[sdiy] We are the Mummies (was: Freak at Home)

[Richard Wentk]

At 13:51 09/05/2003 +0100, jbv wrote:
>Well, I see your point, but still don't agree...
>
>Big dilemma : on one hand, we have this "irrelevant"
>pop / techno stuff, with fans who truly believe that
>"electronic music" was invented with "Autobahn".

Kraftwerk didn't invent electronic music. But they did make it funk like no 
one else did.

>And on the other hand, we had that boring & condes-
>cending elite / avant-garde who used to think in the 60's
>and 70's that they were "inventing the music of the future".

And we still do. The *technology* that was spun-off from the work of 
various avant-garde composers certainly did have an influence, and we 
wouldn't have most of the toys we have today without it.

>And don't tell me that their humour is the proof that they
>were too smart to undertake such a huge task...
>They simply followed the path of least resistance...

Well, kind of. I still find Kraftwerk very listenable today. I think they 
played the pop game very well and did it very successfully. Yes, *of 
course* it's about image. But then it is in academic and 'serious' music too.

Meanwhile right now we're all stuck in a creative rut. Nothing new has 
happened in *any* music scene for at least ten years now. Just about 
everything is very backward looking.

I was at a small town festival last weekend, and one of the acts was a 
group of teen boys - all playing 60s R&B covers. This music is nearly 40 
years old now. I don't know why they were playing it instead of something 
new and rebellious and dangerous, but they were. It's kind of frightening.

Richard