Conceptronica

[padraig (u.s.)]

Nah.

lmao

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

if you can't be bothered to think about it, sure

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

the original piece delineates it well, anyway, whether you want to believe it's magic catchphrases or not

"Conceptronica isn’t a genre as such, but more like a mode of artistic operation...offer a way for artists to compete in an attention economy that is over-supplied"

"A quest for another sort of authenticity—the paid-for privilege of being present at an Event—fuels what Amnesia Scanner call “the experience economy” of today’s festivals...experimental music festivals are selling exclusivity and a sense of occasion"

and the rub, which is what galls

"a disquieting discrepancy between the anti-elitist left politics and the material realities of conceptronica as both a cultural economy and a demographic—the fact that it is so entwined with and dependent on higher education and arts institutions"

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

the difference is I don't think that disqualifies it, of itself

we are all, as The Pop Group said 40 years ago, prostitutes, in one way or another, in this sense

"scab class of grant vultures" so what? who among us is authentic and pure?

don't get me wrong, I find the structure repulsive and the cognitive dissonance mostly laughable, but in comparison to real terrible things in the world, a bit of art hustling is pretty far down the list

any artistic choice - conception, execution, promotion, distribution - is made under economic pressures.

these artists have found a successful hustle for their mostly bad (not in the good way) art. more power to them.

 

[pattycakes_]

Isn't there a danger with this talk of genres 'losing their edge' that some pretty grim situations end up being fetishised simply because it makes the music more 'authentic'?

Yeah, if it is fetishised. Doesn't have to go that way. Sometimes the older shit was genuinely better.

 

[version]

these artists have found a successful hustle for their mostly bad (not in the good way) art. more power to them.

A wise man once said...

"Don't hate the player hate the game? Don't hate the game, because you're in it mate... love the game."

 

[Slothrop]

don't get me wrong, I find the structure repulsive and the cognitive dissonance mostly laughable, but in comparison to real terrible things in the world, a bit of art hustling is pretty far down the list

any artistic choice - conception, execution, promotion, distribution - is made under economic pressures.

these artists have found a successful hustle for their mostly bad (not in the good way) art. more power to them.

At which point you end up with a distinction between good, committed, creative musicians supporting themselves via the art world hustle, and dilettante hacks who are only prominent because they know how to play that game. And hence no-one can name "conceptronica" that they like, because they only tag music that way if they don't like it.

 

[version]

Are there any good concept albums in general?

 

[version]

Drexciya are the first that come to mind.

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

At which point you end up with a distinction between good, committed, creative musicians supporting themselves via the art world hustle, and dilettante hacks

a distinction the original piece notably avoids, and one that's always going to be subjective anyway

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

And hence no-one can name "conceptronica" that they like, because they only tag music that way if they don't like it

and moreso, no one can admit to being "conceptronica"

usually when musicians complain about genre tagging it's because it boxes them in artistically, but it's just their work

conceptronica as "mode of artistic operation" is directly about the creators as people. who would ever admit to being a hypocritical art world poseur, dilettante, whatever?

explains why it gets people so up in arms

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

Are there any good concept albums in general?

Kraftwerk - Autobahn

 

[luka]

I think you're absolutely insane Padraig I really do! Nothing you say makes any sense to me whatsoever!

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

Drexicya is actually the perfect example of dance music that is both functional as dance music and highly conceptual

the KLF might be another

August Darnell's various projects as I mentioned upthread, both Dr. Savannah's Original Buzzard Band and Kid Creole + the Coconuts

 

[luka]

KLF I was thinking of as a group that did conceptronica well, agree with that 100%

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

see, we agree sometimes

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

it really depends how tightly you define "concept record" (I'm assuming you don't just mean LPs, which would privilege musics more conducive to album format, i.e. not dance music)

for example, is this a concept record?

it makes me think of the part of the article that mentions Holly Herndon connecting the church music of her youth to the "congregations" at clubs and raves

they're both tapping into the long tradition of exploring both the link and tension between the mass spiritual ecstasy of communal worship and the mass temporal ecstasy of rave

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

you definitely couldn't call Moodymann "conceptronica" but the man makes concept records sometimes

"Det.riot '67" is 100% a concept record, for example

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

but discussing conceptronica as a mode of artistic operation, yeah KLF

I think Can might qualify as well, as proto-conceptronica

definitely Kraftwerk

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

tho I reckon you'd do better looking for forerunners or similar things in the "concept" rather than the "tronica" side

the determining factor of conceptronica is mode of operation - writing grants, playing highly curated festivals, galleries, museums, etc - and that's 100% fine arts

the music could be anything really. SUNN O))) for example have done a bunch of installation piece type things. I'm sure there are other examples.

I don't very much about installation art, maybe Slothrop or some other real art person does