Music that resists categorisation — neither house nor techno but something in between — can communicate ideas that binary language cannot

Mills argues that music is a ‘perfect vehicle’ for ideas that transcend binary categorisation — ‘not a question of this or that, but everything in between’, or ‘the gray area’. He cites Basic Channel as a model: ‘It’s not house, not techno. It’s something in between. It’s good.’ The implication is that categorical labels (genre, nationality, age) constrain meaning, while music can operate in the space between categories. In the era of declining cultural gatekeeping, listeners are ‘beginning to learn’ that such labels matter less than the quality of the work. This is a philosophy of art-making, not just music criticism: design for the grey area.

Examples

Basic Channel; Mills’s own multi-city biography (‘Detroit, New York, Berlin, Chicago, London — so what type of music do I make?’); minimal techno as genre-transcending.

Assessment

Explain what Mills means by music as a ‘gray area’; give one example from his work where the gray area principle is enacted.