Alva Noto - Transform (2001) [SAA Album Club discussion Thread]

[OccultHawk]

I'm going to start with some hate. But before I do I want to say if someone totally ripped into one of my suggestions it might kind of hurt my feelings. So Janszoon, I appreciate the suggestion. It's nothing personal.

This album is completely dull, genre driven, uninspired, pretentious, directionless trash. This is a generic glitch record that doesn't go anywhere with it from start to finish. If this were metal, it would be like JUST the drums and basslines to the fifth Metallica record. On Wiki it says he performed at the Guggenheim and MoMA! What a crock! How lame and pretentious and unknowledgeable can these jerk-offs be?

'Transall cycle' "approaches the problematics of speed, the vision of utopia and the dissolution of our ideas into fragments."

[Janszoon]

Originally Posted by OccultHawk

I'm going to start with some hate. But before I do I want to say if someone totally ripped into one of my suggestions it might kind of hurt my feelings. So Janszoon, I appreciate the suggestion. It's nothing personal.

This album is completely dull, genre driven, uninspired, pretentious, directionless trash. This is a generic glitch record that doesn't go anywhere with it from start to finish. If this were metal, it would be like JUST the drums and basslines to the fifth Metallica record. On Wiki it says he performed at the Guggenheim and MoMA! What a crock! How lame and pretentious and unknowledgeable can these jerk-offs be?

Yeah, but what do you really think?

This is an album that took a couple listens to click with me so I can understand not immediately being blown away by it. It's a grower though, and in my opinion it's a very good album. I don't know what "genre driven" is supposed to mean but I actually find Alva Noto's style pretty unique so I don't think I can agree with you there or with the idea that it's "uninspired". Also I strongly disagree that the album is directionless, it builds in structure in an interesting way as it goes on. In fact that's one of the things I really like about it. Not sure why we're comparing this album to metal albums but if I were to do so I'd compare it to early Sunn 0))): minimalistic and immersive.

If you're the kind of person who gets worked up into a rage every time you listen to something that's associated with fine art or that you think is "pretentious", I'm honestly surprised that you'd even want to participate in these discussions. I seems like it would just get your blood pressure up every week.

[Ska Lagos Jew Sun Ra]

I don't know, I kind of liked it. Disappointed a tad I had to crank up my volume to max even to hear it, though. Very unique, however. Reminds me a lot of experiments I used to do loading non-audio files into audacity as binary. The one thing I really like about this is the assumption that it uses no drum machine(and if it does, don't tell me, it'll break my heart) but produces those perfect beats simply with the strange tones. Something really enthralled me about how it'd break into a techno-beat every once in awhile but utilizing completely non-drum machine means.

Occulthawk complains a lot above about this being a sterile album. I feel that's almost like complaining a horror movie is too disturbing. The point of is to be very sterile, and mechanical. It's kind of the dry feeling of living in a technologically subdued society. The boldness in being that 100% anti-pop, and not giving the listener an easy ride, is what makes this album truly unique truly, as the label denotes, avant-garde.

[Janszoon]

Originally Posted by Skaligojurah

I don't know, I kind of liked it. Disappointed a tad I had to crank up my volume to max even to hear it, though. Very unique, however. Reminds me a lot of experiments I used to do loading non-audio files into audacity as binary. The one thing I really like about this is the assumption that it uses no drum machine(and if it does, don't tell me, it'll break my heart) but produces those perfect beats simply with the strange tones. Something really enthralled me about how it'd break into a techno-beat every once in awhile but utilizing completely non-drum machine means.

From what I've read he doesn't use any kind of sequencers (including drum machines presumably). The sounds are sampled, partially from found electronic sources, but I think mostly from oscillators, then he stitches everything together piece by piece in a sound editing program.

[Ska Lagos Jew Sun Ra]

Originally Posted by Janszoon

From what I've read he doesn't use any kind of sequencers (including drum machines presumably). The sounds are sampled, partially from found electronic sources, but I think mostly from oscillators, then he stitches everything together piece by piece in a sound editing program.

Yeesh, that has to take some level of dedication. Really comes off well, sounds very precise.

[OccultHawk]

Originally Posted by Janszoon

Yeah, but what do you really think?

This is an album that took a couple listens to click with me so I can understand not immediately being blown away by it. It's a grower though, and in my opinion it's a very good album. I don't know what "genre driven" is supposed to mean but I actually find Alva Noto's style pretty unique so I don't think I can agree with you there or with the idea that it's "uninspired". Also I strongly disagree that the album is directionless, it builds in structure in an interesting way as it goes on. In fact that's one of the things I really like about it. Not sure why we're comparing this album to metal albums but if I were to do so I'd compare it to early Sunn 0))): minimalistic and immersive.

If you're the kind of person who gets worked up into a rage every time you listen to something that's associated with fine art or that you think is "pretentious", I'm honestly surprised that you'd even want to participate in these discussions. I seems like it would just get your blood pressure up every week.

By 'genre driven' I mean in no way pioneering.

But Sunn 0))) makes my balls tingle, this doesn't.

I don't mind something being artsy and pretentious if the artist can back it up.

[OccultHawk]

Occulthawk complains a lot above about this being a sterile album. I feel that's almost like complaining a horror movie is too disturbing. The point of is to be very sterile, and mechanical. It's kind of the dry feeling of living in a technologically subdued society. The boldness in being that 100% anti-pop, and not giving the listener an easy ride, is what makes this album truly unique truly, as the label denotes, avant-garde.

That's a good point except I didn't think of it as 'sterile'. After I bring my blood pressure down a bit I'll give it another go with that angle in mind because I can see that as a positive attribute but one I didn't have the insight on my first full listen. Maybe you can hold my hand through it when I'm ready to try again?