CEREBRAL

With its title, the concept mini-album "CORTEX" (https://album.link/qgmmcpxxgdhsr) is the first part of a rather special approach (some might call it "cerebral") at the heart of a musical project whose first intention is, above all else, to invite people to vibrate, dance and wiggle!

Of course, music is first and foremost a matter of raw sensations, pure emotion, "living" force! To hell with philosophical speeches, "intellectualist" analyses and all-out reflections, it's time for sound, vibration, letting off steam, disconnection, you might say! And you are a hundred times right! However, as a second intention, one not preventing the other, emotions and reason sharing the same nervous structures, the only real question asked here between the lines that the metaphor suggests is what we manage to do with the energy drawn from the electronic ambiances of yesterday and today... In other words, what happens after the good times, the evening, the night spent having fun, how do we recover after a long-lasting festive event? In short, what are our tomorrows made of? What nourishes us and makes us feel good "outside of a festive context?" Each person's brain being unique and precious, what happens to the functioning of an organ, eternally unsatisfied in search of multiple pleasures and rewards and yet the basis of our emancipation.

Moreover, in parallel to the questions raised, if the "electro" current is a contemporary movement, what does it mean to share a common culture? Moreover, what does this "neo-culture" consist of? Claiming one's attachment to a musical current, a style, a community, a group is a matter of intimacy, of one's own history. However, everyone's potential in such a mass phenomenon goes far beyond the delirious fun of a handful of partygoers intoxicated by sonorous sinusoids! Shared and experienced together, the diffusion of electronic, mechanical and industrial sounds in the form of acoustic waves tends to propagate much more than a sound straight out of the revolutions of the world before the 2000s. Thus, without claiming to be anything other than a simple means of expression, electronic music, in its diversity, has become a symbol of openness and tolerance, which has made it a kind of standard bearer of freedom, acceptance of differences and against discrimination. Although there is still so much to be done, especially with regard to people with disabilities for example, the musical craze at least makes it possible to bring people together instead of dividing them, and if there is one virtue now recognized in electronic music it is to unite to the sound of bass and repetitive melodies.

Mode of expression, cultural movement, art of celebration, "secular" communion, the universe of electronic music is profoundly multiple, mixed, blended, the fruit of the mixed realities of our heteroclite, cosmopolitan societies, our hybrid, intertwined communities, our shared, encompassing modus vivendi, we inhabitants of cities and countryside, citizens of the World! In the face of the harsh realities of everyday life, the different musical currents have always evolved together at the same pace as changes, ideologies and emerging counter-cultures. Nevertheless, very concretely, whatever the era, music and its craftsmen have always had to "compose" with the socio-economic realities of an environment not very conducive to philanthropy! The neo-liberal economic model sweeps away everything in its path, including cultural niches. The "techno" scene is not exempt from labelling, marketing and other juicy business plans that are attractive to neo-sponsors of a universe that not so long ago they despised. For those of you who will only see in such remarks the "bad language" of an eternal dissatisfied person with a protestant accent, you may have even more difficulty with what will follow, but do not be discouraged, whether you adhere to it or not, let's continue to think about it all the same. For those of you who are concerned, there is no need to comment further. Likewise, it is together, united or disunited, that we will build, invent or reinvent the world of tomorrow. On this point at least, we will most probably all agree! The utopian hope here is to unite around common sense and benevolence in all areas of life, music as a vector, electronic sounds as stimulants, the tempo to motivate the senses and the brain to stay alert! Ambiences that create a link, what happens then to this "connection" outside of mass effects... This is perhaps an object of reflection that deserves to be considered... If we are really interested in the notion of "electronic culture" for what it has the best...

Also, without these few "lyrical" flights with philosophical accents discouraging you, by its title "Cortex" and especially by naming the pieces of this "mini-album concept" like catchy slogans, it is at the same time to highlight the faculties of understanding, reflection and questioning of everyone. The "sound whirlpools" that make those who appreciate them vibrate and the changes in levels of consciousness that go with them are not incompatible with the brain's motivation (including its cortical part) to seek and create useful adaptation solutions to multiple situations. An organ for which the flexibility of its connections is paramount! In other words, the "gymnastics of the brain" cannot be reduced to a question of aptitude for mental arithmetic, chess, crossword puzzles, analytical faculties or extraordinary reasoning abilities, because the question posed here in "technical" jargon is rather that of supplying the sensory channels that allow individuals to be, to exist and to develop their mental faculties! 🧠

Anyway, if you can still follow me! (LOL) The idea associated with the "musical delirium" of "crazy sounds" is therefore also that of a brain that is not satisfied with the simple "passing trance" caused by the vibratory stimuli of a pulsating sound, but which, by moving, could perhaps manage to increase its own "motivational" capital!

Head and body in motion! This is perhaps also a significant aspect of a music that leaves no stone unturned for those who allow themselves to let go, to sway to the rhythms of frenetic beats... Comparable to the beating of a heart for some, the power of the basses acts as a stimulant for those who appreciate being carried away by the repetitions in a loop... For others, the irrepressible desire to shake, dance and unleash themselves would even serve as an outlet for them. Some even go so far as to think that this release would have a "purging" effect! Techno: "a detox cure! "Interesting concept! (LOL) If you know a "naturopath" who developed the idea!? (LOL) Joking aside, the body in motion, the head in motion... Maybe this can also help to move what is contained in the head, in the brain! Hence the fact that electronic music would advance mentalities, or even stimulate the cognitive processes of the brain organ of its listeners!? Let's remain modest! However, we can still hope that, electronic music or not, the body in movement, dance, as well as the various physical activities, by activating the physiology of the whole organism, would at least serve as triggers, catalysts... And, although we are all differently equipped, at least "wired" to face the daily life, brains and bodies used to move, to explore space in various ways, should then perhaps also be able to demonstrate, through their daily physiological commitment, that with a little training and good will, the activation of the body favours that of the brain, both of them pushing each other further and further... From there to claiming that this is how we become, if not smarter, at least more conscious or thoughtful, more able to "energise" our mental faculties, there is only one step that I will certainly not take! However, indirectly at least, the moving body and head could, if not contribute, intervene, even in small doses, in the thought processes... The hope being that the "musical stimulation" motivates us to think more, further, without becoming rigid every time the comfort zone is crossed!

Epilogue!

Continuation and end! Phew, some would say! The last part of a long laïus of which you are perhaps only a handful to have tried to decipher... if you still manage to follow me in my words... if you find an interest in it... free to each one to think what he wants...

🧠 Cortex refers to the bark of the tree as much as it evokes the brain! A choice that was obviously made for two reasons. One because the pieces created and their titles invite you to literally "scratch under the bark", i.e. to "think, as far as possible, always further than the tip of your own nose!" And the other because the plant metaphor meets that of a multi-layered brain in which music is perceived, integrated and transformed into stimuli that combine with countless other physiological processes within the entire organism. In short, as you will have understood to your cost (LOL), the "cerebral" side of this discussion (which some will decry or discourage more than one) is simply a "voluntary and assumed" illustration of a more global approach that places (mental) coherence at the centre of a modestly "artistic" approach to what Art represents as a "cultural" and developmental vector. For, if we deign to push reasoning to the point of glimpsing the scope of thoughts and actions, then questions of the meaning and interest of artistic and musical projects, such as those of words and metaphors, appear to be unavoidable, to say the least. For those who enjoy sharing and exchanging points of view and ideas, for the adepts of "mental gymnastics", for those who are simply aware of it, the different levels of "reading" (listening...) and appreciation of a subject, a project, a concept or a position, whatever they may be, are an invitation to reflection, which the mixing of genres, although indigestible for some, is an opportunity to imagine, think and do differently! This is why the titles of Cortex evoke the strangeness of our species, the arrogance of our proud claim to be a fully-fledged Earthling as if the planet were devoted, allocated, offered to us... In this sense, they also point out the biological, physiological and cultural aspects that have made us beings, certainly heterogeneous, but at the same time strangely similar in their characteristics and sensitive and motor components. For, if we try to scratch behind the bark of our own behaviours, to return to the plant metaphor, we can also evoke that in a way our "visual-dependance" of primate, the height of "surrealism", blinds us at the same time as it dazzles us in many areas to the point of hindering the development of our nervous and behavioural apparatus. Excesses, dangers, violence, inequalities, hunger, thirst, suffering and precariousness are just some of the many alarm signals of a human ecosystem in danger. Living (too) "comfortably", we (you, me...) are caught up in modernity and its dictates. Some choose not to submit to it completely, others simply have no other choice. And yet, in the current social, economic and health emergency, individuals and communities alike cannot ignore repeated warnings. But perhaps it is also a trait of our humanity to act as if nothing had happened, preferring blindness or deafness in the face of dangers and their warnings. And it is not because the electronic culture has been built and continues to be built on technological developments that it has lost all sense of reality, no doubt it is necessary to shake its "coconut tree" as they say? At the very least, remind its community that sensitivity and affection for electronic melodies are not incompatible with taking responsibility and individual and collective development. But then, "where is this one taking us with his endless turns of phrase", you might think? What link is he trying to make between electronic music, a techno sound that may or may not meet the sensibilities of his listeners, and a complicated discussion about the meaning of things in life and the potential consequences of our thoughts and actions in all areas? For some, the links may not be obvious to make! However, for others, perhaps they will not conceive things differently when it comes to artistic and musical projects!? If being part of a "cultural movement" is of any interest for oneself and others, it is still necessary to be able to handle "full consciousness" and benevolence without confusing everything... Nothing more, nothing less... That's for the "theoretical" part: the "big issues" part! (LOL) We had to go through this... Trying to show a little bit of consistency is at this price! An "expensive" price, you might say, if, because of its "heaviness", it will have made many of you fall off the wagon. A "cost" that I will gladly assume if it allows me to follow my course of action without evading it. I assume the risks in a totally "uninhibited" way and now, for those of you who have the most endurance, I'll give you an appointment for another "soft note" with the next part of the "saga": "But what's this one telling us again!?" (LOL) A "more down-to-earth" component! To be continued in " R-SERiES!” (https://album.link/bz8rbc6vmfprb)

.... To you brave & reckless readers... Thank you for your attention! Respect for your tenacity! (LOL)

nms303