Surrealism in Music

[satanmcnugget]

I've been trying to find examples of musicians who themselves are Surrealist or use Surrealist techniques in their music (Trish Keenan of Broadcast, for example, uses automatic writing (seemingly) several times on her last album Tender Buttons). I'm a bit new at this, so if you could help/indulge me, especially since I've posted this topic before noon, it would be greatly appreciated. ^_^

 

[francesco]

Nurse With Wound. Try "Livin Fear of James Last".

 

[labrat]

you won't find much "proper" surrealist music as the somewhat draconian Andre Breton notoriously hated music.
However Nurse with Wound is probably the best call -they even titles their 1st album after a quote from Comte de Lautréamont (one of surrealisms biggest influences)

 

[martin]

Robert Ashley's "Automatic Writing" is OK, but my favourite surrealist music work ever is John Cage / Kenneth Patchen's "The City Wears A Slouch Hat"

 

[john eden]

Coil - Scatology

heavily influenced by surrealists like Dali, Ernst, etc. Can't remember much about techniques but they were into scrying, using dream imagery, etc.

 

[Rambler]

The old school: Eric Satie, Darius Milhaud.

 

[Octopus?]

There's a piece by Boulez called "explosante-fixe" inspired by Breton's writings. Other than the entire excellent NWW oeuvre (as mentioned above) it's tough to find a lot of directly surrealist inspired music.

 

[mistersloane]

Does this go in that category?

The Cramps - Live at Napa State Mental Hospital

 

[pokinatcha]

Ben Sisario's book on The Pixies' Doolittle (in the 33 1/3 series) discusses almost exclusively the influence of Surrealism, Bunuel, and, most recently, Lynch- on Frank Black.

 

[tate]

Ben Sisario's book on The Pixies' Doolittle (in the 33 1/3 series) discusses almost exclusively the influence of Surrealism, Bunuel, and, most recently, Lynch- on Frank Black.

Good call. I remember, when Doolittle was released, realizing that the shouted lyric at the end of "debaser" was a reference to the Bunuel film short, Un chien andalou, and thinking, wow.

Here's a decent article here on surrealism in classical composition, with emphasis on the response to european romanticism. Could have some useful suggestions for you not already mentioned, satanmcnugget:

http://www.americansymphony.org/dialogues_extensions/92_93season/2nd_concert/leon.cfm

Schopenhauer and Breton, now there is a pairing!

My favorite little detail about the 20th century classical composition story is how Boulez's "explosante-fixe," taken from a line in Breton (as was mentioned upthread by Octopus?) goes together in a way with Varese's Arcana, which was based, Varese said explicitly, on a particular idée fixe - 11 notes comprising what amounts to an ascending minor third, with syncopation.

 

[timellison]

Does Stapleton actually use any surrealist techniques?

Satie and the Les Six people composers were never associated with the movement, but they and the Surrealists had connections to Dada. There were a couple of composers who were a part of the Belgian surrealist group (Andre Souris, for one).

 

[Buick6]

CAPTAIN BEEFHEART

and whether you like it or not, but MARILYN MANSON,

alot of heavier GLAM owed plenty to surrealism, especially early ALICE COOPER, ROXY MUSIC and BOWIE.

 

[hamarplazt]

Does Stapleton actually use any surrealist techniques?

Collage? Or is that more of a dada-technique too?

I've always thought Pere Ubus "Song of the Bailing Man" (the Ubu album everybody except me hates) is a totally surrealist record, in text as well as music.

 

[gek-opel]

Scott Walker's "Tilt" (the song more than the album)... guitars doppler shifting nightmarishly like melting clockfaces, the lyric twisting in and out, triangulating some obscure un-nameable metaphysical metamorphosis... great stuff... a surrealist refix of a Country and Western song...

 

[timellison]

Collage? Or is that more of a dada-technique too?

Thinking more of ways to avoid cognitive involvement in the creative process. Surrealist techniques like automatism.

 

[Ness Rowlah]

the bands and artists mentioned in Terr Sharkie's piece on "zolo" music might be of interest.

Surreal tales of frolic and whimsy script the bright beyond mortal assimilation of the boingy guitars, wobbly keyboards, polka dot percussions, hiccupping falsettos, jerky / staccato beats, and lopsided rhythms.

Zolo music, an aural expression of the abstract, asymmetric, multi-coloured imagery with which it accompanies, has existed in scattered forms for many years prior to it being codified in name.

XTC, early Split Enz, Godley&Creme, Residents, Plastics and so forth.
Maybe not all surrealist, but surely different.

 

[satanmcnugget]

thanks to you all for taking the time to reply

some invaluable info that shld lead me down some interesting new paths...as well as some already tread...havent gone near a Nurse With Wound recording in over 20 years

 

[woops]

the surrealist manifesto was published 100 years ago today.

 

[yyaldrin]

were any other interesting manifestos published ever since? i feel like it's very quiet in that area. could you name some from the top of your head?

 

[woops]

were any other interesting manifestos published ever since? i feel like it's very quiet in that area. could you name some from the top of your head?

there are dada manifestos but they predate the surrealist ones. also another surrealist manifesto by a rival of breton's called Gloy you never hear about him! Stewart home wrote a neoist manifesto I'm pretty sure.