You know how it works.
You start off with a simple sonic phrase, and you loop it maybe two or four times. A four-on-the-floor kick comes in, and your head starts to bounce. A minute later, you have a flurry of drum programming going on, as the snares and claps smack on the second and fourth beats and a hi-hat or two hit on the off-beats. Add in a few other synth loops -- a deep bass, maybe a few string chords -- and voilà! The recipe of layering is underway.
It all seems so simple, and we've all heard the flippant criticism "it's so repetitive". For fans of techno, it's one we've heard a million time before. So why do we like it so much? I'm sure there are many reasons people will give, but for me, it's the same reason why I listen to modernist classical, minimalism and its descendants, and some varieties of ambient: the immersing quality of looping. As we hear the same phrase over and over, we begin to become hyper-aware of any variations. When a new layer emerges, the elements that we've been listening to before become contextually transformed. And with the steady algorithm of layering common to so much modern electronic dance music, we begin to anticipate when these new layers will emerge.
So it all becomes a remarkably active form of listening. Certainly, many audiences don't quite take it to the level of immersion that I do, perhaps instead using the patterns as a way to simply groove along at a happy, steady rhythm without much thought. But this minimalist impulse behind electronica is something I find quite fascinating, and I'm particularly keen on artists and tracks that readily use the conventions to create melancholy aural environments that are built on a kind of suspense.
This series of postings, which I'm calling Melancholy Loops, will be a review of some of my favourite electronic recordings that draw game listeners into an insular, solitary and aurally-aware frame of mind. But to begin, perhaps a not particularly melancholy track, but one that I think expertly illustrates how an active listener can pick apart and anticipate layering, resulting in a remarkably satisfying experience from so few elements.
Daft Punk - Phoenix
