RE: [microsound] microsound as pop music

[David Fodel <DFodel@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Pop culture is a crap-shoot. Not even the "administrators" of pop (ie.
major-lable A&R folks, Madison Ave. advert execs) have any notion of what
"pop" is. Otherwise they'd have a formula for creating "hits", which as much
as we would like to believe they do, they really don't.

I know this is straying a bit from the discussion... but no discussion of
pop culture can gloss over the transient, unpredictable nature of what "POP"
really is. I am not sure it is really definable, which renders discussion of
it's nature (and examples of "pop-ness") somewhat useless. 

David Fodel
Publishing Systems Manager
Wild Oats Markets
3375 Mitchell Lane
Boulder, CO 80301
Direct: 720-562-4831
Fax: 303-938-8474


> ----------
> From: 	Andrei
> Reply To: 	microsound
> Sent: 	Tuesday, July 16, 2002 8:03 PM
> To: 	microsound
> Subject: 	Re: [microsound] microsound as pop music
> 
> On Tue, 16 Jul 2002, The pHarmanaut wrote:
> 
> > > I definitely didn't mean that microsound is pop as in Top 40, but it
> > > certainly has more connections to "pop" music than say the music of
> > > Xenakis or Stockhausen. I think it's fair to say that a lot of the
> artists
> > > within the "microsound" scene have connections to the pop music world.
> > > More direct connections than Xenakis or Stocky every had.
> >
> > This isn't accurate in regards to Stockhausen. Stockhausen had a very
> direct
> > connection to a number of "pop music" artists in the high point of SF
> > psychedelic culture. Stockhausen cited live performances by Jefferson
> > Airplane and their little collage snippet, "A Small Package of Value
> Will
> > Come To You, Shortly" from 1967's AFTER BATHING AT BAXTER'S as an
> influence
> > on "Hymnen". Plus, he taught members of the Airplane, the Dead, and the
> > Mothers of Invention in his classes at the University of California at
> > Davis, in 1967. Certainly, a lot of Stockhausen's writing on the
> Aquarian
> > Age and such is vintage psychedelic mysticism, 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 :-).
> 
> 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 ?
> 
> 
> > Wasn't "Hymen" 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.
> 
> 
> > The point, though, is this: what's the USEFULNESS of keeping Xenakis,
> > Stockhausen, Lansky, etc. shielded from popular culture? Are they so
> badly
> > in need of being kept clean?
> 
> I don't think people are interested in keeping them shielded from popular
> culture. I don't think popular culture is interested in what they have to
> give, for whatever reasons. And I don't think Xenakis and Stockhausen
> are(/were) concerned with popular culture. They're not the kind of artists
> who will compromise their visions in order to have appeal to the least
> common denominator.
> 
> Andrei
> 
> 
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