Opinions on contemporary art/music/pop/underground culture

People doing music for fun can still get obsessive about it. I know I do. I'm constantly deconstructing it & trying to figure out how best to express myself. Just because a person is doing something for their own enjoyment doesn't mean they don't care about doing it well.

Really tho I think we mostly just have a difference in tastes. I find the current notion of web music, redigested media, etc - it really speaks to me. Makes me think, plays with my emotions. For the first time I feel a connection to my generation. I like all sorts of old music from all sorts of genres, but the new stuff, it feels, iunno...fresh

Feels like you think it's a bunch of trite tossed off moose garbage. That's cool. Neither one of us is wrong, we're just coming at the same thing from totally different trajectories.

ITT: horrible ugly misconceptions

Eh, everything I wrote is more or less bullshit. But it's good to think about it. I'm glad we're all being creative and learning to express ourselves and think together. Part of me is just sad that we've had to sacrifice "greater works" because of it. No matter. I'm nowhere near as smart as I think I am. Haha. I just want to be nice to others and have a good community. And if I want to participate in a meaningful way, I need to be much more open minded/hearted. So I'll work on that.

By the way, I totally agree that there has very recently (over the past year - 6 months) been a major increase in cultural... life. I feel like people are starting to want to do something real... you know, something "for our generation." And yes, it's the first time this has happened in my life (since like the late 90s with Big Beat music haha). It seems like we're starting to take the reigns.

I still think the 00s were a pretty bad mess. I could be wrong. I just get this image of a fuzzy Arcade Fire RealPlayer video (or really poor, 90 kbps quality Strokes / Franz Ferdinand song on a mini disc player) in my head and that pretty much sums up the music in the 00s.

Freakish to think that in 10-20 years, people will be doing horrible digital quality recordings as a way to "get in touch" with the 00s.

Van Gogh and Emily Dickinson

  On 12/28/2012 at 11:49 PM, vamos scorcho said:

By the way, I totally agree that there has very recently (over the past year - 6 months) been a major increase in cultural... life. I feel like people are starting to want to do something real... you know, something "for our generation." And yes, it's the first time this has happened in my life (since like the late 90s with Big Beat music haha). It seems like we're starting to take the reigns.

okay yeah now i think i see where you're coming from

the 00s were full of this terrible irony nostalgia culture, but the last year or two i feel like this generation, one that got jaded too fast & never really cared about anything, is starting to say "hey man why don't we actually say something".

But we're still figuring that part out. Current web art & music & distribution to me feels a bit like stretching out. We've developed a lot of technological & cultural ideas over the last two decades & now we're trying to see what they can do. Experimentalism. Baby steps. A few years down the road we might actually put them to good use for art or something. And when we do all this weird shit will make sense.

to me steve roggenbuck is sort of the epitome of this. seemingly ironic & pointless on the surface, but there's something underneath it. something real slowly rising to the surface

I found this relevant to the topic of new generations looking to obscure genres of the past. Here's a young DJ/producer/radio-presenter's arguments for why you should be listening to New Age music:

  Quote

New Age, Better Living

New Age music is about as uncool as it gets. Unlike soul, funk, disco and the other highly collected and financially valued genres that I enjoy hunting for, New Age is undervalued - both culturally and economically. Of course, I'm not talking about Enya, Kitaro and other forms of white wine-soaked mum jazz. The true gems of the New Age genre are largely privately-produced, privately-issued statements made by Californian entrepreneurs in the late 1970's and early-'80s.

 

It's a genre defined by conscious use of space, silence, delicacy and repetition without classical and academic overtones. Soaked in whale sounds, digital synthesis and stock-art, collecting New Age music has become a personal obsession. Here are ten reasons to give New Age a listen.

 

1. It's earnest

In a musical landscape so shrouded in irony, pastiche and bravado, it's refreshing to find music that had a simple, utilitarian purpose.

 

2. It's cheap

Most other genres have been exploited by collectors and prices for original copies have increased phenomenally, but you can still find New Age records for dirt cheap.

 

3. It's 'experimental' - but not in an intellectual sense

These artists didn't have access to orchestras, bands or high quality recording facilities (or skills). So in terms of equipment and techniques, they made do with was at hand. Amateurism at its best.

 

4. It's patient

So much of contemporary music is afraid of silence, breaks, repetition and space. New Age lets things evolve in your mind - it teases you.

 

5. Stock/clip-art is god

 

6. The music speaks for itself without having to convey a narrative

 

7. It can improve your life

Amongst the chatter of the internet, there's never been more need for calming, peaceful sounds

 

8. It celebrates DIY

Most of this music was too far-out for major labels to get behind. So these people had to trust their own visions, put the money into it and distribute the product themselves.

 

9. It's consistent

You find similar themes, words and designs across artists' discographies.

 

10. Similar to 'queer', it's a term of derision to be proudly reclaimed

Genre labels should be useful and New Age is a powerful symbol of '70's countercultural ideals.

popular culture aside I think the 00's were a time for more refinement of electronic music given the development in software which in some ways was also its limits as it was more processing existing audio than formulating sound from scratch.

The buzzy cut up glitch sound will be a hall mark of the 00's just like snare rushes and filter sweeps were a cliche of the 90's and I think the side chained compression electro sound will be looked at as the sound of now although I notice some newer electronic artists are trying to break from the norm whist keeping things fun and not flying too much up their own arse.

im relatively young, and uneducated in electronic music compared to someone who has experienced the transition from the mid 80's to now, but i have been exploring electronic music solidly for the last 9 years now, with a transition from drum and bass, to this forum/squarepusher/idm etc., and ultimately to techno for the last 6 years, but i think the techno music being produced in the last 2-3 years is infinitely more engaging, beautiful, and soul altering than anything ive heard from before it.

The subtlety, attention to minute detail, and general lushness of production is blowing my mind. i tend to go to classical music to hear unique and harmonically complex music, and so have absolutely no issue with the generally simple nature of the actual musical development in much modern techno, and basically it is really taking a hold of my entire attention and passion right now.

ive not really got any idea what the actual point of the thread was but i felt like id bang in that particular opinion just there.

il leave you with a piece composed almost entirely of samples.

( i also prefer the sound of lossless digital to vinyl. the utter crispness of it appeals to my taste in a feeling of calculated perfection. my friends who are enormously involved in the vinyl or nothing scene take the piss out of me, but i dont give a shit. i also still enjoy the shit out of collecting vinyl)

I think most people here overestimate how important art is to running the world. 95% of the population doesn't give a fuck about art. Really, most people on earth still fucking try to survive. How about we care to fix this before thinking "omg today's generation is ruining my preccciuoouusss art"

  On 12/30/2012 at 5:20 PM, Philip Glass said:

I think most people here overestimate how important art is to running the world. 95% of the population doesn't give a fuck about art. Really, most people on earth still fucking try to survive. How about we care to fix this before thinking "omg today's generation is ruining my preccciuoouusss art"

this is the least philip glass thing you've ever said

Some people are just stuck in overindulgence mode... gotta be realistic from time to time. It's just fucking art.

minimal is dead.

  On 12/28/2012 at 6:45 PM, taint said:

We need petr in this thread, I feel like she could bring opinions I would take as authoritative into this.

ah sorri was laet 2 repson on this but that doesn't matter cuz i'm dangerous moron who knows nothing

  On 1/21/2013 at 1:09 AM, petr said:

  On 12/28/2012 at 6:45 PM, taint said:

We need petr in this thread, I feel like she could bring opinions I would take as authoritative into this.

ah sorri was laet 2 repson on this but that doesn't matter cuz i'm dangerous moron who knows nothing

ok socrates

lol, i dun get it

Enjoyed vamos posts and link on pseudo-modernism, and cryptowens posts.

One part in the link stuck out to me.

  Quote

There is a generation gap here, roughly separating people born before and after 1980. Those born later might see their peers as free, autonomous, inventive, expressive, dynamic, empowered, independent, their voices unique, raised and heard: postmodernism and everything before it will by contrast seem elitist, dull, a distant and droning monologue which oppresses and occludes them. Those born before 1980 may see, not the people, but contemporary texts which are alternately violent, pornographic, unreal, trite, vapid, conformist, consumerist, meaningless and brainless (see the drivel found, say, on some Wikipedia pages, or the lack of context on Ceefax). To them what came before pseudo-modernism will increasingly seem a golden age of intelligence, creativity, rebellion and authenticity.

There is one problem here, back in the day, I bet a majority of people were not interested in art either, and you had a smaller minority of artists involved in their creations. All that changed after the internet came around, was that all the 'shallow' talk and interests of non-artist people was broadcast online, every day. None of that is art, and is not meant to be art. I would argue we still have golden ages of intelligence, creativity and authenticity, but it's harder to find since EVERYTHING is broadcast and stored online. To find it you have to find people who connect with what you do, in specific pockets of the internet, or in 'real life' for that matter.

I do think the mainstream culture is for the most part impoverished though, but the author of this article isn't giving credit to all the niche forums and culture out there. Back in the postmodern days, I would suggest artists were thinking about very similar things to what artists nowadays are thinking about. They thought about their art, and what they wanted to do with it, and also how it fits into the history of what they're doing.

I think a more interesting conversation would be about what exactly the internet has done to culture and sub cultures, since it is now so global and fragmented that confusion has to arise. All sense of purpose and context and history is gone, and exists as fleeting moments in individuals around the globe. Any sense of history we may have is mostly due to our narrow consumption of recent years of art, since it is CHAOTIC, in my opinion. The good thing is, hate it or not, it enables anyone with a creative spark to create, and they can have their own "empowered" journey of discovery through their own music, and with others, and share it with others, in fact the whole globe. There's nothing banal or shallow about that in my opinion. We can go as deep as we want.

  On 12/30/2012 at 5:20 PM, Philip Glass said:

I think most people here overestimate how important art is to running the world. 95% of the population doesn't give a fuck about art. Really, most people on earth still fucking try to survive. How about we care to fix this before thinking "omg today's generation is ruining my preccciuoouusss art"

this is such a bad post

we will only know once the loop has ended.

Lol, I had a brainfart a moment ago while I was musing on the current state of free parties/teknivals and opposingly the 'art' or 'indie' electronic scene...well I was listening to something or other and it occurred to me: "why is all this recent music so damn dark?" (don't get me wrong, I am 100% into the darkness) and why does contemporary rave music sound so damn boring? Why are real electronic diehard enthusiasts sitting in their rooms reviewing albums in the dark while thousands of dreadlocked hulahoopers ecstatically dance to 1999-grade psytrance?

What is it about old rave and jungle music that sounds so democratic to my ears? When I hear early 90s tekno/rave/jungle/etc. I hear acceptance, freedom, and a lot of humor. (i know this is skewed but hey) Then there is this rift and after that it's like the 'love' was gone out of the music. I know if you look at the history of it, the transformation of raving to clubbing (and maybe the death of the love) happened after the 1994 british Criminal Justice Act (CJA) (repetitive beats).

What would it take to have a third summer of love?

The recent boom in EDM is full of falseness. It is a summer of Monster™, WOBWOB, hot bitches, and cargo shorts.

Despite this, there is relentless churning of electronic music coming from everywhere all at once, kind of like a monster eating up everything in its path.

Could all these disparate subgenres and undercurrents of energy ever come together to form some kind of 'moment' ?

What kind of meme would we need to see the love return and have music and counter-cultural energy emerge together again?

Is counter-culture just a big lie anyways? (it was only ever just drugs and adults behaving like children, duh)

Maybe google glasses will be the next LSD?

  On 1/21/2013 at 1:51 AM, petr said:

lol, i dun get it

lol

  On 1/22/2013 at 12:13 AM, Salvatorin said:

Lol, I had a brainfart a moment ago while I was musing on the current state of free parties/teknivals and opposingly the 'art' or 'indie' electronic scene...well I was listening to something or other and it occurred to me: "why is all this recent music so damn dark?" (don't get me wrong, I am 100% into the darkness) and why does contemporary rave music sound so damn boring? Why are real electronic diehard enthusiasts sitting in their rooms reviewing albums in the dark while thousands of dreadlocked hulahoopers ecstatically dance to 1999-grade psytrance?

 

What is it about old rave and jungle music that sounds so democratic to my ears? When I hear early 90s tekno/rave/jungle/etc. I hear acceptance, freedom, and a lot of humor. (i know this is skewed but hey) Then there is this rift and after that it's like the 'love' was gone out of the music. I know if you look at the history of it, the transformation of raving to clubbing (and maybe the death of the love) happened after the 1994 british Criminal Justice Act (CJA) (repetitive beats).

 

What would it take to have a third summer of love?

The recent boom in EDM is full of falseness. It is a summer of Monster™, WOBWOB, hot bitches, and cargo shorts.

Despite this, there is relentless churning of electronic music coming from everywhere all at once, kind of like a monster eating up everything in its path.

Could all these disparate subgenres and undercurrents of energy ever come together to form some kind of 'moment' ?

What kind of meme would we need to see the love return and have music and counter-cultural energy emerge together again?

Is counter-culture just a big lie anyways? (it was only ever just drugs and adults behaving like children, duh)

Maybe google glasses will be the next LSD?

I like where your head is at.