[microsound] Re: being 'political' in non-verbal music

[Josh Ronsen <joshronsen@xxxxxxxxx>]

graham miller wrote:

>and think about this: the popular music on the radio
is 
>some of the most apolitical, apathetic music in the
entire 
>universe. and it's chock-full of 'lyrics.'

You can consider it to be apolitical, or you can
consider it to be very political in the sense that it
actively champions the current political and economic
structures that control much of what goes on (here in
America). To listen to most radio in America, you?ve
already been politicized into accepting commercials, a
limited sense of intellectual inquiry, corporate
control over just about everything, etc.

Something that greatly concerns me as an electronic
musician is that my thoughts may be progressive in
some sense, but my actions actively support the status
quo through purchasing equipment, supplies and
services. When I turn on the radio in my car, no
matter what radio station I tune into, I am still
powering the radio from gas from Texaco or whatever.
When I am cutting up sounds in Amadeus II or Pro
Tools, I am not just challenging people?s conception
of sound (or whatever), but I am supporting Apple
computers and the economic chain of overseas labor
which is invisible to me, the steady destruction of
the environment. This is not an attack against Apple
in particular; the parts used in any computer are
probably made with cheap labor and probably not made
with environmental protection in mind.

Music does not just have a surface political meaning,
but the very existence and consumption of music
implies the political and economic (is there really a
difference?) structures the music lives in. This is
what I got out of Attail?s book, which otherwise I
found to be not very rigorous and not too useful.

I don?t think the question is how can wordless music
have a political meaning, but how can music made that
is so entrenched in the current economic worldview
effectively question that worldview.

-Josh Ronsen
in Austin, Texas




		
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