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Revisiting Hypnagogic Pop's Grave:
As a primer 2 tha uninitiated, it may be good to read David Keenan's article which first defined this genre as we will b critiquing it (as done incessantly after if was published) https://perfectionofperplexion.wordpress.com/tag/hypnagogic-pop/
As a primer 2 tha uninitiated, it may be good to read David Keenan's article which first defined this genre as we will b critiquing it (as done incessantly after if was published) https://perfectionofperplexion.wordpress.com/tag/hypnagogic-pop/
keenan incorrectly:
(1) pegs HP to the so-cal scene he refers to & refers to past artists as inspiration to these artists, but not to past artists following the same path
(2) asserts that HP is primarily 80's influenced & not decided by compositional technique
(1) pegs HP to the so-cal scene he refers to & refers to past artists as inspiration to these artists, but not to past artists following the same path
(2) asserts that HP is primarily 80's influenced & not decided by compositional technique
(1) is primarily an issue as Kennan asserts that Ferraro/Clark are pioneers in what they are creating, yet they've only brought these concepts to the 21st century. There's another group who amplified the past's excess & formed them into fever-dreams before the 70's even ended.
Of course we're talking about The Residents, who morphed their numerous uncanny tracks into long jams throughout the late 70's an onwards. While The Residents may not have been the first to ever do this, they were the first to *know* exactly what they were doing in this regard.
Third Reich and Roll is a good start to demonstrate this path, directly covering 60's hits "as they remembered them". It has two side-long jams, with covers blending into & layering over each other, sometimes so mis-remembered it's unrecognizable.
But the Third Reich & Roll is actual song covers! other HP artists don't really cover songs
1) Ariel Pink covers various artists, re-records his own songs, & undeniably is HP
2) "Not Available" by the Residents is an even better example, but deserves its own thread
1) Ariel Pink covers various artists, re-records his own songs, & undeniably is HP
2) "Not Available" by the Residents is an even better example, but deserves its own thread
Is it "post-noise" as Keenan asserts of Ferraro/Clark? About as much as an album made in the 70's could have been. The primary difference is that The Residents didn't really make it lo-fi, but is that a requirement for a "memory of a memory"?
On low fidelity in Hypnagogic Pop: Most HP made in the 2000's is extremely lo-fi, yet this seems to be a stylistic choice that varied from artist to artist. HP isn't defined by how "lo-fi" it is, although lower fidelity aids in creating a post-noise soundscape.
HP has nothing to do with being lo-fi, low fidelity simply aids within this soundscaping to the artists discretion.
I'm illiterate and cannot put *why* this is into words, so here's some examples. I consider both of these HP, general consensus only considers tarzana.
I'm illiterate and cannot put *why* this is into words, so here's some examples. I consider both of these HP, general consensus only considers tarzana.
Tarzana's "Alien Wildlife Estate" isn't even lo-fi, but it counts despite taking significant influence from Jon Hassell (Note one of Clark's pseudonyms is "Fourth World Magazine). Why is this HP but not the source which influenced it?
This gets us to (2), by pegging HP to stylistically emulate the 80's (despite writing up a well documented article of the late 2000's scene), Keenan had initially doomed HP as shitty chillwave/lo-fi indie with a helping of pretentious babble (sounds familiar?)
Yet as we saw, this wasn't the nail in the coffin. Excessive 80's revival during the 2010's was the nail in the coffin. It was during this time that the two genres became indistinguishable the hauntological aspect of Hypnagogic Pop was left unspoken & replaced with a pastiche
This pastiche amounted to very little more than some dressing to chill to. Hypnagogic Pop became conflated with mindless "chill" psych rock.
Did the residents make music to chill to?
Ariel Pink? John Maus? James Ferraro? Spencer Clark?
Did the residents make music to chill to?
Ariel Pink? John Maus? James Ferraro? Spencer Clark?
If anything, HP moreso resembles the (what I call anti-psych) of Zappa or The Residents. To seek radical change within these forms without succumbing to apathy. To display such energy in a visceral manner without compromise. To make a work more broadly beautiful is just a bonus
Do you sit back and chill as the cops kick the shit out of you on the street? It's gonna happen anyways, but do you sit there and take it like a bitch, or do you showcase your love for the game & fight back? (will continue this later if there's interest) https://twitter.com/EDWARD_FLEX/status/1186745839663886337?s=20
