myself, I'd rather hear an artist attempt to describe what they do in as far out and interesting a fashion as they see fit than just reduce it to the obvious mechanical aspects. from my own perspective, Mori's enunciation of her approach and DJ Shadow's of his are actually reflected in the depth of the music. I own several of her recordings and have little interest in his, because she has a greater conception behind the music, a more varied and compelling sense of montage, a greater intensity (maybe I haven't checked out enough of his, though). After all, she could still be playing drums, but must have felt a need to do something more than just make interesting beats. My first reaction to someone accusing another of "faux-highbrow posturing" is to go with the assumption that it's the accuser who's actually doing the posturing. If I like the artwork, then I'll usually give the artist the benefit of any doubt or confusion I might have about her description of it. I must admit that her piece in Arcana didn't make me want to listen to her music any more than I did before I read it, but I was already a fan, and it certainly didn't hinder my appreciation. -bob

From: ahorton <ahorton@vt.edu> To: Kurt Gottschalk <ecstasymule@hotmail.com>, zorn-list <zorn-list@mailman.xmission.com> Subject: RE: ikue mori interview - please participate Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 17:05:17 -0500

I'd really like to see a non-rude, non-confrontational yet honest question that goes something like this:

"Ms. Mori, don't you feel that it's misleading to mask all of your musical endeavors with faux-highrbow language? You've simply used drum machines and samplers, and more recently MAX MSP, to make music- and yet, you insist on using lines like 'I extrapolate binary systems of sonic fragments to further explore the multiethnic diaspora', when in reality it would be more correct to say 'I bash buttons and make interesting beats."

This isn't to accuse or to be hostile- i'm a huge fan of Mori's work- but I feel that her approach to explaining what she does is symptomatic of a real epidemic of faux-highbrow posturing in the modern improv world. If DJ Shadow's comfortable accounting for his genius with "I just bash the buttons on my sampler until it sounds dope", then surely someone like Mori (working in the same fashion) should be comfortable doing the same, without having to "talk herself up."

love, andrew

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