In the days before Carl Sagan was admonished (lovingly, in some circles) as a BHA, there was "Pulstar", the cosmetically-sound, hermetically pound-for-pound mightyjaunt into the outer bowels of inner space by composer Vangelis (also connected to cyberpunk by way of Blade Runner score). When I was in CD shops around the turn of the 90s, I used to check out a lot of the cover art, and also wonder in exasperated horror why a CD could hold 74 minutes (no 80- or even 90- or even xxx-minute stretchery then) but why a lot of these albums, which originally came out on vinyl LP, were much shorter. "Pulstar" the word sounds like a demented portmanteau of "Pulsar" and "Star", and that reality, this may not be true, but in mine, it certainly is. If you haven't watched Cosmos or tuned into the solar radio waves of Albedo 0.39, you may have heard it being hammered on the dancefloor by way of a remix.

Albedo 0.39 is a great suite to listen to on drugs, even though I've never been hopped up on those wheats myself. (Incidentally, a shame it is that Vangelis' plump Greek candour is so thoroughly butchered when his interviews are transmangled into Anglais.) This could liquidize into an album review all its own but it won't, because I'm here to mention a very central point I observe vapidly missing, and which is a prime opportunity for anyone to take notice of and fill. Chances are, though, if they can, they already have?and I in fact did, though not to the extent I would have ultimately enjoyed.

What's that? Well, a lot of the great electronic?music of the 70s which was sometimes classified under prog rock (who knows what use to label a label at the time) also featured some riproarin' synthesizer solos. These would often be played with a maximum of melody, a minimum of wank, and even when not a "solo" in the sense that usually makes sense, there was an unquantized, spirited drive to all of it that really melded a man-machine fusion. "Pulstar" hints at this from time to time with grawny whines and a playfulness reminiscent of a high school marching band. Can you imagine this was ALL PLAYED BY HAND WITHOUT SEQUENCERS? Of course, there does seem to be a steady sequenced lynchpin, in focused 16th notes, making its way through the grain. But there's plenty of room for showmanship, and android, does Vangelis hit the mark twain.

Much recent electronic music is cut, copy, and paste. That's valid unto itself, but I know I'm not the only one (I'm certain Trent Reznor has altho I need to find the specific source) who'z advocated putting live-played channelism and mixing that seamlessly with hard-locked beats. Problem is, even if most bedroom musicians wanted to do this, they couldn't. (Which is, presumably, where either the passion to learn takes over or collaboration comes in. Or both.) And then on the other side, you have an older file of musical people who know synthesizers can be played live-and-direct but have some sort of problem getting gregarious and communicating to the younger ones…?it's this dreadful, absolutely dreadful generation gap within e-music. These are generations which are largely true?as the number of practical examples I can cite that are out there being heard by?a wide?swatch?are very close to?nil?and although it might be ishkuresque to be so balls-up about it, now's better a time than ever. If you know more, teach me!

It's more intuitive to draw art on the computer with a graphics tablet then brickbat it out with the mouse. Same shall it be if you have a MIDI keyboard hooked up via USB or whatever, and you can actually play and tweak knobs+sliders for greater expression, fluidity, just this closer rapport with the music, and by extension, your audience. Leave some of that grime on, some slop that becomes the character on your canvas, and if you're going to tighten up the kick+bass, consider the possibility of getting apewild with your next howling round of resonant squeals! It's really sickening and bizarre how many garden varieties of electronica (ALERT: despised term!)?there are, but really a?shortage of this.?If my?ears were in better days, I'd?gladly crank it up (figuratively) for more drum 'n' bass with actual?jazz trumpet solos (not just a?32x?looped?sample), trance wearing the pants that isn't pants, and a return to form when more house music had rollicking piano solos. This isn't a tragedy confined to electronic music alone, oh no?notice how guitar solos have gone out of vogue too! But this is for the time being, it's temporal, and I'm hopeful.

It's not about less programming. It's about more playing. Heck, if one is determined enough, you could program a part to sound spontaneous; that's a valid creative choice too. I'm going to jump back into Albedo 0.39 and point out the?octo track, "Nucleogenesis (Part Two)" which begins as if Satan were the rocket man and blasting through lobster nebulae to a planet of goats, milk, and goat milk. It's got resonance, it's got cowbells, it's got great propulsion and funk. All this from a stoic Greek dude, whoa! (Similar descriptions could be made for Wendy Carlos and Kraftwerk). It builds, builds, blasts off like sinus-clearing cold medicine fuming vapors to make one so keenly aware of the invisible brainsuckers attached to the heads of lowminds everywhere, and KABRAAANG! Take this old track, and imagine what it'd sound like with a 2005 A.D. pulse. I'm not talkin' a remake, but that same odious vibe that worships at the church of Transmoog.

Before I left techno music, I provided some of my own examples so I could practice what I was preaching. "IAM" (pronounced how you think it is) is a cheery zoolook into the days of epic house a decade ago. I can cite reference points, but it might be more delicious to discover them on your own.

Download the MP3 for "IAM" here.

My intention was to have some very mechanical elements?like the aforementioned kick+bass and organ stabs?and take my love of piano playing and chunk that over top, like salsa with a good dip. I wanted the seashore, beautifully cliched whale sounds, and snare rolls.?I wanted to spice things up, have some developing counterpoint lines and simply a good dose of fun. Maybe in the future I'll be in a more feelin' mood for a postmortem.

… notice how repetitively it starts, and then, observe how?that repetition becomes not an enemy unto itself, but a supporter of the improvisations laid over top? That's aural intercourse, baby!

None of this, absolutely less than zero, slams anyone. I'm for growth, progress, all that good schtuff and if I were to make some kind of PSA, sure, it'd be advising exploration and encouraging the newgen of studio boffins to expand their horizons, whatever the vertical equivalent is, and diagonal travel too. It all becomes inevitable, all of this. If someone played a Philip Glass record for you ages ago and told you this is what would make Mr. Glass a famous man, you might have laughed your ass off. Or even if someone to suggest that the combined stylings of diametrically-opposed "disco" and "punk" (how's that for labelly labels) would lead to a new thrust forward in music and you didn't heed that, then Basement Jaxx would know not their place. These are merely two examples, and I wish I knew a lot more. I really did.

Over a year has gone by and I'm not really an active follower of what's trendy in techno anymore, but I haven't felt waves I've wanting to at least sense from a distance. And it's frustrating, because I'd do this myself, but I can't. Not now. So this is why I'm sharing with you, in the hopes you'll be able to make a positive difference, or maybe you know someone who can, and will.

Thanks for reading.