mutek [v-2.0] + gonzo writing @ Sonar




A shortened and I think, well, in some respects better version of "Minimalism, Noise and Attitude: A Manuscript for Mutek 2004" has been cut for Discorder Magazine. It also fixes several mistakes, the worst being the human composition of Crackhaus. As reader Ben pointed out, it's Scott Montieth (Deadbeat) and not Mike Shannon that forms the pair with Steve Beaupre. How embarrassing. I mean, I know these people...

Geesh.

Sonar is much less mad this year over last year's 10th Anniversary--smaller, with less acts, less people, less booths and so on. I like it more this year. The heat is also manageable and today saw some welcome spots of rain. Last year's gonzo (and caustic) article for Discorder and Dusted called "Laptop Libido On Rewind--Mutek to Sonar 2003," landed me with some "contextual explaining" to do when I applied for accreditation. I was originally denied a press pass because of the opinions expressed (and even mentioning it here is probably breaking some kind of taboo). I think in the end it is working out, what I plan to write this year is in a much different style, considering the history of the festival and its manifestation as a "node." Which isn't to say that a few observations won't be made. This time, I will spend more time weaving a web of historical comparison and reference to better support specific claims.

I've written a Panarticon column (in Discorder) considering the reasons for writing gonzo-style, as well as without filters, and with fire, that I will post here in a few weeks. What do I mean? In the context of Spain, in particular, and as a Spanish friend informed me, Spain never had a counterculture. Thus, countercultural and resistant writing that questions curatorial and social aspects of an event is somewhat foreign. I don't think this is the real, or at least only reason. Such writing is just as foreign to North America (also, in actuality often historically absent in Quebec). And today such writing is altogether shunned--the electronic music scene is, like many contemporary art "scenes," very good at defending its conservatism. Writing is a task I feel unable to deny when raising certain points in certain ways. This is what marks the task of a writer from the journalist (something I have been thinking about since the Mutek journalism panel when Philip Sherburne tagged himself as a (cultural) critic--a question of purpose and ontology, one which was deferred (perhaps aptly) by the remaining journalists on the panel. Props to Philip for seeking his own.). I just get the feeling that what I wrote was simply too sharp for Sonar, out of a style that is oblique to them--and in this way, it remains unidentified.

Much like this thread currently petering out around what I wrote on Donna Summer/Jason Forrest.

It's good to be difficult to pin down.
It's the only way to write.

There is much to be learnt from Guy Debord.

posted. Sat - June 19, 2004 @ 04:06 PM           |

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