soundslike1981
Well-known member
If it seems to tired, then we won't bother. . .
But I'd wager Dissensians might be a contentious lot with regards to the question at hand, so. . .
I'll nominate a few for discussion:
David Byrne/Talking Heads
Paul Simon
Fela Kuti
Adam Ant/Adam & The Ants
Joni Mitchell
Bjork
Antena
Bow Wow Wow
Can
Beastie Boys
Mos Def
Giorgio Moroder
The Beatles
Lounge Lizards
James Chance/James White
Prince
Limp Bizkit
Odetta
Dave Brubeck
Modern Jazz Quartet
The Specials
No Doubt
MIA
Devandra Banhardt
Herbert
Of course the topic begs numerous questions, such as:
and so forth.
To lay out my biases: I tend to be sceptical of the concept of cultural imperialism, and recognise that I tend to be tempted to attribute "theft" when I don't like the resulting music (Nu Metal re: hip-hop) and ignore it when I do (ie Talking Heads, Fela Kuti). I tend to feel that interesting things happen either when people take ideas to their insular furthest conclusions, or when they're blending strains. So without some cross-cultural theft/homage/borrowing/repurposing, music would stagnate. I can't get up in arms about "The Jungle Line" (or even Adam Ant's much shallower appropriations) if I love Fela Kuti's borrowing from American black funk and white rock and roll (and Talking Heads' nervy reuse of Fela's model). I'm no fan of Elvis, but I can't deny his early music has to be seen as having a positive net effect as a catalyst for what came afterward. I'm no fan of white hippies in the park who insist on singing about Jah, or Orange County rich "punks" bludgeoning ska; but I'll suffer them so that we can have all the "white" electronic music and post-punk that roots itself in dub production.
So if we all think it's a big ball of silly, booby-trapped for "false consciousness" and "angry white men" and ineffectual sufferers of white guilt, then we'll let it lie. But I figure a few of you might have more nuanced concepts of what constitutes harmful cultural imperialism to share.
But I'd wager Dissensians might be a contentious lot with regards to the question at hand, so. . .
I'll nominate a few for discussion:
David Byrne/Talking Heads
Paul Simon
Fela Kuti
Adam Ant/Adam & The Ants
Joni Mitchell
Bjork
Antena
Bow Wow Wow
Can
Beastie Boys
Mos Def
Giorgio Moroder
The Beatles
Lounge Lizards
James Chance/James White
Prince
Limp Bizkit
Odetta
Dave Brubeck
Modern Jazz Quartet
The Specials
No Doubt
MIA
Devandra Banhardt
Herbert
Of course the topic begs numerous questions, such as:
- does intent/"love"/"sincerity" matter in differentiating;
- can a member deemed "subaltern" in the global power paradigm be a culture vulture;
- is all popular music not founded on the intermingling of formerly (arguably) culturally specific sonic tendencies;
- is all popular music tapping into common sonic possibilities which are not culture-specific;
- even if "cultural imperialism" exists--would western pop music be boring without it;
- does culture constitute "time-specific" as much as place/economics-specific;
and so forth.
To lay out my biases: I tend to be sceptical of the concept of cultural imperialism, and recognise that I tend to be tempted to attribute "theft" when I don't like the resulting music (Nu Metal re: hip-hop) and ignore it when I do (ie Talking Heads, Fela Kuti). I tend to feel that interesting things happen either when people take ideas to their insular furthest conclusions, or when they're blending strains. So without some cross-cultural theft/homage/borrowing/repurposing, music would stagnate. I can't get up in arms about "The Jungle Line" (or even Adam Ant's much shallower appropriations) if I love Fela Kuti's borrowing from American black funk and white rock and roll (and Talking Heads' nervy reuse of Fela's model). I'm no fan of Elvis, but I can't deny his early music has to be seen as having a positive net effect as a catalyst for what came afterward. I'm no fan of white hippies in the park who insist on singing about Jah, or Orange County rich "punks" bludgeoning ska; but I'll suffer them so that we can have all the "white" electronic music and post-punk that roots itself in dub production.
So if we all think it's a big ball of silly, booby-trapped for "false consciousness" and "angry white men" and ineffectual sufferers of white guilt, then we'll let it lie. But I figure a few of you might have more nuanced concepts of what constitutes harmful cultural imperialism to share.