Back in the ‘50s, The Jetsons depicted a 21st century filled with robot butlers. In the ‘80s, the Terminator movies suggested a super computer would be smart enough to take over the world by now.
By comparison, the reality is pretty disappointing. As in the world of artificial intelligence, so in the world of electronic music. Pioneers in the ‘60s and ‘70s waxed lyrical about how computerised music would free man from the orchestra and allow them to create any imaginable sound. So why then is this reworking of Pantha Du Prince’s Black Noise still trotting out the same over-familiar collection of blips, beeps, drones, pulses and cracks?
Okay, that’s a bit unfair – Four Tet and Die Vogel’s mixes are worth a listen – but I have to ask – where’s the progression?