An invigorating, broad-minded survey of pop music's experimental
fringes. Martin (Philosophy/DePaul Univ.; Listening to the Future,
not reviewed, etc.) attempts to define a 20th-century "music of
ideas," while acknowledging the inherent difficulty in doing so for
a genre originally identified with adolescence and spontaneity, and
perpetually corrupted by the marketplace. He shrewdly does so by
sorting a galaxy of artists into categories broad enough that most
readers can find jumping-off points. He notes that, as John Cage,
Glenn Gould, and Ornette Coleman found the limits of "reasonable"
for classical and jazz listeners, Yoko Ono and Brian Eno did the
same during early rock experimentation (c. 1966-75), when
mainstream consumers were exposed to provocative music ranging from
the Velvet Underground, Jimi Hendrix, and Steely Dan, to Can and
Captain Beefheart. Soon, Martin notes, conglomerate record
companies disdained supporting such efforts, while what's termed
"The Passage Through Punk" created a powerful, if dead-ended,
ideology (and an enduring grassroots aesthetic) in the face of
late-'70s social malaise, fueling artists like Patti Smith and
Glenn Branca. Although important marginal figures are neglected
(e.g., Peter Laughner, The Mekons, Roky Erickson), Martin addresses
excellent analysis to a smart selection, including Cecil Taylor,
Sonic Youth, Jim O'Rourke, John Zorn, Tortoise, the New Klezmir
Trio, and Game Theory (one of many artists whose chess obsession he
discusses). Martin relates their music to parallel developments in
philosophy and literature, citing influences from Adorno and Debord
to Nabokov and Harry Crews, and manages the neat trick of combining
the sharp personal enthusiasms of underground rock's fanzine
culture, with the cooler head of academic explorations, so that the
reader perceives why rock enthusiasts have stuck with it all these
years. He concludes with two essay-manifestoes that question the
overwhelming, image-based corporate stranglehold on mainstream
music (e.g., the antics of Eminem and Britney), and probe
avant-rock's seemingly healthy, if fragmented, future. A trenchant
and witty exploration, several cuts above typical surveys written
in the wake of the "alternative" era. (Kirkus Reviews)
Is avant-garde rock music a contradiction in terms? Avant-garde
trends emerged through the cultural and political upheavals of the
1960's, and acquired a new focus in the later Beatles, drawing upon
many sourcees outside of rock, from John Cage to Cecil Taylor. In
this fresh and challenging look at avant rock, Bill Martin outlines
the entire phenomenon, from Yoko Ono, King Crimson, and Velvet
Underground through the dynamic of progressive rock and punk in the
1970's and the watershed work of Brian Eno, to contemporary figures
who continue to push the boundaries of rock: Sonic Youth,
Stereolab, Merzbow, Bjork, Jim O'Rourke and many others.
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