Post #1206284
2026-04-16 14:51 UTC
Replies (1)
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@Cognessence@social.linux.pizza 2026-04-16 15:13
@elifyalvac @alisynthesis Haha! I was actually just discussing this topic with someone on here in DMs in more detail. It began because I sensed something of an "Englishness" to Tom Jenkinson's writing, which he even stated in an interview. And many American electronic albums have a kind of "open" sound (was just listening to Oneohtrix Point Never's new one), and I think I can pick up a European - Eastern European kind of inflection when I play...(Not comparing myself, btw - just quite interested in this new acceptance of hearing more about a person in their music than I used to believe was possible, including regional backgrounds leaving traces even where it's not a conscious goal. Not talking about obvious things like folk or deliberate referencing here.) I'm not intending a weird mysterious essentialism either ofc! - but perhaps accumulation (histories, habits, constraints, tribes, technologies. A kind of sediment. 🙂) The first time I noticed it when younger was in listening to Polish jazz, which despite sharing the idiom actually felt very not-American; was more austere and somehow ”felt” Polish. It’s nice to think about the layers that might feed into this sense; the cultural tendencies and exchange, but also the sound of speech apart from meaning, broader history, weather, or landscapes, etc. Like how Portuguese instrumental playing has a harmonic dexterity perhaps partly owing to the ornate musicality in the sound of the speech (eg. a connection between fado and Portuguese guitar playing and the ornate, melismatic quality of the language) - or the strange edge in a lot Hungarian music even where it isn’t "aiming" for that. (Bartók noted how its language's stress pattern shaped folk melody; and I think there's a cultural-emotional darkness-inflected intensity running throughout.) As for Röyksopp "sounding" Norwegian, I wish I had more concrete backing or something I could easily articulate. 😄 It's just something I've always sensed - mainly about their first album. Glad you share the feeling somewhat!