And so the sun sets on the first big music festival of 2019. With a slate of headliners that all had something to prove, it really was anyone’s guess how things would pan out. Could Donald Glover, Kevin Parker, and Ariana Grande rise to the occasion?
For those of you not familiar with the music or the many monikers of Richard D. James (and if you clicked on this link I hope to God you are), let me run down the night in phases of the first non-festival Aphex Twin show on U.S. soil in over two decades at Brooklyn’s Avant Gardener.
Some bands think about product before emotion. Some bands think about the end destination, rather than the journey. Some bands get too caught up on what the final outcome might look or sound like.
There was a bit of news last week that may have been overlooked. Warner Music Group announced its roster of newly signed artists for the coming year. On there already were the usual staples: Coldplay, Madonna, etc. But there was one signee that trailed off from the others – an algorithm generator. But as far as news goes, no one batted an eye.
There seems to be a trend going on the music world today, but this one has no signature sound. No trademark looks, face tattoos, or use of auto tune. In fact, it’s a movement to kind of not be recognizable at all, but to be minimalistic in approach. Less is always more. It bears no similarities to the genres that came before it, nor does it try to reinvent the wheel. They’re simply tunes that can be played with no more than a piano and an 808 drum machine. One critic might call it the “music of the future.”