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Just out of curiosity. Whenever I bring up the topic of Taxi and electronic music no one ever responds - no one responds to my song postings in the peer to peer forum either, so I stopped bothering there. Just wondering if I'm the only Taxi member doing this!Update 7/23 - wow.. looks like I AM the only one.

hi zircon... I was out of town for a bit so didn't see this post. I don't really consider myself an 'electronica' writer, which is why I don't review electronica cause I don't think I have the knowledge to say anything useful. I have been told my avant guard vocal tapestries are a form of electronica. I'm gonna submit a couple and see.warmlyHummin'bird

I didn't see this post either. I dabble in electronic music here and there Zircon. I have good ideas but my execution of the genre/genres (arrangement, mixing etc) is not terribly good. I have a stonking great techno tune just sitting on a shelf coz I don't have the chops to do it justice! That said I have had a few electronic pieces forwarded through TAXI. The thing is I haven't really listened to electronic music properly in a long time but that's coz most of the current stuff bores me to tears. Aphex Twin would be a big exception in that regard.I have seen your posts where you question TAXI's cred when it comes to critiquing electronic music (saying they don't seem to know anything about it!) and although I can't tell for certain, I'd say you probably have a point. In my experience, most Yanks don't 'get' electronic music. Even when they think they do! Hell they had to invent the 'cool' buzz word "electronica" just to market the music in the States.

We are currently working on a new critique form for electronica songs and we are looking for ideas from our members. What should/should not be addressed on the new forms?Email your ideas to clint@taxi.com.ThanksClint

Thanks. I'll do that, as one of the main reasons I canceled my membership was that I felt the support for electronic musicians (that don't play live, especially) was pretty weak. mani; interesting that you're bored by modern electronic music. While I admit the very newest stuff is sort of lame, material released in the late 90s and early 00s is really solid if you ask me. I for one really enjoyed TCM's "Tweekend" and "Legion of Boom", plus their superlative mix albums "Community Service I" and II. Prodigy doesn't get much better than "Fat of the Land" but I also thought "Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned" offered a lot - people expected to hear another FotL, but they forget that FotL had a lot of weak material too, and its strength was its innovation and fusing of genres. AONO in my opinion was a really great step, with well-produced and creative songs.Daft Punk's "Human After All" was pretty bad on the other hand.. I'll grant that, outside of a few nice songs. But "Discovery" was excellent and that isn't that old. Also, Fatboy Slim isn't slacking off - he's still making some great tracks, and "Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars" is fresh in our minds hopefully.

Sent through something of a critique criteria form and general opinion of how to judge electronica, knowing that electronica is such a diverse field as to be hard to define in its entirety.Anyway, made an attempt and hope it helps.There is so many ways of judging it honestly, but think gut instinct and how the piece makes you feel is still the best way.DarkMage

It is somewhat depressing that after over 5 months, this topic has revealed no more than two people in the same boat as me (assuming TheDarkMage writes electronica). I do not feel any particular compunction to renew my membership as of yet - however, I AM enjoying success after a music library contacted me and asked if I wanted to become a writer for them. This was after hearing a CD of mine on CDbaby. I'm very happy about that

I didn't see this thread either. I write some electronica.Zink

Hi,I submit to most anything instrumental. When I first joined Taxi at the beginning of 2004 I didn't even know what Electronica was. One of the many things I credit Taxi with is that the critiques really helped shape my Electronica submissions.My early Electronica submissions were kind of a cross between New Age and milky, watered down Electronica.As an example, I made a short MP3 called "Old Me - New Me". It's less than a minute long. The first half is part of one of the first Electronica songs I did, the second half is part of one of the more recent Electronica songs I did.www.DaveWaltonMusic.com/PrivateArea/OldMe-NewMe.mp3One of the critiques that was responsible for the change was a critique that said "I'm not forwarding your song. Not becaue it isn't nice, but because it's too nice." For whatever reason, that really registered with me and caused a big shift toward an edgier sound in my Electronica music. I didn't renew my Taxi membership after the first year, but I came back shortly afterward, mostly because of the critiques. Some don't think much of them, but I think that they're an indespensible learning tool.Forwards and placements are icing on the cake. Dave

Quote:It is somewhat depressing that after over 5 months, this topic has revealed no more than two people in the same boat as me (assuming TheDarkMage writes electronica). I do not feel any particular compunction to renew my membership as of yet - however, I AM enjoying success after a music library contacted me and asked if I wanted to become a writer for them. This was after hearing a CD of mine on CDbaby. I'm very happy about that Congrats to you on your success, Andrew!I wouldn't use forum activity to judge how many people submit electronica...I met several great electronica writers at the road rally two years ago but none of them ever posts here. Same with urban writers, I've met tons of them at the road rally, but judging from the boards you'd think there were, like 3... .