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Unsung Forum » Joy Division and the uncanny in music |
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Fatalist 1123 posts |
Edited Mar 12, 2015, 21:07
Mar 12, 2015, 21:06
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Monganaut wrote: Yeah, I read and enjoyed that book. I think when we're stuck in such stultifying times as we have been since 2008 and before, it's inevitable that we all look backwards to more imagined uplifting/better times, and possibly we find it easy to imagine a past that never was. When we were kids, to paraphrase Jarvis. 'We we're brought up on the space race, and then expected to clean toiets'. Society as a whole does seem stuck in a perpetual backward gazing cycle. I think the point he makes that's most salient is that in an age where the pace of living has dramatically accelerated - from our working lives to our personal interactions - our ability to process the genuinely new has diminished. And not just among consumers, but among the creators of music/culture too. Add to this the easy availability online of the entire history of popular (and often unpopular) music ie. easy access to what's safe/familiar/already proven, and you've got the perfect storm conditions for the state of stasis it often feels we're experiencing these days. Of course, there are people out there that haven't got this memo, and are making stuff that's both challenging and entertaining, but the chance of some new musical movement coming along that might somehow define the times we live in - early rock, punk, post-punk, synth pop, hardcore, acid house, rave, jungle etc - seems slim to say the least.
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Monganaut 2382 posts |
Mar 12, 2015, 21:47
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Fatalist wrote: Of course, there are people out there that haven't got this memo, and are making stuff that's both challenging and entertaining, but the chance of some new musical movement coming along that might somehow define the times we live in -early rock, punk, post-punk, synth pop, hardcore, acid house, rave, jungle etc - seems slim to say the least. (warning, this waffles a bit)... I think if we want genuinely new sounds, were gonna have to look to other regions of the globe. Places not tied into the 4/4 rhythm, and beholden to traditional instrumentation or Pro tools/DAW's. Plus, I think we need to let the talentless take hold for a while (in the punk/DIY/Lofi sense) and see what comes out of it. In these times of incessant pro-tools/DAW usage, it's too easy to correct the happy accident that could take quite bland musics an a whole different direction. Here in the West, we're still too busy picking over the debris of the last 50 or so years of music wise. The current slew of underground musics is just to beholden to the past. Having said all that, as far as I'm concerned, over the last year or two, there's been an immense amount of great music I've purchased, but whilst I've loved it, I can't say any of it has pushed any boundaries for me sonically. Sliding away from the point somewhat, the nature of the internet (arguably where most of us do our musical discovering these days) it's hard to create a head of steam or a 'movements' in the way the old music press/radio driven scene used to be. The way we listen, consume and search out music has changed radically. Plus, with music being pretty much everywhere 24/7, I feel the 'magic' of music has been watered down, almost to the point of it being a constant background hum. I can't think of a TV show or movie from recent years that has eschewed music for silence, or not used it as a quick pointer to the emotions we should be feeling at a particular point. I guess what I'm trying to say is that for me, the medium has become a little diluted and devalued. Yet the irony is, there are probably more bands around these days than at any point I can think of. Cheaper instruments mean there's a great democratisation of music, so maybe something truly inventive is just around the corner.
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Stevo 6664 posts |
Mar 12, 2015, 21:59
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I thought the punk thing was less about lack of talent than lack of technique. So those worth listening to had managed to find a release without having to go through years of distillation by music tuition and found the opportunity to be heard. & the talentless just showed they weren't worth listening to I think the point was that while there was no longer the stigma against picking up an instrument without years of training but still not everybody could pick one up and get something worthwhile out of it. & talent was what allowed an untrained musician to get their ideas through. Talent was more related to ideas than technique in a way. But yeah would be good to get to a point where unschooled music was coming through, since it presumably wouldn't be directed in one way which is becoming tired. Hoping that media like the internet allow for this but not 100% sure. Stevo
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carol27 747 posts |
Mar 15, 2015, 17:53
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Anything by Jeff Buckley, I don't know where that voice comes from, it's almost too exquisite.
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Lawrence 9547 posts |
Edited Mar 16, 2015, 00:23
Mar 16, 2015, 00:23
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Jeff Buckley -- kicking myself in the head for missing his concert in my town. Kept thinking "Yeah the son of a legend but I'll bet he's not as great", then heard that he died and had collaborated with one of my big guitar heroes (Tom Verlaine) and only then did I pick up that album and listened to it, almost weeping about how foolish I was!
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thispoison 253 posts |
Mar 16, 2015, 19:08
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Fatalist wrote: I guess another example for me would be Hawkwind's 'Golden Void', particularly the non-vocal sections - there's something about those passages that continues to slightly freak me out, so astonishing do they still seem to me. Is this the Hawkwind record you're referring to?: http://www.discogs.com/Hawkwind-The-Golden-Void/release/1798321 "Recorded live at the Glasgow Apollo 1982 on the Rolling Stone mobile."
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Fatalist 1123 posts |
Edited Mar 16, 2015, 19:49
Mar 16, 2015, 19:48
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thispoison wrote: Fatalist wrote: I guess another example for me would be Hawkwind's 'Golden Void', particularly the non-vocal sections - there's something about those passages that continues to slightly freak me out, so astonishing do they still seem to me. Is this the Hawkwind record you're referring to?: http://www.discogs.com/Hawkwind-The-Golden-Void/release/1798321 "Recorded live at the Glasgow Apollo 1982 on the Rolling Stone mobile." No, I was referring to the original track from Warrior on The Edge of Time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBKcl4qLiPE I love Hawkwind, and I worship at the temple of Space Ritual, but there's a real spooky intensity to this track that I don't think they ever captured before or after. Just listen to that Mellotron and impossibly high synth at the start... And much as Nik Turner's playing is routinely slagged off (particularly by other members of Hawkwind), I think his solo at the end is perhaps the most beautiful piece of sax I've ever heard.
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Lawrence 9547 posts |
Mar 17, 2015, 02:28
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Oh hey I did not mention "O Superman" by Laurie Anderson. I say it's uncanny in that every prediction on that record became true, which makes it spookier and more disturbing now than when it came out. Read my review in Unsung...
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thispoison 253 posts |
Mar 17, 2015, 03:14
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Lawrence wrote: Oh hey I did not mention "O Superman" by Laurie Anderson. I say it's uncanny in that every prediction on that record became true, which makes it spookier and more disturbing now than when it came out. Read my review in Unsung... Right on! "here come the planes...they're American planes with american markings" (shivers). Thought the same the last time I heard it. She was definitely tuned into something "uncanny" there. Will check out your review...
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thesweetcheat 6217 posts |
Mar 17, 2015, 20:07
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Great call. There is a brilliant piece by Greil Marcus (it's compiled in Lipstick Traces I think) where he hears the song unexpectedly while driving along. One of my favourite pieces of writing about a song.
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