Blurry Lines

As i sat, looking off into the distance while overwhelming my eardrums to the likes of Persuasion System from Com Truise, the idea of a song or album fitting into a category or genre defining box has become exceedingly out of touch with the progression of music in general. Some of the greatest producers in the game, i.e. Madlib, shapeshift in and out of traditional genre’s like changing clothes. In this day and age, standing out from the crowd is the best way to gain traction in a digital world. And the best way to stand out is to do things differently than everybody else. Miles Davis’ legendary Bitches Brew was a jazz fusion record that set the tone for stepping outside the box. Traditional jazz artists at the time, working INSIDE the box, couldn’t comprehend the idea of stepping outside traditional jazz patterns and scripts, and allowing the music to dictate the flow. Artist’s like Actress, and Oneohtrix Point Never pride themselves on the unsyncopated flows and experimentation in many of their tracks, challenging the listener at different points, as if poking them to see if they are still paying attention. I just recently picked up the record from Floating Points Pharoah Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra Promises. Wow, what an incredible record. The combination of all of these talents on one album show’s how blurry these lines have truly become in recent times. Some of the greatest producers of our time, have an uncanny ability to flow in and out of different styles seamlessly, therefore leaving new genre’s in their wake. The artists that you decide to follow should pride themselves on how their own contributions can aid in musical progression as a whole, while carving out a niche for themselves.