Week 11 Forum Review

Well, deconstruct me a constructor, we had another week of deconstruction talks. I found the deconstruction element to feature more widely in these talks as opposed to construction. What do people have against construction? Is it because my house is next to one getting built and you don't want to offend me? Or is it because we attend the CON servatorium, and we feel we need to make up for the missing DE in our lives?

Either way, Simon Whitelock was first. I don't understand the "DJ" movement, and I have to say I never heard of my mentor using such commercial equipment. All cage needed was a bowl and some dice, as well as 1-2 well prepare mushroom meal ideas. Instead, we are hearing talks about people stealing ideas from other people (JACKONSTRUCTING) and CONSTRUCTING a new work from them. Is this a good idea? All I know is that if it's not random it's not worth doing. The devil's work, such as DJing is trying to alure you into a world of magical logical harmony and constant beats. The chance of the bassdrum comming up on exactly the first crotchet of every bar if you are randomizing it to semiquaver levels is 2^16, and the fact that this occours throughout the piece PROVES it is not random. Also, tonality seems to live and breathe through this music and this is somethign we need not encourage. Free yourselves. Take a break from this jibberish, I say, take a chance and roll the dice.

Nathan Shea was next, and the presence of strong noise content in poor quality recordings was a welcome change from the bestiality we had been subjected to. I could relate this to my own interests and if the guitars had been replaced with a sinewave modulated by the drums which could be teapots, we would be on to something.

Last and best, John Delay. A man among men. A trooper against adversity. The real deal. If we had a war, John should be the commander in chief. A veteran of rhythm and a pariot of harmony. John Delay is all this, and was even more in his eye opening presentation. Any music with little percussive content and slow constant change is to be appreciated, but the examples he played gave me a tingling in my ningling I hadn't experienced since "4'33: Live aus Berlin" came out. A wonderful expansion of the senses, and one that made sense. What a way to end the day, and what a day it was.