culture, aesthetics and books

[Julian Knowles <j.knowles@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Ian Andrews <i.andrews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>Most of these texts look at music from the disciplines of cultural
>criticism. There is also a considerable amount of writings which would fall
>into the area of musicology (which i'm not that familiar with).

and don't bother too much unless you have trouble sleeping... Musicology as
it stands is a dusty old discipline still trying to grapple with post
notational musics... How many musicologists do you see at electronic music
gigs?

Answer= 0

Most musicologists don't listen to electronic music, let alone electronic
music from the past ten years. This is somewhat curious situation, given
the profound effect of electronic music on the music of the _last_ century.
The only one I know is Doug Kahn, but he doesn't like being called a
musicologist for the above reasons. His work engages with post 19th century
musics in the fullest context.. (ie phonography, recording practice, media
alongside critical examinations of western art music etc..) It's a breath
of fresh air. If anyone here hasn't read 'Noise Water Meat' on MIT Press
yet, they should. Immaculate stuff with an incredible depth to the
research. Its a page turner, which is pretty amazing for a book of this
kind. I can't think of a better writer to recommend

Regards

Julian




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j  u  l  i  a  n     k  n  o  w  l  e  s
course co-ordinator electronic arts
co-ordinator/senior lecturer in music technology
school of contemporary arts (music), university of western sydney
web: http://www.geocities.com/socialinterior/