Re: [microsound] microsound as pop music

[The pHarmanaut <pharmanaut@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Well, though Jefferson Airplane were marketed as 'pop rock' they
increasingly fought against the attempts to fulfill demands for 'commercial
appeal' and advocated something very much against the grain of Nixon era
popular culture (look at VOLUNTEERS or BLOWS AGAINST THE EMPIRE). So, I
wouldn't have expected the influence of the Airplane on Stockhausen to have
turned him into a commercially appealing artist. And, of course, this is
long before the awful days of Jefferson Starship and such. But I think that
Stockhausen was more impressed by the scene, the contextualizing of the
performance of psychedelic folk music, and to see that there was this
popular (and at the same time counter-cultural) atmosphere open to radical
experimentation with sound, electric instrumentation, the
recording/performance act, and so forth. In other words, I think Stockhausen
saw a potential for an audience, not a market. I think this is the same
thing that got him involved with Fluxus for a while, as well.

> Yeah, I was aware of these sort of social connections that Stockhausen
> had, but I think they're kind of inconsequential, especially regarding his
> music. Sure he went to a Jefferson Airplane concert, but so what ? Did he
> start composing pieces with more "commercial appeal" as a result of it ? I
> don't think so.
>
> What I meant by direct connections is that a lot of microsound artists
> used to be regular techno, house or ambient producers or rock musicians
> before becoming serious glitch artists :-).

Emoticons aside, are you applying that these folks were not serious when
producing "regular" techno, unleaded house, ambient or rock? A lot of
interesting glitch and microsound has come about because of the influences
and connections to other forms of musical expression and forums for
distribution. But you're implying that these artists are somehow less pure
because they didn't create themselves out of nothing, as Stockhausen and
Xenakis apparently did, manifesting from Sirius without any contact with
previous or contemporary culture. That's ridiculous!

> Btw, DJ Spooky was in charge of the electronics on a recording of a
> Xenakis piece a few years ago. Was that of any consequence ?

Speaking of your high-fallutin' liner notes! DJ Spooky! I have a great
respect for, and enjoy a lot of, Spooky's work, but his liner notes are
living proof that intellectualizing text can do more to kill a good album
than to really open it up to greater depth of meaning. All I can say in this
regard is that I think it would be very interesting, consequential, and
positive for a fan of, say, Kool Keith to end up making a trail of
connections from Kool Keith to Spooky's Riddim Warfare and end up listening
to some Xenakis.

> > Wasn't "Hymnen" all about popular music, in that a country's national
anthem
> > is about as popular/populist/pop as music can get?
>
> How many copies of "Hymen" do you think sold ?
> That's how popular an idea it was.

You've missed my point. You'd implied that Stockhausen was working outside
of pop culture and pop music. The sources used to create "Hymnen" reveal an
artist very aware of the processes and the importance of responding to
popular musical works. Sale of copies is irrelevant.

Last comment ... would you even understand Stockhausen or Xenakis or whoever
else it is you've placed on this pedestal if you DIDN'T have a 20-page CD
booklet to explain their work to you?

-=Trace