Tuesday, December 8, 2009

MY POSTMODERN TASTE IN MUSIC

So im laying in bed, as I often do, with my laptop listening, exploring, and researching music. It all of a sudden dawned on me that the music I listen to and my taste in music in general is extremely postmodern. So, seeing that we might have talked about postmodernism once or twice (I'm not sure, don't quote me on that), I thought I'd blog about the postmodernity of my musical taste.

A great amount of the music I'm into, electronic, indie alternative, freak folk, noise, and general avant-garde tinged music probably wouldn't exist if our culture wasn't so invested in postmodern ideology. A lot of electronic music is sample heavy in its presentation. The idea of the sample seems like a very postmodern thing. Taking music from other artists or sounds from television, movie clips, and other sources falls in line with the idea of using culture to make something new out of it. The use of samples, though its not always important that the listener has knowledge of their source, is built off the idea that people today have an extremely large cache of pop-culture knowledge and references, and are not surprised by the implementation of vocal clips and sound bits in their music.

This idea of recycling musical culture also works with indie alternative music extremely well, though it may not be as blunt and obvious as the sample. Bands like Animal Collective have been pegged as several genres of music from everything to rock, indie rock, psychedelic, noise, avant-rock, folk, freak folk, and dance. The truth is, in the end, that they are all of these genres and have taken inspiration from a wide array of musical genres to form their own fresh and unique postmodern musical identity. A great amount of music in the indie scene seems very fresh, new, and often shockingly odd but it all seems to be very reminiscent of older genres of music. I can listen to bands like Deerhunter, No Age, and even Animal Collective and recognize very punk-like song elements and structures. Now that I am more familiar with these postmodern ideas I have noticed a shift (its not huge, but its noticeable) in the way I listen to and understand music.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

LEGO MAN UPDATE! because i know how much you care . .

Horay! My project is no longer just some fragmented muse or mental fart! It actually has substance beyond the fact that its about some lego dude. And I'm being quite literal when i say it has substance. My exhibition in a box is about a lego person- namely Dan Brickman (brickman-brick-lego . . . well i thought it was clever). Dan Brickman is a drug addict. Yes- even in the magical world of lego, there are substance abusers. This exhibition will chronicle the progression of his addiction and the substances that aid in this progression . . . somehow progress doesn't seem like the right word. AT ANY RATE, the reason i chose lego for this project or, rather, the reason I adapted this idea to that choice of media, is fragility. Fragility in that the mind of the addict is irrational, altered, and thusly fragile. Lego isn't the most durable building material out there, so I thought that concept worked well with the medium. And now that i say that, I'm surprised at the durability of some of my creations . . . . . . shit.