I see pop music as music that is born out of the "pop tradition." The pop
tradition, born out of centuries of folk music, is a product of the late
20th century (and the advent of the selling of recorded music) and it
consists of everything from swing to soul to rock&roll to disco and beyond.
Since IDM is a child of many of these movements, it is pop music. IDM may
not be popular, but it is a product of the popular music tradition.
Pop music has traditionally been simply anything that is not "academic". And
although lots of IDM traces at least some of its artistic lineage to
classical/academic traditions, the majority of the IDM idiom is pure pop and
can trace its roots pretty squarely back into disco, hip hop, r&b, prog
rock, punk rock, etc.
You could say, however, that we have reached a time when the word pop has
almost lost it's meaning, much in the same way that "High" and "Low" art
have lost their distinctions. The term "pop" goes back to a time when the
academies would enforce a distinction between the intellectual musical
activity within their walls and the fun stuff the peasants were playing on
their flutes and drums. We all know today that this is a fallacy, that lots
of academic music is influenced by folk music (and that non-academic
musicians are capable of extraordinary creativity, invention, and genius).
IDM is like comic books - it's an art form born from the lower classes and
co-opted by a new classless coalition of people who don't give a damn about
high or low. It is in large part free of caste stigma (although I'm sure 3/4
of the kids at Julliard would find most IDM pretty hard to bear).
If you're going to use the word pop, then you must apply it to almost all
IDM - but it's nothing to be ashamed of!!! If you're ashamed to be listening
to pop music, then you're a snobby aristocratic twat and fuck you.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org
For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org