New Med.
Another pointless category thought up by journalists?
Actually no.It's a term thought up by the record-happy
types at Manchester's Eastern Bloc record shop.
For new Med think a new Balearic.Mediterranean music
aimed not at the dancefloor but the head.
Think the film soundtracks of E.Morricone or Fila Brazillia's
folsky D'n'B.Think deep house played next to the modern
classical of Penguin Cafe Orchestra.Think whole diaspora
of music that's linked by nothing more complex than it's
sheer sonic beauty.
"It's a return to the old Balearic vibe.Not the idea of playing
whatever you want ,but just play wonderful,spiritual,warm music.
It's a reaction against the hands in the air mentality."
Says Eastern Bloc's Mark Jackson.
It was Mark who came up with the name,pissing about in the shop
with fellow Bloc-head Richard 'Moonboots' Blithell.
'We've all been collecting this music for years,"says Mark,"and we
just wanted something to help people know what we are talking about.
We thought of 'Nuevo Flamenco',but we ended up with new Med ,u know
new Mediterranean,new meditation."
He's the first person who admit that it's not much to hang a musical
movement around ,seeing as he can only really name 4 people who are
into it: him,Richard,chill out DJ Phil Mison and Hugh Bryder(Scope).
The starting point was the awesome chill out selection of veteran
Jose Padilla,who has been playing everything from Leftfield to classical
for most of the last decades.But the Ibiza conjured up by a second
generation Balearic DJ like Phil Mison is the club folklore of eternal sunsets
and blissed out afternoons on the beach.
New Med might sound like trainspotty clique-let's face it,
it is a trainspotty clique-but when ambient has travelled so far down the
noisy road away from it's original chill ethic towards a the decidedly
unsettling ''illbient'',thank Christ there are still people interested in
seeking out music that massages your temples rather than pummels them.
Music has soul rather than intellectual pretensions.
Something you can enjoy at face value without having your preconceptions
challenged.So what's new Med?It's rather nice,isn't it?
Mr Lah-De-Dah Gunner.
OLD MED TEN
1.Rainer & The Grid - NOD 2 N20
2.Ten City - All loved out
3.John Martin - Sunshine better
4.Jepthe Guillame - Lakou
5.Baby Mammoth - EP
6.Thievery Corporation - sounds from the thivery Hi-Fi LP
7.Faze Action - Plans and Desings
8.Kruder & Dorfmeister - Fuck dub
9.Roy Davis Jr - Gabriel
10.D-Note - D-votion
3 comments:
It's nice but debatable. There is still a thin line between this and cash-in soul-less chill-out sofa music...
D*Note?? You sure??
Yes.While most British dance albums
reflect life lived in London,Manchester or Glasgow,his album feels like it was recorded with Ibiza in mind.Matt Wynn is a clever bloke.Clever enough to work influences from modern classical and free jazz in alongside drum n bass and house.It's Steve Reich and Lonnie Liston Smith and Marshall Jefferson all jamming together.
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