Thick or thin

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Do you like your music thick or thin?

I went through a voice on piano phase - I thought that would be the thing forever. Then I discovered the worlds that can be opened up to you through texture. And now I'm somewhere in between barebones and a sea of layers. Finding the midway point is the tricky part.

Where do the rest of us fall? Examples?

― Ramzi Awn (rra123), Monday, 13 November 2006 19:14 (nineteen years ago)

pleasantly plump.

― M@tt He1geson: Sassy and I Don't Care Who Knows It (Matt Helgeson), Monday, 13 November 2006 19:17 (nineteen years ago)

― Ramzi Awn (rra123), Monday, 13 November 2006 19:17 (nineteen years ago)

this is actually the first question i've had to think about on ilm in months.

― bo janglin (dubplatestyle), Monday, 13 November 2006 19:17 (nineteen years ago)

; ) i'll take that as a compliment

― Ramzi Awn (rra123), Monday, 13 November 2006 19:18 (nineteen years ago)

but, like my women and oatmeal, i'm gonna tentatively say thick

― bo janglin (dubplatestyle), Monday, 13 November 2006 19:18 (nineteen years ago)

oh my, what a descriptive analogy ; )

tentatively thick for me as well, though there's something about the stirring simplicity of the skeletal

no?

― Ramzi Awn (rra123), Monday, 13 November 2006 19:19 (nineteen years ago)

like... oh i dunno

pink floyd's wish you were here.

― Ramzi Awn (rra123), Monday, 13 November 2006 19:29 (nineteen years ago)

Thick but creamy is good, like Superfly-era Curtis.

― chap who would dare to welcome our new stingray masters (chap), Monday, 13 November 2006 19:32 (nineteen years ago)

Like most other things I reckon it's a question of attention. Even the minimal-ist of the minimal can be rich in timbre if you're listening hard enough. Otherwise, I'd find it impossible to answer this question without changing my mind in five minutes.

― Brian Emo (noodle vague), Monday, 13 November 2006 19:33 (nineteen years ago)

Creamy, right... I know I'm onna get a slap in the face with this mention but yes AERIAL is creamy. I've been using the word smooth, but creamy works.

Xcept then she throws in those incredibly sparse numbers as wel (Coral Room). love the cream though.

― Ramzi Awn (rra123), Monday, 13 November 2006 19:34 (nineteen years ago)

it's true, it does seem to be a transitory preference

― Ramzi Awn (rra123), Monday, 13 November 2006 19:35 (nineteen years ago)

Because a lot of "thin" music is actually exploiting the richness of space and silence.

― Brian Emo (noodle vague), Monday, 13 November 2006 19:37 (nineteen years ago)

hehe i feel like i'm at Vassar College all over again =P

that is true. the thinness of silence can be intoxicating. in a way it's almost more sensual than the richness of texture, cuz the details steal your attention even more closely.

still, though. the way layers can envelop you so...

― Ramzi Awn (rra123), Monday, 13 November 2006 19:43 (nineteen years ago)

this whole exploiting space theory seems to be getting considerable play lately.

i guess it has to do with the energy of silence. it's like that tingly feeling you get when it's late at night and you're in a calm, quiet room, and just the way things ARE feels like tingly? ha, maybe it's just me, but that's how i feel about ultra stipped down pieces. they make me feel kinda tingly.

― Ramzi Awn (rra123), Monday, 13 November 2006 20:13 (nineteen years ago)

geez you'd think the only word i know is tingly!!

― Ramzi Awn (rra123), Monday, 13 November 2006 20:14 (nineteen years ago)

this whole exploiting space theory seems to be getting considerable play lately.

Lately?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4'33

― lick_my_stereolabia (nariposa), Wednesday, 15 November 2006 05:41 (nineteen years ago)

For classical, I like to be able to pick apart the strings. Or, yeah, the other instruments, too. On the other hand, the Magic Flute has a bit where the Queen of Night is singing all by herself and manages to sound like a fucking violin or something, which is quite stunning to listen to.

― Totally Different Guy Now (Dick Butkus), Wednesday, 15 November 2006 05:46 (nineteen years ago)

Because a lot of "thin" music is actually exploiting the richness of space and silence.

otm. lots of minimal does this. and a lot of 'thick' music is thick because it's comprised of lots of layers of thinness - eg the new ciara single, layers of thin voices becoming this awesomely thick, rich thing (the production is fucking FAT like CHOCOLATE CAKE too).

so i'll say thick.

― The Lex (The Lex), Wednesday, 15 November 2006 08:44 (nineteen years ago)

both. at the same time. like BRIAN ENO.

― if you ain't got the yolk, you can't emulsify the hollandaise (fauxhemian), Wednesday, 15 November 2006 10:15 (nineteen years ago)

the perfect album has moments of thinness and thickness, probably though I'd generally say I'm thick.

(ILEpitaphs thread to thread...)

― You've Got Scourage On Your Breath (Haberdager), Wednesday, 15 November 2006 10:19 (nineteen years ago)

i guess 'thin' might be referring to neutral milk hotel or early tom waits or 'pink moon' if you mean music that is spare instrumentally. nonetheless, there is nothing thin about the sense of presence established by the above artists/records. similarly, i find the single guitar lines of, say, kenny burrell to be quite thick, creamy and sumptuous.

― Charlie Howard (the sphinx), Wednesday, 15 November 2006 12:07 (nineteen years ago)

So Ciara is the thousand-layer milk cake of pop?

I'm partial to voices that pierce through anything -- Grace Slick, Cass Elliot, Nina Simone, Dusty Springfield. Don't hear a lot of that in modern pop, to my chagrin.

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Wednesday, 15 November 2006 17:30 (nineteen years ago)

The Beyonce cd is a great "voices peircing though everything" album. (& especially OTM re:Nina, I love how on some of her more minimalist work her voice just fills TONS of space that the rest of the instrumentation isn't. "Be My Husband" = platonic example)

― Rodney... (R. J. Greene), Thursday, 16 November 2006 06:48 (nineteen years ago)

Thick like a two by four, not thick like a duffel coat.

― Jacob (Jacob), Thursday, 16 November 2006 08:34 (nineteen years ago)

Generally, I like my rock/pop/funk thick, and my jazz and whatnot thin. (Tho there are exceptions.) Pivotal factor is usually multitrack recording and general studio polish. But, again, there are exceptions.

Also, 8 times out of 10, I'll choose music with width over music with depth.

― Monty Von Byonga (Monty Von Byonga), Thursday, 16 November 2006 08:44 (nineteen years ago)

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