Is Minus becoming the Get Physical of minimal?

[dou]

its not THE stupidest thread ever but would easily make it to the top ten

[adam]

"m_nus" .... how do you pronounce that???

"M Hypen Nus" or "M Underscore Nus" depending on what is typed. I think they keep confusing whatever that is with Minus

[catherine]

This thread could certainly come off as 'stupid,' 'pointless' or even 'contrived.'
There is some validation to it, although I have little to say about M_nus itself.
Something like this is initiated out of fear.

I wonder how many people witnessing the explosion of their beloved music are genuinely concerned. It can be pretty startling when one observes those around them and and are uncertain what they're in it for, along with hearing more loads of sh!t. I can imagine some have at some point or another come to certain realizations and ask: 'My god! What happens next??'

There are intelligent ways to surpass this, and that is something that I think most of us know about, no matter how flooded/popular the music gets. We learn a bit from the past, and just continue observation.

Of course people are going to start questioning, and it's important to do in general, but is there really reason for concern?

This music is so personal and open-ended, characterized and experimental, it is deeply rooted in some of the the strongest music within linear history of music all together.

There will always be animosity towards M_nus, and I will stay objective about it; however, I too am amused by this thread.

All I can say is keep your head in check, (which many people and labels here do an excellent job of) and keep your ears perked.

P.S. Further speculation:
I am not sure about slow record sales (you would think), but I just read a rather surprising statistic that Kompakt is currently making 50,000 EU a month on distribution alone; however, the tidal wave of net-labels has undoubtedly started unhealthy oversaturation.
Along with that comes completely new territory, and the grandiose feeling of global communication and scale, but also has a very rooted local-- dare I say -- almost telepathic feeling.
I won't be surprised to see failure, collapse, etc. IMO it's bound, and possibly that's a good thing (there's a lot of weeding out to be had). I also believe that most of the people woven deeply into this niche will survive (as long as they keep it real) and continue to bust out innovative sounds. Please continue discussion, argue with me.

On that note, I agree:

The good music will always speak for itself.
Let it ride.

[mr.statik]

I must admit that when I posted this, I didnt believe it would turn into what it has... As I stated, I am a minus fan, I do buy and play the records... And believe me it's not the easiest thing to do here in Greece, where the word 'minimal scene' has a double meaning....

The puprose of this thread was simply to see if there other people here who feel the same, a small question mark regarding the future of minus and the direction they choose to take there... The purpose of this thread was never to diss or disrespect, neither to sound as the 'smartass' who likes to provoke...

Instead what we saw here, was a small war with opinions from both sides (sometimes reasonable, other times a bit exaggerated...), so I must admit it has become an issue controversial enough for a thread to belong in the top 10 of stupidity....

perhaps the example of 'get physical' (sometimes this label has also high quality stuff comin out for their style) was exaggerated but i feel it was appropriate enough in order to stress the argument without being disrespective to get physical either....
Peace out...

[Zsa Zsa]

Break the Mold!!!!

So what? We love someone else.... we love ableton´s grain delay and reverb. Why are you angry about other people´s success?
If you can´t see that someone else, heartthrob, troy, gaiser, crosson, pronsato and many others are genuinely trying to break boundaries in their sound, it´s your opinion, and I respect it. But please don´t attack people who only sell 3000 or 4000 copies (do you think that it´s enough?). If you don´t like them, just don´t buy it, and don´t play it...

I hear you Mr. Barem..


As long as an artist remains true to a sound that reflects on who they are and produces music that they feel passionate about -- then the individuality we all seek for, lies there. If you honestly listen close enough, you can tell which artists are trying to sound like someone else (honestly, no pun intended).

Yes, most certainly -- we all want to be innovative, and we want to find innovative material produced by other artists. But fact is fact -- you are going to find similar sounds released by a number of artists. But have you ever thought that its because tastes are perhaps similar? Because a grain delay is used, does that mean they aren't trying to be ground-breaking? Bullocks! If you really (REALLY) listen to the music, you will hear those innovative sounds underneath the common micro sampling or acid line, because I believe that a true artist will always deliver their identity through their own arrangements, and that is what you should always look for.

Im just waiting for "minimal" to be reinvented to the point where its beyond avant garde-- that a live set will consist of nothing but the sound of air. Now that's ground-breaking.

[crisp]

well we all saw what happened to primate...let's hope the same doesnt occur in this case as well

That's a whole different topic on it's own. Prime (the distributor of Primate) jumped on the drum techno bandwagon and P&D'd a million techno labels. Then they were spending money quicker than they could pay it back. In the end, Prime went under and and nobody got paid like they were supposed to. If you don't think this is going to happen to some of the minimal distributors in the next couple years you're sadly mistaken.

The amount of new minimal labels popping up is ridiculous and definitely rivals the number of new labels Prime was dealing with. On top of that, most minimal labels (even the ones spoken about on this site 90% of the time) are lucky to do around 1,000-1,500 copies tops. When Prime was around, some labels were doing INITAL pressings of around 2,800 copies with 3-4 represses after that.

Realistically, if you look at the numbers and success rates in the "minimal" industry...it's clear most of it is all hype and talk. While minimal may have drawn in new listeners, they're still not exactly buying up tons of records.

When you are talking abouth vinyl, i agree, but dont forget that in the future places like beatport will be of major importance. The reason why they dont sell more then 1500 copies is because vinyl has become to expensive + there is this stupid vibe in most recordshops where vinyls are kept behind the counter for the more important dj's. With places like beatport your average joe in the middle of timboektoe can enjoy underground music at a reasonable price and with not to much effort.

[fader]

wow, 4 pages already..

if you don't like it, don't buy it! i haven't bought any m_nus since the minimize to maximize compil, just too much of the same, too much tracks where nothing happens.
the next one i'll buy will be the min2max because of the loco dice track

[Thomas D and Jack Thomas]

this is the best topic ever. oh and btw, anybody who claims they're doing 4,000 of the minimal sh!t is completely full of it. People always lie about how many copies they really sell. Dealing with distributors, they'll sometimes leak numbers about bigger labels and the numbers they are reporting are 1/2 to 3/4 of 3-4,000. And distributors also usually say the label has sold more than it really does.