Atom TM - Servant of the People [Woke Series}

lol 

"critiques of contemporary retardedness" 

this will be fine. 

https://nn-audio.bandcamp.com/album/servant-of-the-people

has he always been like this? actually I'm not even sure I fully understand the artist's intention here but falling into culture war discourse is...

  On 3/7/2024 at 7:23 PM, Bubba69 said:

has he always been like this? actually I'm not even sure I fully understand the artist's intention here but falling into culture war discourse is...

i've always thought of him as a thoughtful person who considers things reasonably but who knows what this is about. the track is basically noise and drones and samples. often i think when people say things like that it's because of a very personal specific experience. but as said.. who knows... 

the interview w/him by jamie lidell from his podcast is really good btw. 

https://podtail.com/podcast/hanging-out-with-audiophiles/howa-ep-79-atom/

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL2hhbmdpbmdvdXR3aXRoYXVkaW9waGlsZXMubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M/episode/YzY5ZDJiOWYtMzQzNy00OTQxLTg2NDktNzgyNTNlYTNkYWE4

  On 3/7/2024 at 7:28 PM, ignatius said:

i've always thought of him as a thoughtful person who considers things reasonably but who knows what this is about. the track is basically noise and drones and samples. often i think when people say things like that it's because of a very personal specific experience. but as said.. who knows... 

the interview w/him by jamie lidell from his podcast is really good btw. 

https://podtail.com/podcast/hanging-out-with-audiophiles/howa-ep-79-atom/

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL2hhbmdpbmdvdXR3aXRoYXVkaW9waGlsZXMubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M/episode/YzY5ZDJiOWYtMzQzNy00OTQxLTg2NDktNzgyNTNlYTNkYWE4

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Actually, I think I listened to that interview, or part of it, a few months ago, my memory is shit. Yeah I'm a fan of his generally speaking, he's a genius, but I could imagine seeing some of his past work getting scrutinized by the woke mob.

interesting. some of the idealogical motivation for this might be detected here: https://atom-tm.com/blog/2023/07/14/entry-14-historie-und-hysterie-ii-keynote/ . hard to summarize but a key point being made has to do with the appropriation of electronic music/club culture by private corporate interests that sanitize the collective and subversive thrust of this subculture in order to make it more profitable and easier to exploit for personal profile development. in other words, perhaps he sees "woke" conventional wisdom in the club community as a pro-capitalist appropriation of its historically radical origins? 

but this does fit into the greater picture of his work which has always had a sense of humor and satirical dimension, always poking fun at trends of the zeitgeist. relevant for us is his "Real Intelligence" series, spoofing on warp's "Artificial Intelligence" and here the explicitly anti-"imperialist pop" message of HD. i don't think it's too hard to see how hyper-capitalist entities and consumers use ostensibly woke language or concepts to push themselves up in a system that's inherently exploitative and oppressive for the very minorities it claims to valorize. he's a cheeky lad, my first impression is this fits into his basic agenda of being a goof and being something of a leftist.  

i think we're probably just used to being more comfortable with him toying with less sacred cows

rubin farr's thoughts contemporary retardedness ?

  On 3/7/2024 at 8:23 PM, Alcofribas said:

i don't think it's too hard to see how hyper-capitalist entities and consumers use ostensibly woke language or concepts to push themselves up in a system that's inherently exploitative and oppressive for the very minorities it claims to valorize

This seems like a good idea to push against this, but wouldn't it be more effective if it were done with good music? I think this track is already protected from any risk of co-option by the capitalists due to it being entirely unappealing on an auditory level

  On 3/7/2024 at 9:34 PM, taphead said:

This seems like a good idea to push against this, but wouldn't it be more effective if it were done with good music? I think this track is already protected from any risk of co-option by the capitalists due to it being entirely unappealing on an auditory level

I haven’t quite been able to get a feel for his stuff in the past few years. It seems he’s been exploring a very different technological setup recently and everything coming out feels like experiments of this. Just my guess based on some interviews and stuff. 
 

Pop HD seems like a good example of what you’re suggesting tho imo

  On 3/7/2024 at 9:03 PM, dr lopez said:

rubin farr's thoughts contemporary retardedness ?

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yeah ftr Uwe is quite literally a musical genius so this tweet took me a little off guard I'll be honest lol.

not that he shouldn't be critical of current movements in media and culture more broadly but it did seem to reference or allude to some internet edgelord shit which seemed a bit beneath someone as creative as he is.

  On 3/7/2024 at 9:34 PM, taphead said:

This seems like a good idea to push against this, but wouldn't it be more effective if it were done with good music? I think this track is already protected from any risk of co-option by the capitalists due to it being entirely unappealing on an auditory level

I really like this opening track.

  On 3/7/2024 at 9:54 PM, dr lopez said:

not that he shouldn't be critical of current movements in media and culture more broadly but it did seem to reference or allude to some internet edgelord shit which seemed a bit beneath someone as creative as he is.

I wish that the "culture wars" were limited to edgelord shit but look at mainstream politics and media. It's all a virulent cesspool of who can be the most offended on either side of the aisle, to garner votes from the actual vulnerable populations they're supposed to be representing (LGBTQ2S+, poor white folk, Black Americans, Asian-Americans etc.), or exploiting that shit for monetary gain.

  On 3/7/2024 at 9:54 PM, dr lopez said:

yeah ftr Uwe is quite literally a musical genius so this tweet took me a little off guard I'll be honest lol.

not that he shouldn't be critical of current movements in media and culture more broadly but it did seem to reference or allude to some internet edgelord shit which seemed a bit beneath someone as creative as he is.

I think he’s been flirting with a much deeper cultural critique for several years now. He’s been explicit about his loathing of electronic music culture and I think the conformist trends of social media are absorbed into this disdain. But he hasn’t laid it all out, really. Maybe he won’t ever do so since he’s an artist not a social theorist or smth. 
 

I don’t conflate what he’s doing with edgelord shit. I think there’s a lot behind the scenes and he’s presented it in a very typical laconic, goofy visual way. The art is for instance perfectly in keeping with Rather Interesting’s aesthetic. I think the times have changed so it has a different feel, though. 
 

I’m hoping for more written stuff from him tbh but I don’t necessarily expect it. 

  Quote

Audio available in hi-res, 96 kHz/32 Bit.

lol 

Don’t know why this topic has compelled me to post, but imo although dude is definitely a musical genius, I don’t personally think that genius extends to the depth or quality of his conceptual gags. They’ve always seemed pretty surface to me. But hopefully there is something here and it’s not, as was mentioned above, just edge lord shit.

A bit more context comes from his "irregular newsletter":

  Quote

As a nod to irrationality, NN unveils "Servant of the People." Through sonic intensity and a resolute rejection of sociability, this track, the inaugural piece in a series of four, strongly critiques the crudeness of contemporary retardedness, coupled with a staunch opposition to hegemonic linguistic censorship. It serves not only as a cacophonous commentary on current world leaders but also as a spirited applause to everyday activists, as well as to the whimsical realms of unicorns and bananas.

  On 3/8/2024 at 2:29 AM, ascdi said:

Don’t know why this topic has compelled me to post, but imo although dude is definitely a musical genius, I don’t personally think that genius extends to the depth or quality of his conceptual gags. They’ve always seemed pretty surface to me. But hopefully there is something here and it’s not, as was mentioned above, just edge lord shit.

100% this. I have tremendous respect for him as a musician. Not keen to see him wade into this stuff.

he's finally gone coconuts..i wonder if he headlines that ФЦҬLЇЙԐ thingy again this year..

The track does nothing for me

It's all getting a little pretentious 

'Insulting the DJ' 2020s style

Lmfao what is this track

It’s too late, he’s already been cancelled on Xitter. 
https://x.com/dalecornish/status/1765789943706660984?s=46&t=lzb--cRIkaiKMari_HPNtg

yes this is the biggest issue with doing that sort of stuff. not worth it.

however, best way forward is to just never apologize. don't double down either; just move on.

oh god he's replying to everyone... NOOOOO

  On 3/8/2024 at 5:09 PM, dr lopez said:

oh god he's replying to everyone... NOOOOO

it's really not worth dying on that hill. 

edit: not on twitter so can't see all the replies.. but nooooo!

  On 3/8/2024 at 5:09 PM, dr lopez said:

yes this is the biggest issue with doing that sort of stuff. not worth it.

 

however, best way forward is to just never apologize. don't double down either; just move on.

oh god he's replying to everyone... NOOOOO

uwe on Rogan when?

IDM or IDW? you decide 

Just bought this:

https://atomtm.bandcamp.com/album/live-volume-8
 

it’s really nice especially the last part