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CONTRA034
STRIDER - EMPTY AND FULL AT THE SAME TIME
Recommended Storage Format:
1,44" Floppy Disk
"The statement, "you know how many bedroom producers there are out
there? It's terrible," made in the Breakcore Documentary on google video by the
breakcore artist Kill the Lime was idiotic. An desperate expression of a
yearning to become a part of a boring musical elite. A pathetic desire rooted in
a system of celebrity and rock n'roll paradigms that are hopefully crumbling
with a massive rise in 'bedroom producers'. The cynical spectacle of hero
worship that occurs at concerts is dying and the concept of an elite of
musicians who are validated by an audience that knows that it's only their place
to consume - not produce - is disintegrating as more people become artists for
the fun of it.
With the internet, the entire establishment of popular music has become
worthless. Everything is available at once across file sharing networks. Music
magazines and their pretensions of knowing what all the 'cool' music is become
useless when I can download a song by everyone and judge for myself - ignoring
the 'coolness' that's to be transferred to the listener from some dumb rock
magazine guy. Music consumption is freed (in part) from being a kind of fashion.
Similarly we can find in the rise of netlabels and file sharing networks
evidence of the worthlessness of a concept of an elite of electronic musicians.
American Idol's auditions show how many singers there are out there who sing
like major pop-stars, demonstrating how arbitrary it is for any single person to
be chosen as a 'star' when such talent is so common. Similarly there are many
quality netlabels that demonstrate how many decent electronic composers there
are, who equal and often surpass major artists. No one needs to make a celebrity
of an artist when there's tons of minor artists who are just as talented except
they are just happy to make the music and give it away.
Furthermore netlabels have become the site of much recent innovation as their
artists explore interesting ideas that have no commercial potential. Meanwhile
many traditional labels pathetically pander to an audience by endlessly reusing
a successful formula or becoming conservative by doing something like releasing
volume after volume of renditions of early-mid 90s ragga jungle.
'Bedroom Producers' have greater merit than the recent electronic elite of
new-age disco kings and pseudo-rock stars who laughably alternate between
flailing about in front of an audience as the 'music flows through them' and
angry posturing while their computer plays as part of a ridiculous effort to
look cool. We can make our own music now - without reverence for a stupid,
vestigial and boring elite.
Everyone can be an artist - those who don't like it, too bad! Your self-assured
sense of good taste and artistic standards are laughable - and your desire to
make the world less interesting is pathetic and impotent."
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