it just right.. had releases on known labels for a while..but when he had this orange mistake burner he started an own label with this track.. wise move..

Good post...

[xanax]

Originally Posted by audioconsult

A release should be a statement and not just a useless addition to an already overcrowded market. You should release it on a own label when everybody wants it..and not the other way around..

See Luciano.. he made it just right.. had releases on known labels for a while..but when he had this orange mistake burner he started an own label with this track.. wise move..

..that is until vinyl sales tanked somewhere around 2008 and he created "cadenza digital" with releases every week and the obvious outcome of such label philosophy: weak gimmick surfing tracks. obviously this landed him residencies in ibiza, miami etc.. but the downside is he and his artists won't get booked at any independant non mainstream parties no more.. his reputation is pretty much done in the underground scene but i guess that was a conscious choice.. anyways pretty much the opposite of the point you were trying to make.. so bad example i guess..

getting back to rob hood, the guy seems to remain focused on his aestethic and roots despite the rare odd commercial track (like the disco filtered one posted earlier) i listened to his latest album last night (motor nighttime world 3) and it's really mature & sophisticated full of subtle jazz elements and dub-acid textures yet still that stark serious minimalism. overall definitely on the genius side, if not even for just his early contributions... a hack?! now that's just some bad trolling

[audioconsult]

Originally Posted by xanax

..that is until vinyl sales tanked somewhere around 2008 and he created "cadenza digital" with releases every week and the obvious outcome of such label philosophy: so bad example i guess..

no.. just because the tank is empty now dont makes his mooves in the past bad or wrong.-. he wouldnt there where he is now when he would have had such a release policy from the start.. I didnt knew that its so bad by now.. but ok..that just even more illustrates what ive said.. before and after.. better and worse..
This shitstorm of releases is a pest.. really unmotivating..

[dlmorley]

Did someone say Juan Atkins and Derrik May were overrated?
They understand rhythm like nobody else I know and at the time these came out they were way ahead of the curve. They opened the doors for many who came after.
I also liked their improvisational approach rather than heavy programming.

[xanax]

Originally Posted by audioconsult

no.. just because the tank is empty now dont makes his mooves in the past bad or wrong.-. he wouldnt there where he is now when he would have had such a release policy from the start.. I didnt knew that its so bad by now.. but ok..that just even more illustrates what ive said.. before and after.. better and worse..
This shitstorm of releases is a pest.. really unmotivating..

yea it was very sad seeing his label and output quality go this way, although this "adapt or die" mentality seems to be the only way to survive for labels these days (ie Instutubes - The Truth About Running An EDM label Today. Newbies Must Read.)

[audioconsult]

Originally Posted by xanax

yea it was very sad seeing his label and output quality go this way, although this "adapt or die" mentality seems to be the only way to survive for labels these days (ie Instutubes - The Truth About Running An EDM label Today. Newbies Must Read.)

no no.. i know lables thatz survive well with 3 releases each year.. but they sell a few thousend of each release and thats on vinyl.. I guess with luciano its rather that he opened the platform for all his mates to have at least one more significant download point because he dont needs the label anymore ..thanks to his own booking situation.. so rather banalyzing it than putting more work into it or causing bad feelings for his mates by telling them that the track are not worthy for a release.. how can you tell that when 19 of 20 tracks that get released on other lables are not worthy too? so i guess he just gave up on it and let the things go as they go.. down the drain actually..

thats imo a not so wise move.. but maybe he has earned all the money he will ever need already.. possible after a decade of ibiza residencies..
lables are rather a cost factor than beeing profitable theese days.. except you keep high profile.. but than the earning in the year is still less than one big ibiza gig because you cant keep high profile with monthly or weekly releases, ..

[xanax]

yea i know such labels too... perlon is a good example that has succeeded in small quality vinyl releases throughout the years.. but they have been around since 1997 and have a roster of established dare i say cult following artists (RV). this is a lot more problematic for new labels/artists imo.. as gigs is where the money is these days and having 3 releases a year is surely not going to get you or your artist roster very noticed let alone financially independent. but getting back to luciano, the real sad thing is he's really changed his whole artistic direction to cater to his new ibiza audience... he essentially sold out.. again it's a conscious choice that i guess many successful artists take at some point of their career (and this goes far beyond EDM) these uncertain times of the music industry obviously perhaps pushes artists even more so in such a direction, one can only admire/respect those that have decided to not make such concessions and stay true to their underground roots (that doesn't necessarily mean you cannot evolve either imo) i think rob hood is a good example of that..

[blizt]

Some people may say you can recreate this sound now. Of course you can because you have the original track to take inspiration on build exactly the same groove/vibe, you wont nail it though if you dont have the proper analog setup.

The point is he was one of the first doing this. Hence that's what classifies him as a "genius" if you want to call it that way. Makes you wonder: why I didnt come up with that aesthetic/idea 15 years ago? That's why he can be considered genius and you not

[top dog]

Parallel 9 - Padox - YouTube


Proper berghain shit!
Veeeery good, didnt know about this track, thanks for the tip!

[djugel]

Originally Posted by dlmorley

Did someone say Juan Atkins and Derrik May were overrated?

yes I did, I would like to hear more tracks like the one above!!
Haven't heard too much May that pulls on my heartstrings.. I'd rather be wrong!!

[recnsci]

Originally Posted by djugel

Haven't heard too much May that pulls on my heartstrings.. I'd rather be wrong!!

Isn't this The Anthem: That track ?

[top dog]

Originally Posted by xanax

but getting back to luciano, the real sad thing is he's really changed his whole artistic direction to cater to his new ibiza audience... he essentially sold out.. again it's a conscious choice that i guess many successful artists take at some point of their career (and this goes far beyond EDM) these uncertain times of the music industry obviously perhaps pushes artists even more so in such a direction, one can only admire/respect those that have decided to not make such concessions and stay true to their underground roots (that doesn't necessarily mean you cannot evolve either imo) i think rob hood is a good example of that..

I have same feelings about it. Commercial house sound a la Jamie Jones, Art Department, Maceo Plex, DC10 parties and that new vibe of "house" and "techno" - a lot of good djs and artists gave up and produce and djing in that way. The same things happened with a 2002-2007 big minimal hype.

[dlmorley]

Originally Posted by djugel

yes I did, I would like to hear more tracks like the one above!!
Haven't heard too much May that pulls on my heartstrings.. I'd rather be wrong!!

Loads of his stuff is great IMHO
The above track is from '89. Around that time he was at the top of his game I thought. I knew Derrick around then somewhat. He used to capture snippets on a Korg Sequencer (SQD1?) and basically create tracks from this library of snippets he created.
I liked the fact that it was all about feel and wasn't analytical.

[BM0]

^This is a nice compilation of Derrick May music. His stuff set the standard for what techno music became.

[Goa-Dubs]

aLways wanted that comp.late 90s?

edit-crazy Derrick may-

[nonstatic]

there are hardly any producers out there where you can drop the needle on the record and know who it is after 3 seconds. hood is one of them. i don't think anything else needs to be said beyond that.

[djugel]

Originally Posted by recnsci

Isn't this The Anthem: That track ?

that's the thing... I don't like Strings of Life .. I find it out of key.. like a bad mix.

I should finally get that comp. I like the more uplifting jazzy stuff..

[Beni Shoga]

I love Robert Hoods music as much as the next Detroit-head, but I wouldn't call him genius. That's a very specific thing. He got his sound by spending countless hours obsessing over that sound, and probably doing very little else. Inspired many people with Minimal Nation, but there is an element of "right time, right place" and "practise makes perfect". He is undoubtedly one of the masters of making a half-bar loop sound interesting repeated over 6 minutes, as is his contemporary Jeff Mills. I'm sure I read somewhere that this is something they discussed together when conceptualising their collaborations years ago.

[wreltch]

Originally Posted by top dog

Parallel 9 - Padox - YouTube


Proper berghain shit!
Veeeery good, didnt know about this track, thanks for the tip!

yeah Steve Rachmad did some of his best stuff under the Parallel 9 moniker

[bleepbleep]

Originally Posted by audioconsult

Isnt this thread a stupid insult in itself? just to bring that question up in a world of deff mousses, tiesticals, asswishis and baguettas? come on..you cant be serious

is asswishis the best you could do for avicii? or is that someone else you are referring to?

[sensing]

Originally Posted by dlmorley

Did someone say Juan Atkins and Derrik May were overrated?
They understand rhythm like nobody else I know and at the time these came out they were way ahead of the curve. They opened the doors for many who came after.
I also liked their improvisational approach rather than heavy programming.

Had been listening to electronic stuff for years when that came out and yet it was totally fresh to me.
Derrick visited Gent (bocaccio) a few times if i remember correctly.

brilliant simple sounds and knob turning in drama:



after this i used the pitchbender much more often:

[blue monk]

Originally Posted by Barfunkel

Everything really. Can't synthesize interesting enough sounds, can't mix well, especially suck at making drums etc etc.

The bummer is: The sounds are even very basic. So it`s not even very advanced sound programming.
That leaves you with more open questions...

Simple sounds and simple sequences, too. Most is just boring, also most Robert Hood tracks.
But amazing minimal tracks have been made.

If came to the conclusion that you won`t get an answer thinking about it.
You have to open the door to your intuition and trust that what you do is good.