Re: (idm) Reynolds' most overrated music of 1998 (IDM, anyone?)
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Sharon Maher wrote:
<(3) Sounds to me like Reynolds isn't concerned with "geektronica" at all,
but
rather the precedent that it could set, i.e. that music becomes [an]
increasingly
non-commercial entity. In which case his position in the music industry
heirarchy
as a lofty and rather pompous music critic would be rather unimportant.>
I bet he's concerned with "geektronica" to the extent that he'd love
another of the terms he coins to enter the general vocabulary (when was the
last time any of you said "neurofunk"?).
However, you're quite right - I don't know how old he is, but
psychologically at least, Reynolds is very much part of the generation of
rock critics (Christgau, Greil Marcus et al.) that came of age in the late
60s, during the few years in which some of the most interesting music the
counterculture had to offer was also the most popular and actually appeared
in the pop charts.
That crowd has never quite gotten over the fact that that is no longer the
case (Xgau coined the term "semi-popular" in the 70s), not least because
the leftist bias they bring to all music criticism requires that the music
reach the broadest cross-section of "the people" to effect its real work
which is some half-baked half-century old notion of "revolution" that has
nothing to do with the aesthetics of music (sorry, this a well-worn soap
box but I'm happy to climb on for a moment).
Of course, this crudely Marxist scenario really requires lyrics to convey
its message so IDM and all electronic music without vocals is always at
odds with this worldview, except for populist assumptions about dance music
(you snooty middle-class intellectuals prefer to appreciate your music from
an armchair while the salt of the earth sweats it out on the dance-floor).
The standard issue rock-crit in this mold paid lip-service to Chicago house
and Detroit techno because of the non-white, urban and gay cred that came
along with it, but ultimately the NY/LA hip-hop axis gave them a lot more
verbal fuel and (aside from mainstream rock - by which I mean "alternative"
) it dominates the Village Voice critics poll and similar US institutions,
where IDM is still virtually non-existent - this continues to make the Wire
look good by comparison.
Bob