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Digitally made music has been with us for quite a while now (if nothing else, two fingers up to those guitar-wacking, narrow-minded, long hairs who said that it wouldn’t last). This means that we are able to talk about this sector of musical society with the same depth and reverence as any other genre, scene, or style; we can explore and evoke its references and evolution in the usual fashion.
And so it is with “Miami,” the new release from Tidal Water’s Digital Noise a track that leans into the formative sounds of the electronic revolution’s early days, one where those disenfranchised punks and frustrated soul boys (depending on where you call home) began turning keyboards to other uses and rewiring tech to their will thereby creating whole new scene – rock and pop reimagined for a new audience – along the way laying the foundations for a whole new sonic world.
“Miami” neatly captures the duality of that city’s underground 80’s nightlife, a scene of opposites, some not particularly attractive, a place of pink neon lights and hidden switchblades, of dancefloors and danger, vivid colors, and violent ends.
As the song slithers and staggers its way forward on shimmering sonics and liquid beats, it echoes the simplicity of those early sounds. This allows a cold sonic wind to blow through between the bubbling notes and shimmering sonics, capturing the same aloofness as the early goth and darkwave sounds, not to mention conjuring the same menace that bands such as Suicide carried with them.
Yes, electronic music is every bit as nuanced and deep, not to mention emotive and evocative, as any other genre—perhaps more so.
