Jeff Mills - "The Blue Potential" - CD/DVD

**Francisco Scaramanga** · 13-01-2006, 11:08 AM

Originally Posted by dirty_bass

Well, it`s a fun project, but "the bells" is hardly an orchestral track.
Timpany for the kick, cymbals for the hats, maybe a sax for the housey noise, and then some idiot on tubular bells.
I mean, I`m all up for a bit of pretentious artiness, but converting some very simple 909 based tunes into orchestral score? it`s almost a joke.
Writing music for an orchestra is another thing altogether.
He`ll be doing some Jeff Mills and Garth Brooks country and western techno next.
The Bells, western style "yeeeeehaaaaaa ding ding ding ding, boom tish boom tish"

Theres alot of classical music that is alot more minimal than the bells. It would be quite good fun to be in the orchestra that played it I would have thought. Theres actually alot of room in something like the bells for an orchestra to amuse themselves and the crowd. How well it worked would be down to the guy who did the arranging and the conductor, but I'm guessing it came off pretty damn good or Jeff wouldent be putting this on a CD. And while the bells would be good, stuff like Amazon and 4Art would be ace I reckon!

Thing is, I have a feeling that when the orchestra does this, they will be using more than a Timpani, Cymbals, a Sax, and some Bells. I've never heard it, but I would guess they will be using as much of the orchestra as makes sense. No doubt there will be a big string arrangement, and the bells bit in particular would be excellent if done with violins/violas/cellos/basses. I dont know how much things got changed around, but the bells could quite easily be made to sound like a movement from a Beethoven symphony if people wanted to do that.

**dirty_bass** · 13-01-2006, 11:11 AM

I`m very much into minimal contemporary classical, but it shifts and moves and changes key.
The bells is just a 4 bar loop that does the same thing for ten years, with the bells riff.
Even philip glass would kick the ass out of that.

**dirty_bass** · 13-01-2006, 11:15 AM

I`d much rather have mills turn his intelligence over to writing something original for an orchestra, rather than just getting his tunes scored, and essentially releasing his product in a different format.
In concept it`s a good idea.
But it`s just another remix if you look at it from a distance (with a lot of drugs, and if you squint a bit), when he could do something really really cool.

**RDR** · 13-01-2006, 11:26 AM

its just a concept... good on him.

it'd be fun to work with an orchestra

**dirty_bass** · 13-01-2006, 11:32 AM

Yes, it would be fun.
I think working with a dixiland jazz band would be more fun.
It`s the clarinets that do it.

**Francisco Scaramanga** · 13-01-2006, 11:33 AM

I can see what you're saying about it being just another version of the same old same old, but I'm still quite interested to hear it. I've heard many projects of a similar nature from the rock world, and some are good and some are bad, and the Aphex Twin one that was done a few years back was definately worth listening to, so I'll be checking this out as well.

**teknorich** · 13-01-2006, 02:32 PM

Has Jeff learnt to mix yet? He's been practising with the same few records for the last ten years, but he still manages to f*ck it up. (I am thoroughly sick of hearing him play "The bells").

**gumpy green** · 13-01-2006, 03:24 PM

mix - he can but not very tight sometimes......its all about the other techniques for djing now anyway, everybody can mix.

on topic-
im quite interested to hear what this turns out to be.......i think it could be good but ill just have to wait..

still its very nice to see a bit of a different approach , and yes it would be good to see him do some new stuff in orchestra form like db said......

if i had some tracks i recon it would be good to hear them in different forms......like i luv the midi song i have on my phone....the herdrix ones are good as is rock supastar by cypress hill.....

mind you the 2unlimited ones are that awful ther funny.

**audioinjection** · 13-01-2006, 03:57 PM

Originally Posted by dirty_bass

Am I the only person who thinks that mills is a pretty good, old DJ, who spouts a lot of intellectual bumf to try to beef up the fact that he is just releasing another record of a 909 beat with some beeps and bell noises over it.

haha i agree with that

**djshiva** · 13-01-2006, 07:16 PM

Originally Posted by gumpy green

mix - he can but not very tight sometimes......its all about the other techniques for djing now anyway, everybody can mix.

beatmatching is SOOOOO 94. trainwrecks are the new black. ;)

i do have to say that i think it's interesting to see him at least trying to do something new. as with anything else, it may be really cool or really awful, but the point is that he is trying new avenues to present his music.

i too, think hearing the bells in orchestra style would be rather boring (haven't heard it so i can't say for sure), but i do applaud the effort to change-up the context a bit. experimentation doesn't always work, but that's why it's called experimentation in the first place! :)

**Davin** · 14-01-2006, 12:29 PM

This Is what I've been told about by all my mate's!!!never saw it for myself till now, but shit this is gonna be good!!!! Davin

**RDR** · 15-01-2006, 11:55 AM

Originally Posted by dirty_bass

Yes, it would be fun.
I think working with a dixiland jazz band would be more fun.
It`s the clarinets that do it.

I kind of agree, but clarinets?

Devils own wind instrument. Lets get the Euphoniums rocking out instead... :lol:

**Stella Boy** · 18-01-2006, 06:55 PM

http://www.lesinrocks.com/DetailArti...?iditem=183342

just click the audio/video link.

**Francisco Scaramanga** · 19-01-2006, 09:42 AM

Well, I'll definately be buying this, I think its ace for sure. I mean, its really out there, this might be old tunes, but you'd barely recognize alot of it. Fair play, its a hell of a good job, cant wait for the release. It was nice of them to put up such a long clip as well, you really get a feel for it. I was loving it, and then Amazon came on and was ace, and then the bogeyman, ooops, I mean the Bells came on, and what a version that is! Anyone who thought it would be lame or just a timpani and bells cover version needs to check this out for sure.

Fair play to Jeff, he's gone for the arty techno holy grail with this one, and by the sounds of this clip come away a winner. Obviously its not exactly club material, but when we are all 50 we can put this on at a dinner party and discuss politics over cheese and wine while we listen to Sonic Destroyer - class.

**dirty_bass** · 19-01-2006, 10:08 AM

I think it`s pretty cheesy really.
Fair play for giving it a go. But it`s not dance music.
And certianly anyone into classical music isn`t really gonna dig it, as it`s repetative and too rigid.
If you wanna break into the contemporay classical thing, you are competing with true musical geniuses like arvo part, and elliot goldenthal (check the alien 3 soundtrack). this to me is pretty cheesy james bond-esque stuff.
Still no one else has done this yet, but then, no one has the connections to be able to make this kind of thing happen.

**eyeswithoutaface** · 19-01-2006, 10:24 AM

oh lord, really not into this, unfortunately, sounding a great idea, but seriously this grates, way too rigid to be truely classical and simply doesnt allow the natural ebb and flow that classical music naturally needs. Sounds too hard, stiff, rigid etc etc

great idea of course

**xfive** · 19-01-2006, 05:11 PM

I think you guys are reading into this a little too deeply. I don't think he's trying to make this be "truly classical"... its just a fusion of two things.
Same as when Smashing Pumpkins or whoever else had the huge string section with them etc...

I think it sounds pretty cool personally.. something different.

**eyeswithoutaface** · 19-01-2006, 05:18 PM

not at all, i can see what he's trying to do, the 909 indicates that right away if it were a true classical score and performance i dare say it would of been minus the 909

i just dont think it works very well, at all, i was hoping id enjoy it, im a huge mills fan, but alas

**dirty_bass** · 19-01-2006, 05:34 PM

buts it`s not a fusion of two things is it?
It`s a 909 slapped over some orchestrations of his tunes.
Techno is inherently quite a tight music. even with loose quantisation it`s still rigid. Whereas an orchestra ebbs and flows. To force them to essentially play along to a click track seems to have pulled the life out of it.
It simply doesn`t work.
The only good thing I see is that it introduces a lot of mills fans and techno fans to classical music, and may (doubtful) cause them to look into contemporary orchestral music.

Good idea.
But some experiments are doomed to failure.
Fair play for doing it, if I had the pull to work with an orchestra I would.
But I wouldn`t try to make techno.

**xfive** · 19-01-2006, 05:51 PM

I understand what you are saying, I think tho, since this was a case of orchestrating pre-recorded music... this is about as far as you could go with it while being true to the originals... otherwise sure.. he could have written something new, that was different.. more flowing... but that wasn't the goal of the project I don't think. The goal was to orchestrate his old tracks, and in that sense it fits the bill.

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