bandcamp is an interesting system, though, because it lets you see who actually buys the records.
and, who is buying this lingua ignota record? mostly creepy looking dudes, apparently.
but, from a distance, as a non-religionist, i just can't relate to it. what i can do is hold it up as an example of why you shouldn't raise your children inside of a religion - it's the perfect demonstration of how religion can really fuck people up.
Sunday, September 8, 2019
so, i tried to listen to this, and it's...
...you might think i'd like this. i really don't.
first, i should point out that it's essentially a nine inch nails remix record, in terms of actual music. but, nobody is really interested in the music in itself, and it's not like trent hasn't borrowed a few parts, himself
i like a lot of demented music, it's true, and i've never hidden it. but, there's a huge class of stuff that i can't relate to, and don't really go anywhere near. let's remember that i was born and raised an atheist, so this christian imagery is really a foreign culture, from my perspective. it's not shocking to me. i don't have any catholic guilt. etc. so, you'll notice that i like music that makes fun of christianity more than i like music that tries to subvert it or spin it around or whatever. sure: there's a psycho-analysis of this, too, but it's very different. i'm perhaps trying to protect myself from something that i recognize is dangerous by shielding myself from it with satire, as well as perhaps reacting to a level of alienation stemming from not being a part of the dominant cultural group, but i'm not working through the trauma of being damaged by a system of systemic child abuse that begins at birth. so, you won't see any satanic metal in my music collection, and you won't see any of this demented christianized goth, either. i'd rather listen to pagan music like coil than much of this catholic guilt that gets labeled goth music.
that said, what this actually sounds like is a kind of watered down version of a singer named diamanda galas, who started off doing experimental opera in the early 80s that drew from sources like xenakis and some of the more abstract opera that came out of the 20th century. but, it's almost tragic to put these things in the same paragraph: diamanda galas was a true virtuoso, with a seven octave vocal range and a tendency to draw on what are today considered european literary classics as she constructed absolutely frightening sound collages around deep literary cuts. diamanda galas is/was truly european high art.
while her earliest work is often cited as seminal, this is questionable; rather, you can hear exactly where lingua ignota is coming from if you check out diamanda galas' second record, panopticon.
but, if you were to do that, and even come close to understanding it, you'd see the deep sin behind what lingua ignota is doing, here. first, she's discarded the deep literary component for some kind of victim porn, and i'm being explicit in how i'm describing it: i don't know how you approach this, if not as pornography. there's really not another way to analyze it. you can talk about empathy, you can talk about expression, but in the end this is vicarious, and because it's vicarious, it's pornography. second, while i'm not going to exactly doubt lingua ignota's vocal abilities, i don't hear any indication that she has the range or training that galas had. third, the music has, as previously mentioned, been reduced to a series of samples, coming from pop artists like trent reznor, which is just the one that i immediately recognized. i'll let you find some more lifted riffs on your own.
i guess that if you've never heard of diamanda galas before, and you find something exciting about the porn, then my deconstruction is just bursting a bubble - you might think this is more creative than it is, and you might not realize why you're excited by it. but, we all know i'm next level.
i'm just seeing right through it.
and, i'm not sure that telling you to have fun anyways is the right thing to do, either.
https://linguaignota.bandcamp.com/album/caligula
...you might think i'd like this. i really don't.
first, i should point out that it's essentially a nine inch nails remix record, in terms of actual music. but, nobody is really interested in the music in itself, and it's not like trent hasn't borrowed a few parts, himself
i like a lot of demented music, it's true, and i've never hidden it. but, there's a huge class of stuff that i can't relate to, and don't really go anywhere near. let's remember that i was born and raised an atheist, so this christian imagery is really a foreign culture, from my perspective. it's not shocking to me. i don't have any catholic guilt. etc. so, you'll notice that i like music that makes fun of christianity more than i like music that tries to subvert it or spin it around or whatever. sure: there's a psycho-analysis of this, too, but it's very different. i'm perhaps trying to protect myself from something that i recognize is dangerous by shielding myself from it with satire, as well as perhaps reacting to a level of alienation stemming from not being a part of the dominant cultural group, but i'm not working through the trauma of being damaged by a system of systemic child abuse that begins at birth. so, you won't see any satanic metal in my music collection, and you won't see any of this demented christianized goth, either. i'd rather listen to pagan music like coil than much of this catholic guilt that gets labeled goth music.
that said, what this actually sounds like is a kind of watered down version of a singer named diamanda galas, who started off doing experimental opera in the early 80s that drew from sources like xenakis and some of the more abstract opera that came out of the 20th century. but, it's almost tragic to put these things in the same paragraph: diamanda galas was a true virtuoso, with a seven octave vocal range and a tendency to draw on what are today considered european literary classics as she constructed absolutely frightening sound collages around deep literary cuts. diamanda galas is/was truly european high art.
while her earliest work is often cited as seminal, this is questionable; rather, you can hear exactly where lingua ignota is coming from if you check out diamanda galas' second record, panopticon.
but, if you were to do that, and even come close to understanding it, you'd see the deep sin behind what lingua ignota is doing, here. first, she's discarded the deep literary component for some kind of victim porn, and i'm being explicit in how i'm describing it: i don't know how you approach this, if not as pornography. there's really not another way to analyze it. you can talk about empathy, you can talk about expression, but in the end this is vicarious, and because it's vicarious, it's pornography. second, while i'm not going to exactly doubt lingua ignota's vocal abilities, i don't hear any indication that she has the range or training that galas had. third, the music has, as previously mentioned, been reduced to a series of samples, coming from pop artists like trent reznor, which is just the one that i immediately recognized. i'll let you find some more lifted riffs on your own.
i guess that if you've never heard of diamanda galas before, and you find something exciting about the porn, then my deconstruction is just bursting a bubble - you might think this is more creative than it is, and you might not realize why you're excited by it. but, we all know i'm next level.
i'm just seeing right through it.
and, i'm not sure that telling you to have fun anyways is the right thing to do, either.
https://linguaignota.bandcamp.com/album/caligula
to be clear: there are still smaller rock shows in detroit, and i've been to several of them. i think the deficit of underground rock shows is more of a reflection of a quiet scene, right now.
it's more that mid-size shows don't have anywhere to play anymore. they had the magic stick, but they converted it into a techno bar (and it never really did well as one). then there was el club but it's been turned into a hip-hop club. and, st. andrew's has just been very mainstream since the day i moved here (and it's also a heavily policed space, which kind of sucks. they'll throw you out for smoking pot.). so, the closest thing left to an affordable, mid-size rock venue is the loving touch in ferndale - a nice space, but an hour bike ride from downtown. i mean, it's at tenth mile, meaning it's ten miles up. what that means is that a lot of bands end up playing in grand rapids or kalamazoo or ann arbor or lansing and then expect you to drive from detroit to see them there. it's not a particularly expensive bus trip out to these places if you buy ahead online, but dedicating the time to do it isn't always reasonable, either. i mean, i'll do it if it comes up, but it hasn't in a while; boris, for example, is something i'd check out if it wasn't complicated, but isn't worth the headache when it is.
it would be great if there was a venue like that closer to downtown, but there seems to be an array of forces that doesn't want it to exist. so be it.
but, i don't think i'll have another summer like this, either. i'll be 39 next summer...this is probably it.
it's more that mid-size shows don't have anywhere to play anymore. they had the magic stick, but they converted it into a techno bar (and it never really did well as one). then there was el club but it's been turned into a hip-hop club. and, st. andrew's has just been very mainstream since the day i moved here (and it's also a heavily policed space, which kind of sucks. they'll throw you out for smoking pot.). so, the closest thing left to an affordable, mid-size rock venue is the loving touch in ferndale - a nice space, but an hour bike ride from downtown. i mean, it's at tenth mile, meaning it's ten miles up. what that means is that a lot of bands end up playing in grand rapids or kalamazoo or ann arbor or lansing and then expect you to drive from detroit to see them there. it's not a particularly expensive bus trip out to these places if you buy ahead online, but dedicating the time to do it isn't always reasonable, either. i mean, i'll do it if it comes up, but it hasn't in a while; boris, for example, is something i'd check out if it wasn't complicated, but isn't worth the headache when it is.
it would be great if there was a venue like that closer to downtown, but there seems to be an array of forces that doesn't want it to exist. so be it.
but, i don't think i'll have another summer like this, either. i'll be 39 next summer...this is probably it.
so, i'm pretty sure about the wizard rifle show on tuesday. this is actually a pretty interesting act that i'm just getting my first exposure to.
i've surveyed their discography at this point, and it seems like they're coming off of a lacklustre sophomore effort, after starting off with a pretty solid first record back in 2012. the new record is more similar to their first record, but also seems to be...there's certain stylistic traits that demonstrate that the age difference is substantive, even down to the huskier vocal tone.
i'm pretty picky about rock music nowadays, and there are times when they wear their influences a little bit strongly. but, it's a good mix of influences, and i'm looking forward to it.
i've been out a lot this year, but i think that the closest i got to seeing a solid rock show over the summer proper (that is, since the last solstice, when i saw pelican, earth & helms alee) was the missed screaming females show. i've seen a few random bands here and there, but they've been in odd places, and they haven't really been in the genre of 'loud and complicated rock music'. and, i've missed a few, like, punkish shows but, none of them were really loud like that, either. i skipped loma prieta because i didn't feel like it, and i skipped torche because i didn't want to pay for it. it's rather been a lot of artier local stuff, a lot of jazzy stuff and a lot of techno parties.
i think i needed to get out and have fun, but, the summer's almost over, and it's just kind of like - why didn't it rock? and, the primary answer is because there mostly wasn't much to rock out to, unfortunately. so, i'm hoping this show hits the spot, kind of thing.
i'm less certain about hot snakes. it's just a little too simplistic, sadly. i find these guys frustrating; they almost seem ashamed of their talent. i may end up at the classical show downtown, instead...
...and, the solstice weekend looks like it's going to be a giant dance party, followed by fly pan am and blank mass - neither of which are really rock bands, either.
there's some older acts floating around here, but they seem to want to avoid detroit proper and i'm not traveling to see them. boris won't play here anymore. sleep is around. cloud nothings cancelled their tour date this month. cursive is playing in ann arbor. the city has just kind of fallen off the circuit, in that way.
but, then again, i'm not entirely sure what i'm looking for, either. is there even anything being released?
whether it's next week or the week after, the weather's about to turn, and i'll be a lot more selective. i think you can see that i'm already being a lot more selective - if it was warmer this weekend, i probably would have seen the shows i ducked out on. and, if the selection doesn't turn for the better, i could be in for most of the fall.
i've surveyed their discography at this point, and it seems like they're coming off of a lacklustre sophomore effort, after starting off with a pretty solid first record back in 2012. the new record is more similar to their first record, but also seems to be...there's certain stylistic traits that demonstrate that the age difference is substantive, even down to the huskier vocal tone.
i'm pretty picky about rock music nowadays, and there are times when they wear their influences a little bit strongly. but, it's a good mix of influences, and i'm looking forward to it.
i've been out a lot this year, but i think that the closest i got to seeing a solid rock show over the summer proper (that is, since the last solstice, when i saw pelican, earth & helms alee) was the missed screaming females show. i've seen a few random bands here and there, but they've been in odd places, and they haven't really been in the genre of 'loud and complicated rock music'. and, i've missed a few, like, punkish shows but, none of them were really loud like that, either. i skipped loma prieta because i didn't feel like it, and i skipped torche because i didn't want to pay for it. it's rather been a lot of artier local stuff, a lot of jazzy stuff and a lot of techno parties.
i think i needed to get out and have fun, but, the summer's almost over, and it's just kind of like - why didn't it rock? and, the primary answer is because there mostly wasn't much to rock out to, unfortunately. so, i'm hoping this show hits the spot, kind of thing.
i'm less certain about hot snakes. it's just a little too simplistic, sadly. i find these guys frustrating; they almost seem ashamed of their talent. i may end up at the classical show downtown, instead...
...and, the solstice weekend looks like it's going to be a giant dance party, followed by fly pan am and blank mass - neither of which are really rock bands, either.
there's some older acts floating around here, but they seem to want to avoid detroit proper and i'm not traveling to see them. boris won't play here anymore. sleep is around. cloud nothings cancelled their tour date this month. cursive is playing in ann arbor. the city has just kind of fallen off the circuit, in that way.
but, then again, i'm not entirely sure what i'm looking for, either. is there even anything being released?
whether it's next week or the week after, the weather's about to turn, and i'll be a lot more selective. i think you can see that i'm already being a lot more selective - if it was warmer this weekend, i probably would have seen the shows i ducked out on. and, if the selection doesn't turn for the better, i could be in for most of the fall.
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