Comments on: Burial – why?

By: A Personal Miscellany » Blog Archive » 2562

A Personal Miscellany » Blog Archive » 2562 — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:59:01 +0000

[...] I first – and second and third – heard Burial, it made me irate (if you’re going to bother reading that post, please do skim the comments as well, [...]

By: 11V

11V — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 12:45:52 +0000

Well, I'm certainly a lover of dub with King Tubby, Rhythm & Sound and Lee Scratch in my top 10 most listened artists since I signed up to Last.fm two a couple of years ago. I'd have to say I find Rhythm & Sound a much more interesting and convincing synthesis of multi-roots than Burial. That's a good point about each country having its own pulse. Your English is excellent WhatIsay!

By: WHATISAY

WHATISAY — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 16:57:24 +0000

I have read with a lot of interest your opinion on Burial – Burial Lp. I had read a lot of positive opinions on it previously! It is always good that a music does not seduce everybody. It won’t be underground anymore… Burial is, as far as I’m concerned, one of the main surprise of 2006 from the electronic music. It is not really dubstep, it is beyond, Hyperdub, as Kode9 like to name it. This music has cinematic power and is very dark, depressive. A good picture of the modern underground suburban world. I acknowledge that sometimes it is too easy, too much seducing. But Gutted and Prayer are really good.

You have to love dub to enjoy this music I think, not rock. Burial is a great synthesis of multi-rooted London. I am waiting for the following steps of this band.
They entered a family: Rhythm & Sound, Basic Channel, Maurizio, Monolake, Pole… and Ritchie Hawtin, Beat Pharmacy. Each country has its own pulse.
Sorry my poor English, I’m French.
WHATISAY

By: 11V

11V — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 18:36:26 +0000

I think, cma3, that comparisons are inevitable given that both albums were released on Kode9's label and that Kode9 personally chose the particular tracks and sequenced them. The strength of your opinion, I believe, validates my own. I can't agree that my tolerance for Spaceape exceeds yours, because tolerance doesn't equate to pleasure. I find his delivery enjoyably varied and creative: I don't experience it as monotonous in any way. I love the grain and the tang of Spaceape's voice, it brings a welcome humanity and variety to what, to these ears, would otherwise sound rather dull. (I say this with some confidence as I listened recently to Rephlex's Grime 2 compilation from 2004 which I reviewed on its release and features some Kode9 tracks minus Spaceape.) I know Spaceape's vocals ruffled feathers on the Roots of Dubstep Allstars 3 and I'll agree it wasn't to my taste either, but it's his presence that prevents Memories of the Future from being just another synthetic, overly methodical dubstep album. It's for sure not your auditory ignorance cma3, just different taste probably. Out of interest, do you find Michael Smith's vocal monotonous as well? I posted up his one and only album in the comments of a post I made a year ago here. Let me know, it may be you just don't like this style of delivery. PS, please excuse if my suggestion way off mark - oh and glad I've been of help on other matters!

By: cma3

cma3 — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 14:45:42 +0000

I cant help but be surprised by your reaction to this album. I may be beating a dead horse here, but for the sake of discussion…I push on. Bare with me.

You, 11V, have exposed me to alot of different artists since I started reading your blog a short time ago. Various Prod, being my favorite. We share a similar ear, if you will. But man, when it comes to this Kode9 album and your opinions of it and then add to the fact your comparisons of it to Burial’s…i respectfully suggest, or opine rather, that you are way off base. The kode9 album is unlistenable. Well, the lyrical parts, if you can call it that, are painful and irritating. Sure, your tolerance for Spaceape is obviously greater than mine. But there are certain lyricists that need to disappear. He’s one. Please stop comparing the two albums. They are two very, very different works. Like it or hate it. Burial could definitely be, like any other artist, a one-hit-album wonder. But this work is incomparable to the k9 album. I will say though that the production on the k9 album is very good, and that most of the tracks are good…musically. But that monotone death chant in the foreground needs to go away.

Or, maybe, its just my auditory ignorance.

By: 11V

11V — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 20:07:47 +0000

That was me getting worked up into a lather that I don’t think was ultimately justifiable – in other words I overreacted. What did I mean? I still hear the album as a journeyman work, something written by an observer more than a participant. Many great cultural works have been produced from that perspective, but in this instance I found it irritating, unreal (whatever that means of course). I still find bits of it aspiring to a state of elegy, but ending up mawkishly sentimental. Versus is for me the least interesting track on the Warrior Dubz compilation. I still can’t believe it came top in the Wire for 2006. I much prefer Kode9 and The Spaceape’s album, Vex’d, the Run The Roads, Skream, Horsepower or Benga for their sense of commitment, intent. Hey ho, just my opinion and as I’ve said I’ll keep giving it a go and maybe the lint will work free from my cloth ears and allow me to hear Burial’s value at last…

By: D

Sat, 06 Jan 2007 16:12:46 +0000

So what *do* you actually mean by ‘the music is voyeuristic, exploitative and singularly unreal ‘?

By: 11V

11V — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 20:22:04 +0000

Hey cma3, good to hear from you again. Dubstep is gradually growing on me. I like the Tectonic comp, Vex’d and Milanese and Benga and the Warrior Dubz compilation. According to the end of year lists, everybody loves Burial which I find amazing. I’ll have to keep trying. Thanks for your offer but your email didn’t come through on the comments.

By: cma3

cma3 — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 13:45:35 +0000

I posted to your site and lost the link. What a moron. I had to type Burial + Omni Trio in google and my post came back as the first hit. You have been bookmarked now. ;)

Thanks for your reply to my post. I think that you hit the nail on the head without ever being specific. This takes talent. Yes, there is alot of crap out there. I am, by no means. an authority on Dubstep…but there is alot of monotonous dribble being put out. I wont mention any names. But because there is alot of this garbage out there, the gems shine. Burial and Boxcutter, and this is without knowing anything about their education, come off as being classically trained. Like Calyx in the DnB world, for instance.

We can go on forever with this. But ultimately, if it doesnt hit you in the gut and move you after the first couple of taste sessions, chances are it never will. It took me over two years to get into dubstep and I still dont like alot of the old tracks. Its evolving, thats for sure.

If you can see my email, hit me up, I’ll give you my slsk name and we can trade tracks. I’ve got 20,000 reasons why you would want to take a look.

Thanks again 11V

cma3

By: 11V

11V — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 21:42:05 +0000

Sorry for my failing formatting cma3. I was touched by your reply – you’re being much more reasonable than my original post probably warranted. I’m still not enamoured of the Burial, but keep listening every so often, just to check my reaction hasn’t changed. I’ll keep trying. Thing is, I’m still in two minds about Dubstep – I adore the kode9/spaceape album perhaps because it stands a bit outside the rest. I quite enjoyed the Skream, but it hasn’t blown me away at all. The Tektonic compilation rather painfully reminded me of those Mo Wax compilations, the latter couple of which I found interminably monotonous. It’s funny when you feel like you just don’t get something when everybody else or at least a lot of people do! I’ve listened quite a bit to the Boxcutter and have come to enjoy that. I also like The Roots of Dubstep and Horsepower Productions on Tempa, but they’re quite a bit more post UKG and therefore bouncier than the bass dirge of what Dubstep now seems to be (at least from my limited vantage point). I’m interested by your respect for later Omni Trio. I’ve only ever owned (and adored) The Deepest Cut Vol.1, the one with the classic Renegade Snares, the Foul Play VIP mix, etc. I’ll check them out on slsk and purchase if I like. Cheers for the comment.