(idm) reynolds versus reynolds

From BigKumquat
Sent Sun, Apr 11th 1999, 22:35

Good questions, Alex!

<<Is his work meant to be inflammatory simply to get Wire/NME/etc's
 equivalent of ratings, through increased advertising dollars/pounds?>>

Certainly it has achieved the IDM list's equivalent of ratings - the vast 
quantitiy of recent Simon Reynolds-themed posts. 

<<What defense would he make for putting a chip on his shoulder every time
 he comes across a body of music he doesn't like?>>

Well, this could be said for many of us, of course.
 
 <<How does the use or abuse of various narcotics or psychoactives equate
 with sticking it to the Man?>>

When you have suburban kids with money to burn spending thirty dollars on 
bogus ecstasy pills, it bolsters the coffers of the underclass (drug dealers, 
riff-raff, street hustlers) and provides funding for the Revolution.

 <<When a group of obscure musicians are relatively popular at the same
 time, and make similar music, why is it that the music journalist community
 (including Reynolds) must apply a label (and a disparaging one at that)
 before addressing its sociopolitical or purely artistic merits? Is this
 just lazy writing or a bad case of writer's block?>>

I s'pose "heroin house" and "geektronica" are somewhat 
disparaging...personally, I do think it can be fun thinking up new 
micro-genre names.  At least "geektronica" is somewhat self-effacing, as 
opposed to the rather pompous "Intelligent" prefix.

Just my random commentary...I'm not suggesting that these are actual answers 
to your questions.  I will say this for Simon Reynolds' book:  the chapters 
on the early years inspired me to break out some older stuff, like LFO...what 
a travesty that some lame teenage-marketing-ensemble is now using the name 
"LFO."

- Fred Church
   xxxxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx