nckn.music. » Thoughts | nckn.music.

Japan

Niklas — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 10:16:12 +0000

While the world holds its breath, watching the horrible things happening in Japan, I suggest some emotional digestion. If possible. On Soundcloud, i follow 3 Japanese; listening to their songs & sounds now, is stirring for me. Like history puts over new meaning to these songs. Now i don’t want to put you in a depressive mood, but i felt the need to post these.

First, start this first piece of Makoto Okuda, then play the Youtube-Video at the same time. (Fullscreen works best)

Then, play the next two side-by-side. The piece by Shinichiroa presents the sound of some untroubled times in japan, while Rintaro Iwashita’s Fog Alert is also very close to today’s mood. The two played together, with today’s perspective, deliver this diffuse disturbance I’m feeling right now.

3 pieces by 3 Japanese affected by this catastrophies remind us, that behind every number in the news, there is a personality. With own feelings, their expression, ups and downs. Lets think of them sending strength in these days.

State of mind 2010

Niklas — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 13:11:47 +0000

Back in the days I always thought, that it’s a drawback to not have a certain direction in my music. I was mixing up styles and thought that was not right somehow. I made excuses: “I am still searching for something, that is ‘my style’, that i can call mine.”

Nowadays that feels kind of wrong. I am a person with a variety of interests. And this is also reflected on my musical output.

So instead of marking a place somewhere in the musical landscape, i will go on being the explorer. But this time knowing, that this is the right way.

I love the sound of electronic music and the aura of acoustic music. I like rhythms as much as harmonies.
And the binding element will always be a general appreciation of sound.

You will find different styles here. Different projects, or maybe just experiments.

But this is right.
I now know.

Cut out the music

Niklas — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:18:20 +0000

There is a strange unbalance between the effort you put into your music to merely get noticed, and the reward you get (speaking of attention, not money). Through a Spotify-Premium membership i have access to more music than I, my children, grand-children and all their relatives will ever have time to listen to. When I read about an interesting artist, I do a quick Spotify search and put him in my Inbox-Playlist. This is getting overwhelming. I’m at a point now, where I feel I want to listen to music, but don’t feel a connection. Like when you’re bored. “I could do this and that… naah, to boring” etc. Of course I could listen to the mixtapes some of my friends have made, listen to what people in my Soundcloud network recently uploaded, could listen to the people that added me on MySpace, and I just went by, heard the intro of the first track to say “Hey, nice stuff”. But I don’t feel like. I feel satiety. Ate enough.

Like with your parents who get really nice, after you moved out; like with your ex-girlfriend you start to miss when you realize she’s not there, like maybe you first start loving your hometown, when you moved away – I decided to do an experiment: cut out the music. What will everyday-life feel like, if you cut out the music? Don’t listen to it at home, don’t go anywhere, where you expect music to play (cafés, bars, clubs, concerts). How long can you stand that? And what feels important to me: Will there be more music in my head? Who will be the artist I first turn to, when I finished the experiment? Which track? I want to miss music again, not devaluate it by flooding my brain with input.

I can’t do the experiment right away, but It will happen and I’ll tell you about results…

How do you deal with more and more music being available? Do you notice a difference to – let’s say – the music-listening 3 years ago?

What have I become?

Niklas — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:19:08 +0000

Imagine the words “What have I become?” out of Johnny Cash’s mouth. This is what’s left of my thoughts after one wonderful concert: Peter Broderick and Nils Frahm. Again, just as with Hauschka’s concert, it took me down to earth. Being there, sucking in the atmosphere it makes everything else so obsolete.

Music is about people. Music is between people. Real people. Music is about moments. Creating moments, sharing moments. Recordings are the attempt to capture the moment. Fail.

All the “the-internet-is-so-great-for-musicians”-evangelists have all one big, big misconception. The same way as good music comes from the countryside and is performed in the cities, good music comes from no-internet-land. (yes, well… and distributed over the web)

The internet, with all its “hello”s, “have you seen”s and “*ping!* you’ve got a new ***”s, eats up your mind. Or lets say your creativity. Or maybe just your intrinsic motivation expressing yourself through music. It’s not good to see, that there are tons of guys all making the same stuff. It’s not good to see your idea being around everywhere else. It is just not good being referenced all the time.

After a Broderick/Frahm concert I accuse myself. You are being a person, that spins his activity around the net. You were a person spinning your activity around music. What have you become?