>To me art is a way to provoke thoughts and feelings that it would otherwise
>be very difficult to convey with logic and sense. Far out ideas preesented
>thru art seems to be more acceptable to most people. it's a great way to
>spread memes.
I'm currently catalogueing my 2500+ techno records, if you'd like i can send
you a list of bands that deal with our memes (when i'm finished, that is...)
>Now in the mid nineties it seems that the
>techno scene has found a level, where a few bands are playing purely
>electronic music, a lot are playing hybrid music a some simply play rock'n
>roll. So there is a very wide spectre of genres. Most of them seem to have
>a mix of "natural" and electronic sounds.
I put it to you that over half of todays releases are purely electronic.
However they are distributed by small independants. I estimate an average
300 new techno releases a week alone. Mostly vinyl, in avarage editions of
300-2000 copies. Furthermore this leads to over 50% of all musicians
(probably far less on a professional level) making purely electronic music.
At least 1/4th of those will still be around in the next decade, which could
lead to an interesting speculation on what influence that will have on music
in general.
>It will probably be a good way to promote transhuman/extropian ideas, as
>the audience for that kind of art probably will be some of the most
>receptive for the memes.
And what about computer games ? The strategy (more specifically: world
builder) genre holds a lot in common with our memes, (space colonization,
new technology development etc) And let us not forget comics...
>Global underground distribution.
>Another thing that happened with techno was that no big labels were
>interrested in distibuting it. So a huge network of small independent (punk
>inspired) record labels made a huge "underground" distribution network
>between themself. The techno scene is now very global and it's become that
>way in a distributed, chaotic self-organising way.
>The same will probably happen with all of the underground
>multimedia/desktopvideo etc.
Although the number of musicians and new labels is still rising, this year
will have seen it's first drop in the number of people being able to work in
techno music on a 'professional' level. As more and more semi-professionals
and amateurs overflow the slower expanding market with their 'home made'
products. this has been a 'crisis' year for many small techno companies,
throwing many back to the semi-professional level.
Youth culture in general is still dominated by the cyberpunk negative future
image. But a change is taking place rapidly. Whereas kraftwerk and the black
electro music of the first half of the eighties were still very anti
computer/technolgy dominated, and the music was intended to show the
contrast, Todays techno producers seem to promote the ideas of space
colonization, the love for computers and machines, and science and
technology are rapidly becoming a fascination for them.
J. de Lyser
music business profile:
Professional techno DJ. (since '94 professionally, since '87 amateur)
record label: Weird Dream records (still semi-professional)
+ work for distributors, other record labels & music magazines
my magazine for people in the undergound music business: surreal sound magazine
website: http://www.worldnet.net/~d2b/surreal/intmenu.htm
J. de Lyser
Participant Evolutionist movement
Brussels
surreal@glo.be
***Ignoring ones youth, is ignoring ones future!***