been a fan of electronic music ever since I was a pup and heard bands like Kraftwerk, though it seems Kraftwerk is not a band in the traditional sense: where each member plays a particular instrument. no, Kraftwerk, to me, is more like a collective.

electronic music, electronica, always seems to me more abstract, cold and cerebral than rock music. perfect sounds for a freezing winter day. but that's to my ears at least. and perhaps it is an acquired taste, I have friends who kinda dig it, but would rather listen to the Beastie Boys, or something. it might have something to do with the fact in electronica circles it is the DJ that rules and not the composer. so it is hard to get a feel for individual artistry. one can buy collections of synth music but so much centers around the sequencing styles of a spiner like John Digweed rather than the composer of the recordings a DJ uses in his/her sets.

but that's not quite right, and I do not want to give the impression I'm so down with the rave scene. never been to one, and I didn't know what ecstasy was until Anna told me. seen and did many kinds of pharmaceuticals but never heard of E. but no matter since electronica is what I listen to when I read and write. and it is ambient works that I dig.

artists such as Mick Harris and Richard D. James aka Aphex Twin are at times inspired composers of ambient electronica. check out the video by James here and see if it don't freak you out.

music, for writers, for everybody, is a tremendous well of inspiration. and I've been thinking how to write a sequence of ambient poems to match these composers, and that is how I think of Harris and James, at their best. there are other artists such as Crystal Method and Chemical Bros. but I think of those two groups as bands, with a traditional pop song structure etc. etc. Harris and James are on to something though, and how, I wonder, to capture a bit of it into writing.

but for influence, whether it is classical, jazz, punk, what have you, well, who knows? but I am, we all are, under the influence.