Everything is a Remix

Is everything a remix ?

I have a problem with this phrase. To me it has a negative connotation, particularly when referring to the creation of art.

In our lecture it was postulated that there are three forms of remix culture (Lessig):

1) Post-Modernism - the use of previous cultural contents and forms to create something new

2) Globalization - The intermingling of national cultural traditions in a new global style

3) Technological - The remix between culture and computers


If the use of previous cultural content in the creation of art is classified as a remix, could one then argue that J S Bach was just remixing the diatonic scale invented by Pythagorus ? I don't think so. Which means post-modernism has been around for a very long time.
Is the use of previous cultural content and form, when used to create something new, not just the using of ingredients, the materials used, in the creation of that new something. I would argue yes, but what distinguishes that creation as art rather than ordinary, mundane or mediocre is extremely subjective and an argument for another day.

Likewise globalization is the natural development of cultures in an exponential curve, gathering influences from all around the world to create new forms and content. Admittedly, like all human endeavors, this intermingling of cultures is open to misuse and abuse, where certain elements of a culture are appropriated in an exhibition of pure crassness. But this intermingling of national cultures can also be done with thought and beauty, engendering in its constituent cultures a reverence and pride in the created new form.

The advances in technology in recent years which has led to a read/write culture is, in my opinion, the most dangerous form of remix culture. The ease in which todays generation can not only access information, but re-write it, is a scary thought and one which calls into question the veracity of any and all content so easily available in this digital age. This age of instant access, instant entertainment and instant validation, where everyone has an opinion, and a voice that demands to be heard, is leading to a dilution of creativity, where it is becoming increasingly more difficult to separate the ordinary from the sublime.

So, if everything is a remix, then it always has been.

Masculinity in Popular music

Week 7/8:

This week we were asked to discuss masculinity in popular music and specifically how masculinity is represented in boy bands. However I found myself unable to write this blog post without physically throwing up on my laptop.

During my research I did find a you tube video which perfectly captures my feelings on the subject, which can be found here.

Representations of race in Popular Music

Week 5/6:

It is extremely difficult to talk about representations of race in popular music without having ones opinions coloured (pardon the pun) by the demographics of american culture. A culture still struggling with a black/white divide nearly 60 years after the civil rights movement.

Rap music seems the obvious genre to consider this in that it was one of the first genres specifically aimed at a black audience, a black audience with an extremely large buying power. 

Unfortunately, because most of the artists in this genre came from a working class background with the inherent lack of education very evident in the lyrically content of their songs, a culture of misogyny, overt materialism and a blase attitude to guns and crime quickly became the norm. However, recently some well known black pop and rap artists are showing an awareness of social injustices and incorporating this into their music. When Beyonce performed at this years Grammy awards, her backing dancers mimicked the "don't shoot" movement which arose after the Ferguson shooting of an innocent black man. 

It has been argued that Izzy Azalea, an Australian white female artist, is guilty of cultural appropriation for performing rap music in an american black accent.  I wonder if this would be the case if she was a black Australian female artist. 

It is interesting to note that most of the music genres that have come into being in the last 30 years are heavily biased to either black or white artists. Rap and Hip Hop are almost exclusively populated by black artists. Punk, Metal, New wave, Brit Pop, Rock are almost exclusively populated by white artists. 

Because of the huge impact American music culture has on all of western popular music, the evident racial divide of American society is mirrored in the make up of popular music genres as a whole. 

Music and Deviance

Week 4:

Throughout the 20th century many music genres in popular culture have elicited a knee-jerk reaction from the media and other observers causing a perceived moral panic within a mostly uneducated society heavily influenced by religion.

Jazz, Blues, Rock and Roll, Punk, New Wave, Reggae, Heavy Metal, 80s pop, Acid house, Dance, Electronica, Goth,  and Hip Hop have all been labelled at one time or another as deviant music genres, which left unfettered would cause the total collapse of civilization.

Some cases in point: When Punk arrived in the late 70s, with its grungy guitar sound, socially aware lyrics, outlandish fashion and an appetite for anarchy, many social observers saw it as the start of the breakdown of society. Punks embraced this perception of themselves, loving the fact that they were getting such a reaction. At the time the punk sub-culture didn't recognize the contradiction that the existence of an ordered society and the rule of law were the very things that gave them this freedom of expression.

When Bob Marley and the Wailers were due to play a concert in Dublin in the early 80s, there was a huge outcry from politicians and the media because of Marley's endorsement of marijuana use. The contradiction this time was that all the objectors readily accepted alcohol as a socially acceptable stimulant not realizing how insidious, dangerous and destructive a drug alcohol is, in comparison to marijuana.

All the sub-culture and genres which have been labelled as deviant right up to the present day are really just commentating on the parts of society they find unacceptable or unjust. And this can only be a healthy exercise. Because even though the rules and perceptions that govern our society are constantly evolving we are very far from creating a society that could be called ideal.

Working Class Irish musicians

Week 2:

Although I missed the class through illness, we have been asked to give examples of working class Irish musicians. The first working class musicians I can remember were the Dubliners. Although technically a folk band, they have had numerous singles break into the UK charts from 1967 through to their collaboration with the Pogues in 1987. Their appeal was always aimed at the working class through their association with drinking songs and older rebel songs.

Another working class musician would be Christy Moore. Christy has always supported the cause of the working class and the down trodden, culminating in his involvement in the Self-Aid concert in Dublin in 1986, a concert to highlight the huge unemployment crisis in Ireland at the time. Christy has always been popular with the working classes and unlike The Dubliners, was never afraid to dip his toe into the murky world of sectarianism in Ireland during the 70s and 80s.

A more recent example of a working class musician is Damien Dempsey. Singing in a thick Dublin accent, with themes of unemployment, drug abuse and societal injustice prevalent throughout his repertoire. Dempsey probably has more authenticity to his working class status due to his upbringing in a northside Dublin corporation housing estate.

The second item for this blog post is whether there is evidence of class in popular music. There is certainly evidence of musicians from middle class backgrounds purporting to be working class in a kind of cultural appropriation in order to appeal to a wider audience. A lot of the punk bands that emerged in the late 70s were from middle class backgrounds but appealed to the working classes because of their anti-establishment viewpoints.
The biggest example of class in modern music would be the hip hop and rap genres that emerged in the late 80s and 90s in America. Most, if not all notable artists from these genres came from working class backgrounds and is evidenced by the lack of musical ability necessary to perform and the unimaginative misogynistic lyrical content, which is probably due to low education standards among the main artists and their fan base.

Having said all that, I would have to say that class plays a fairly small role in modern popular music, the overriding consideration being whether the music is actually any good, aesthetically speaking. If its good than the class background of the artists will have little bearing on its popularity, if its bad then it will quickly fade into obscurity, no matter which class its practitioners come from.

Popular music and social change

Culture, Society and Popular Music

Week 1:

Does popular music have the power to bring about social change ? I would have to say yes, but indirectly. I think popular music is a good platform for highlighting social injustice, but usually whatever cause is being highlighted has to be adopted by a bigger movement before governments and the powers that be take notice. An example of this is the 60s folk movement in  New York where artists such as Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan were masters of articulating the social injustices of the day in the lyrics of their songs, but these issues were only recognized by the government of the day when they were given more publicity by Martin Luther Kings civil rights movement. And while the music of Guthrie and Dylan didn't directly lead to social change, it did succeed in bringing news of the cause to a wider audience and may have influenced a mostly white fan base in recognizing the injustices of the day.

There have been occasions were popular music has had a direct influence on social change, but only at a localized level. One of the biggest impacts popular music has made on society was the Live Aid concerts in 1985. Under the guidance of Bob Geldof, this movement succeeded in highlighting the terrible living conditions and famine in Africa. But rather than rely on governments to address this human catastrophe, Geldof and friends raised millions in charitable donations that directly affected and improved the social living conditions of those suffering in Africa. Commendable as this movement was, it has had little impact in changing the huge difference in living standards between 1st and 3rd world countries.

The second topic for this week is whether there is a hierarchy of genre in popular music. I think there is but it is a linear hierarchy. When one looks at the history of the development of popular music one cannot escape the fact that all genres sprang from the two initial genres of blues and jazz. In my opinion the amount of status a particular genre has is dependent on how long the genre has been extant. The fact that blues and jazz are still as relevant today as they were back at the start of the 20th century is testament to their popularity and importance. Some genres, although hugely popular in their day, were short lived and thus their worth is measured by how much influence they had on subsequent genres. I don't think the status of a genre can be measured by sales but rather by a musical aesthetic, and only those genres that influence those that come after it are to be found in the higher reaches of the genre hierarchy.