Josh Edge word count: 1907 September 8, 2012 Friday:e Chilled: Is It a genre? Throughout the history of music, there have been many trends in music that have influenced future generations. The way listeners respond to these trends allow them to categorize specific sounds with genres of music.
One huge musical trend today, chilled, is a genre of music that has received mixed emotions of its name by its artists and fans.In this paper, I will be presenting an intro into chilled music as a genre and how it is different from other genres. I also will be discussing the way fans interact with the genre of chilled music, and how these reactions differ from that of the artists view of the genre. Finally, I will be discussing how technological developments have affected the way fans view the authenticity of chilled as compared to other genres.
During the summer of 2009, a flogger named Careless, writing for the site Hipster Runoff, "clustered together a handful of up-and-coming bands with a similar approach and, by most accounts, birthed a new genre: Chilled is defined as "a genre of music whose artists are often characterized by their heavy use f effects processing, synthesizers, looping, sampling, and heavy filtered vocals with simple melodic It is also known as Daydream, Ambient or Glob-FL. The genre is also a prime example of shifting the idea from defining a musical movement's birth in part by a specific geographic location, as is historically done, to focusing instead on how the groups became linked and defined through various outlets on the Internet. "[3] Even though the genre isn't specified too specific region, it has been speculated that the South and East coast are where most of the "originators" of cleavage have come from, Cleavage Is a genre where most of the music sounds similar, and It Is extremely difficult to distinguish artists from other groups in the genre.However, this differs from other genres of music such as heavy metal. In heavy metal, "each band must distinguish itself from other groups, at least for commercial purposes, which meaner there is a multitude of signature sounds.
"[4] In my own discourse with this music, I feel that chilled differs from every other musical genre because the sound reflects the style of this generation, a subculture known as the hipster movement. Sub- ultra and style were first introduced in the ass's, when Dick Hebrides, drew a conception on distinctive youth subcultures in Britain.By definition, "a subculture is a subdivision within a culture. "[5] In the hipster subculture of today's world, many are considered to have the listening habits of the minority group, where they are critical of popular music and develop "elaborate and sophisticated standards of musical listening and Most of the people that are Indulged Into this subculture are in fact fans of chilled.
Next, I will interview fans of chilled music this exciting new musical trend. My main argument in this paper is to compare and contrast the differences in opinion between the fans and artists take of chilled music.While I was interviewing fans, I asked them questions that would pertain to how they experience and use chilled as a cultural practice, as a statement of personal identity, and as an aspect of social identity. The social identity that I observed when interviewing fans were that most felt that they were apart of the hipster subculture. According to chilled fan Thomas Alexander Hogan, anemia, when I listen to chilled, I like it and identify as a hipster" (Interview, 7 September 2012). ] In terms of using chilled as a cultural practice, and a statement of personal identity, I asked the fans to identify how they felt when they listened to chilled and what vocabulary they associated with the genre.
According to chilled fan Paul Doran, "I think it kind of represents who I am as a person, and allows me to express creativity within my own thoughts" (Interview, 7 September 2012). [8] I tended to get interesting answers when asking what vocabulary would they associate with chilled. According to chilled fan Matthew Edge, "Peace, euphoric, nostalgic, and ambient.The dream like melodies rate a pleasant mix of peace and energy.
It inspires my creative side while also giving me an overwhelming positive outlook on thinks. It's comforting and pleasant" (Interview, 7 September 2012). [9] In my own discourse with this music, I feel that this music gives me a sense of summertime and warm weather. I feel it is the perfect music to listen to when you are relaxing on the beach or hanging out with friends on a nice summer day. Some words that I would associate this music would be nostalgic, bittersweet, and chill.Lastly, I asked the fans to express their opinion on the word chilled and if it was proper name to fit the style of music.
Most reactions I got from fans were positive and felt that the name represented what the genre actually sounded like. According to fan Meek Hosing, "l mean, I think it's sort of a silly name, like most genre names, "intelligent dance music" for instance. However, I feel it does an acceptable Job of giving you some idea of what the genre sounds like. It certainly does a better Job than Indies" (Interview, 7 September 2012). 10] Next, I will be discussing the reactions of chilled artists being coined under the genre and what their music meaner and mounds like to them.
When researching online, I found many interesting interviews with artists explaining their perceptions on their music being branded as chilled. Many artists had mixed emotions about their music being labeled as chilled, such as Alan Polo of Neon Indian, who felt the term used to be bothersome in describing his music. According to Polo, "l don't know what a chilled is, but apparently I'm writing it.It used to be kind of bothersome because, I guess, you know people were sort of defining something for me or telling me what I sounded like" (Interview, 1 Feb.
2012). 11] Other artists such as Seth Haley of Com Truism, revealed that being labeled under the chilled movement doesn't bother him at all. According to Haley, "For the most part, the whole "chilled" thing doesn't bother me. People will find a box and force you in it. It's really out of my hands what people decide to call my The goal of these musicians is to provide the listener with an authentic feel of many artists had a similar effort in achieving the feeling of nostalgia.
According to Ernest Greene of Washed Out, chilled "generally has an ass's influence, which is definitely pretty heavy in my stuff. It sounds like something playing in the background of an old VS. cassette that you found in your room from the late When describing his own personal take on the sound of chilled, Seth Haley of Com Truism, states that he "strives for the sound, the production quality, and often exaggerated simplicity of 'ass music. [14] Next, I will be discussing how fans view the authenticity of chilled as compared to other genres of music. Authenticity has always been a debated topic when it comes to music, especially in today's world. With new technological developments such as computer software ND sampling programs, music can be created with a finger push of a button.
In my own discourse with authenticity, I agree with Hugh Barker and Yuba Tailor's article "Mob, the KILL, and the Ongoing Quest for Authenticity'.In the article, Barker and Taylor argue that "when we're young, a large part of our original motivation in discovering music comes from trying to find about our identity-perhaps to fit in, or, in contrast, to differentiate ourselves from the rest". "[15] I agree with this statement because when I was in high school, I was introduced into chilled music by my friends. At first I was skeptical about it, and didn't really care for it, and tried to like it just to "fit in". However, the more I listened to it, the more I came to appreciate the sounds and actually started to develop a taste for it.As I posed the question of authenticity to fans of chilled, I got some positive responses.
According to fan Cody Gudgeon, "l believe chilled is an authentic form of music, however I believe this digital age does take out the 'soul' of music. I feel like by using samples the music is definitely more technical and creative, but not as artistic as other genres. I believe that all music is authentic, and that people who say otherwise are Just haters" (Interview, 8 September 2012). [16] Another person I interviewed, Johnny Lips, viewed authenticity in chilled to being "music that is real to you.People that listen to this music should feel that almost everything about it is authentic because it is something that has been composed by artists and were able to put sounds together that no one else has ever made before" (Interview, 8 September 2012). [17] To conclude, this research paper dealt with the differing in opinion between the artists and fans of chilled music.
Based on research on the internet and with interviews, I was able to conclude that the fans and artists have some difference in opinion between the term chilled.To many of the fans, chilled was a good description of the genre, saying it reflected the sound and style of the music. To the artists, however, some questioned the thought of the genre limiting what their music is, and felt obliged that floggers were telling them what their music sounded like when their main intention was for the music to be for open interpretation. In today's world, there are many artists that question the integrity and authenticity of music hat is sampled.
Chilled is one of those genres that deals heavily with sampling.
