genre consistency

[modey]

not sure if anyone else has this problem, but i write in a lot of styles and tend to have different aliases for different genres, ie. rooftop access for my post-rock/guitar ambience stuff, pselodux for electro, archie martin vox for metal/gabba/noise, etc. but i was thinking today what it would be like to combine all of these genres in my releases, and just release everything under rooftop access. the only downside i can think of is that it would be terribly inconsistent, with super clean electronic music next to badly produced black metal, then cinematic post-rock, etc. but then i listen to an album like quebec by ween, and think, jesus christ these guys are awesome for including so many different styles on one album.

 

.. so basically what i'm asking is, what are your thoughts on multi-genre albums/projects?

[Guest Glass Plate]

as long as it flows together well what ever

 

Im usually not trying to fit a genre when making a music always just trying to compose stuff with what ever fits well.

[patternoverlap]

I think as long as they "feel" like they belong together then do it.

[Berk]

I don't like all kinds of genres together in one album. There shouldn't be too many of them, and they should just complement each other in my opinion.

 

Take Flashbulb's Soundtrack To A Vacant Life for example, it sounds to me like it has no real soul to it (I know it's the Flashbulb but still). Swollen Trees' intro is really good, but then it turns into a common electric guitar power ranger soundtrack, then comes the piano bit, this is all in one track.

[modey]

yeah, points taken. i might just stick to combining post-rock/metal, ambience and a bit of electronic music heh.

[Braintree]

Sister Machine Gun did it album to album. Mr. Bungle was a stew.

[Key]

Funnily enough I am just reading an interview with Seefeels Mark Clifford in which he kind of saddresses this matter and I think I agree with him:

 

Have you ever felt that the music you were doing might have just as many, albeit quite different, creative constraints as more condensed or easily digestible forms of music?

 

MC: I'm not sure actually. I mean in a sense I suppose I could see it both ways and say there's no constraints because I can do whatever I want, in a sense. But then at the same time, one of the things --- especially with Seefeel --- is we actually put constraints on ourselves. We were very disciplined about the way we worked. I like to work within a framework rather than just [anything goes]. Say a band like Hood who kind of flip from songs to kind of regular electronic stuff within the same album. I mean... I much prefer albums which have a kind of sound or theme going through them.

 

PSF: Some sort of psychological consistency.

 

MC: Yes, something Autechre are very good at. They move on, but all their albums tend to have a process going through them. And I really admire that. That's the kind of music that I enjoy making. Rather than creating one song, and then another song, and then another song and hoping they kind of go together, I'd much rather try and create something which has a process and a thought going through the whole thing.

 

 

[Guest Glass Plate]

Sister Machine Gun did it album to album. Mr. Bungle was a stew.

These are obviously the 2 most important models to follow when making music.

[Terpentintollwut]

So I'm not that big on making music myself, at least for now, but I think I agree with the psychological consistency thing, IF the album is planned/is a concept thing and the tracks are produced with the whole of the album in mind. FSOL Dead Cities wanders around various genres (imo), it's well structured so it all flows. BUT, I don't mind releases that consist of collections of tracks made very individually or in different periods either, e.g. S.A.W. 85-92 (even though that one's mostly got genre consistency and an overall theme to it). I'd say if it's a collection of very autonomic tracks, a lot of thought should be put in the order the tracks are arranged in... or maybe it should be just a random mash. Who am I to tell people how to do it... At least that's how I'd do it.

I don't like it when people have several aliases for several genres after all.

 

 

 

 

(Btw how is Seefeel actually, I only know the trippy vid from Warp Vision and the mix on Basscad.)

[acid1]

Unless you plan on selling it to a grip of ppl, I say fuck it and just make whatever you want.

[springymajig]

I would personally rather listen to an album that's too inconsistent than too samey.

 

I never found Drukqs inconsistent, even on the first listen, I thought it worked perfectly. My favourite albums are ones where the styles change but the mood feels quite consistent, a lot of soundtrack music is like this (Katamari Damacy, Mind Game Akira).

 

I would never listen to a solid album of grungy black metal but well placed in an album of other, more musical and accessible styles and I'd probably really get into it.