Tuesday, May 25, 2004
JAPAN
I was inspired by one of the blogs looking at Japanese Lolita Goths to recall my love of all things Japanese and the extreme qualities of the culture… as in the bizarre role of perfectionism present in youth cultures. Specifically in the manner that western subcultures are reinterpreted through a perfectionist replication of styles and looks that in the end achieves some degree of hybridity. The first time I saw what I refer to as hospital Goths I was absolutely fascinated… a strange mixture of doctors, nurses, hospital patients and the standard goth styling. Just fantastic the degree of detail and spectacle as hung out in large groups in the parks. Then there was the strange take on surfie culture where the participants looked like a surreal mixture of distorted barbie dolls and cave boys. It seems there is an acceptance and encouragement for this type of radical expression in youth… to liberate their rebellious side before adult responsibilities set in. The pressures in Japan enter weird zones though… and there is a movement called "hikikomori" whereby youths lock themselves in their bedrooms and basically speak and see no one. Maybe their mother will communicate with them in a rather alienated fashion, serving them food and being there… but they completely shut down all social interaction and stay in their rooms maybe leaving the room at night to move around the house if that. Possibly the result of education pressures or even time spent on computers… that can lead to possible suicide, it is these types of developments that appear to be extreme reactions to modern society that are strangely fascinating.
When it comes to music, art, literature and film it again leans towards amazing examples of extremes and detail. From Mishima to Murakami, In the Realm of the Senses to Tetsuo: Body Hammer and Battle Royale, Kurosawa to Beat Takeshi, Ultraman to Manga… there is just an incredible body of work to pursue. Music is no different… from the incredible BOREDOMS (from Osaka) one of the world’s seminal noise artists and the large array of spinoff and affiliated projects around them… to AUDIO ACTIVE taking dub into an electro space realm along with affiliated dub purists DRY & HEAVY… the incredible electronic exponents including DJ KRUSH, KEN IISHI, RYUICHI SAKAMOTO, TOWA TEI and beyond… the brilliant examples of indie pop experimentalists BUFFALO DAUGHTER, CIBO MATTO (although based in New York for sometime now)… trash revivalists THE 5678’s, and in some respects their precursors SHONEN KNIFE… and then retro 60s surreal pop culturalists PIZZICATO FIVE… and the lo-fi kitsch-maniac CORNELIUS with his label TRATTORIA… to more rock orientated experiences like THE ZOOBOMBS, MELT BANANA, THEE MACHINE GUN ELEPHANT and THE MAD CAPSULE MARKETS… and if the range of Japanese artists doesn’t completely flip you out then the other amazing aspect is if you are trying to locate an album release the possibilities of finding it in Japan are highly exaggerated… there are so many record stores as well as the largest record store in the world – an 8 floor Tower store in Tokyo.
I’m only skimming the surface here… the one thing that becomes immediately apparent there is the fact that time is such a modicum when it comes to the amount of artefacts to excavate… but I suppose that’s what comes with 20 million plus people in one city.
(PS I’ll try and get links to all of the above if I find time… things are getting hectic around here.)
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I was inspired by one of the blogs looking at Japanese Lolita Goths to recall my love of all things Japanese and the extreme qualities of the culture… as in the bizarre role of perfectionism present in youth cultures. Specifically in the manner that western subcultures are reinterpreted through a perfectionist replication of styles and looks that in the end achieves some degree of hybridity. The first time I saw what I refer to as hospital Goths I was absolutely fascinated… a strange mixture of doctors, nurses, hospital patients and the standard goth styling. Just fantastic the degree of detail and spectacle as hung out in large groups in the parks. Then there was the strange take on surfie culture where the participants looked like a surreal mixture of distorted barbie dolls and cave boys. It seems there is an acceptance and encouragement for this type of radical expression in youth… to liberate their rebellious side before adult responsibilities set in. The pressures in Japan enter weird zones though… and there is a movement called "hikikomori" whereby youths lock themselves in their bedrooms and basically speak and see no one. Maybe their mother will communicate with them in a rather alienated fashion, serving them food and being there… but they completely shut down all social interaction and stay in their rooms maybe leaving the room at night to move around the house if that. Possibly the result of education pressures or even time spent on computers… that can lead to possible suicide, it is these types of developments that appear to be extreme reactions to modern society that are strangely fascinating.
When it comes to music, art, literature and film it again leans towards amazing examples of extremes and detail. From Mishima to Murakami, In the Realm of the Senses to Tetsuo: Body Hammer and Battle Royale, Kurosawa to Beat Takeshi, Ultraman to Manga… there is just an incredible body of work to pursue. Music is no different… from the incredible BOREDOMS (from Osaka) one of the world’s seminal noise artists and the large array of spinoff and affiliated projects around them… to AUDIO ACTIVE taking dub into an electro space realm along with affiliated dub purists DRY & HEAVY… the incredible electronic exponents including DJ KRUSH, KEN IISHI, RYUICHI SAKAMOTO, TOWA TEI and beyond… the brilliant examples of indie pop experimentalists BUFFALO DAUGHTER, CIBO MATTO (although based in New York for sometime now)… trash revivalists THE 5678’s, and in some respects their precursors SHONEN KNIFE… and then retro 60s surreal pop culturalists PIZZICATO FIVE… and the lo-fi kitsch-maniac CORNELIUS with his label TRATTORIA… to more rock orientated experiences like THE ZOOBOMBS, MELT BANANA, THEE MACHINE GUN ELEPHANT and THE MAD CAPSULE MARKETS… and if the range of Japanese artists doesn’t completely flip you out then the other amazing aspect is if you are trying to locate an album release the possibilities of finding it in Japan are highly exaggerated… there are so many record stores as well as the largest record store in the world – an 8 floor Tower store in Tokyo.
I’m only skimming the surface here… the one thing that becomes immediately apparent there is the fact that time is such a modicum when it comes to the amount of artefacts to excavate… but I suppose that’s what comes with 20 million plus people in one city.
(PS I’ll try and get links to all of the above if I find time… things are getting hectic around here.)
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Sunday, May 23, 2004
Last week’s tutorial wandered around the presence of popular music tracks in TV advertising… an interesting scenario in relation to questions around production and consumption, and process of marketing music. It has to be noted that in recent times the floodgate has opened in regard to the amount of songs being used and the alacrity they are picked up for use (while the track is still very much in the charts and thus in youth awareness). Until this recent shift, the use of popular music in TV advertising was seen as counter to credibility and even progress. The notion of being linked with a product or service was generally seen by artists as a form of cultural devalue… the song placed in the role of a virtual jingle removed some aesthetic quality and suggested the possibility of “selling-out”. Yet when you think about it, given the fragmented state of radio and audiences for this media, the capability to reach a larger audience in a possibly more specific market (per ad placement on various shows that attract specific audiences for the duration) in a much more repetitive manner (a few times an hour rather than once every hour or so) thus being able to establish a more effective engagement of interest (taking in account the attention directed at the TV as well as the not so subtle shift in volume that seems to be apparent for ad breaks), it could be clearly debated has more impact. Of course to enhance this choice as a significant one, it should also be noted that the owners of the copyright (record label and publisher) also make revenue from the track being licensed for use in the ad… and ultimately the artist receiving this income per the arrangement they have with their copyright owners. This of course complicates the relationship between the production and consumption of music in parallel with the production and consumption of the products or services that the music then becomes linked with. But it should also be noted that generally the artist has to clear this particular use with both the record label and publisher, thus the artist has agency in choosing to have their music connected with a particular product or service. So at present we have a high profile Jet track used in a Vodaphone ad, in that sense it continues the high profile of Jet via another media, but then also links Vodaphone with the contemporary youth presence of Jet. Coming in the near future we have Bob Dylan placing music in a Victoria’s Secret lingerie commercial, which seems to run counter to his past persona, yet serves as strong medium to re-engage with an audience which may possibly be denied to him in radio media. Possibly this has arisen from music never released to radio yet via use in a TV commercial and the degree of repetition established a demand for the music, such as the track used in the Mars Bars ad. Interesting premise to see where it goes… advertising as much as it comes down to the choice of the artist, in general I tend to find it such a banal use of music but whatever...
Otherwise the newish band EAGLES OF DEATH METAL that includes Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age have caught my attention. Need to check their album “Peace, Love & Death Metal” out. Hopefully soon. Still waiting to get the new albums from Phoenix, TV on the Radio, !!! and eventually Beastie Boys. Time to wait.
Ummmm... many thoughts crystallising on the local/global thing... please note as much as I haven`t made mention of local or national artists in this blog I'm quite interested in what has happened and is happening... more soon!
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Otherwise the newish band EAGLES OF DEATH METAL that includes Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age have caught my attention. Need to check their album “Peace, Love & Death Metal” out. Hopefully soon. Still waiting to get the new albums from Phoenix, TV on the Radio, !!! and eventually Beastie Boys. Time to wait.
Ummmm... many thoughts crystallising on the local/global thing... please note as much as I haven`t made mention of local or national artists in this blog I'm quite interested in what has happened and is happening... more soon!
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