quoted 4 lines What I HATE about all this multicultural/world music bullshit, is that> What I HATE about all this multicultural/world music bullshit, is that
> more often than not, the final prodcut is just an example of tokenism and
> not a result of a complete interest or immersion in any particular
> culture.
yes you're right. i'm not sure whether i said this before on idm, or in
some private discussion of this instead, but using some sounds that remind
the listener of other places/people in the world is to be held apart from
adopting structural ingredients from other cultures, such as with steve
reich. i'm sure no-one has incorporated anything from the hidden hinduist
meanings of sounds and patterns into their music, or such. in western music
(at least), it's traditionally (and quite understandably) the case that
what you adopt from another culture is sounds. practically the whole huge
apparatus of percussion in classical music got there like this.
quoted 3 lines It's like, 'oh gee, thanks for including a little tiny piece of MY> It's like, 'oh gee, thanks for including a little tiny piece of MY
> CULTURE into your overwhelmingly boring western piece of music - I feel
> so.. ..represented..'.
i doubt, though, that the tokenism is of the bogus anti-culturalism/racism
sort, like maybe in benetton ads where you consistently have those groups
of five whites, two blacks, and one east asian (,four female, four male). i
don't really want to damn people for some superficial "exotic" colouring
that they might add - i rather find it amusing when i see examples of the
western world exoticism in japan. (also, the seventies nostalgia that
someone hinted at is ok with me.) of course, what is annoying is when
people boast with the amounts of foreign cultural influences they have, and
then they just sampled tabla. of course, it depends on the position you're
in. in a strong position, superficial borrowing won't hurt you.
quoted 4 lines And please don't use Peter Gabriel or Paul Simon or Philip Glass as> And please don't use Peter Gabriel or Paul Simon or Philip Glass as
> counter-examples - I'm talking particularly about our contemporaries -
> youngish dance/electronic artists (and that new-age Keyboard-magazine
> fodder crap).
yep. in fact, those sorts of guys are often the real influences. of course,
it would be funny if you were talking about paul simon's percussion
ensembles when someone asked you about your influences. it's agreed that
you have to say "african drumming" instead. a problem, no doubt.
peace, p.