quoted 5 lines ... my greatest anxiety is that the>... my greatest anxiety is that the
> music which energised our youth is now leading us into middle age. or do
> you teenager readers believe the aphex twin advertising pirelli is the apex
> of your generation's achievement? surely there's more to it than this..
> thoughts eagerly awaited. ciao, *des*
I suppose every generation has had these qualms, but a quick
glance at the history of artistic innovation and youth movements betrays
an obvious pattern. ALL real advances are assimilated, trivialized,
commercialized and then regurgitated for profit for people who don't have
any idea what the original fuss was about, but want to get in on the
excitement. Rock and roll in the 50's, psychedelic and avant-garde rock
in the 60's, punk and industrial in the 70's, new wave in the early
eighties, hip-hop in the mid-to-late eighties, and techno in the 90's,
the strategy is pretty clear.
I don't find techno's rising commercial success alarming, because
it's something I've been expecting all along. As before, the musicians
with real dedication and talent will continue to make significant music
and people who care about artistic integrity will be able to tell the
difference. I am a bit surprised (and somewhat impressed) that Pirelli
chose Aphex instead of, say, 2 Unlimited, and I will be quite surprised if
I hear ANYTHING from the new Aphex album on prime time radio. I'm not
sure what's motivating Sire to release his stuff stateside, but I can't
imagine that SAWII, Ventolin and I Care are making them the bundles
they're used to. If everybody starts listening to Richard, I'll be very
pleased to revise my estimates of the intelligence of the average
American.
I think the challenge for our generation (whichever that is) will
be to avoid spending our middle years kicking back to classic techno
stations and carping on the music of our children, keeping our minds and
ears open for what's to come. I know several members of this list have
done this.