Saturday, July 18, 2009

Industrial morality: a contradiction in terms?

How can anyone involved in industrial music criticise its worst excesses and abuses? The genre was in large part based on the expression of ambivalence, disgust, social tension, and the systematic violation of repressive taboos. Industrial music that does not generate some form of unease or ambivalence, even among its core audience, is simply another form of electronic sound. That we should have reservations about it is essential to its effectiveness and in this context Laibach's statement, "In art morality is nonsense; in practice it is immoral; in people it is a sickness.", is particularly relevant.

Once we accept the value or significance of industrial it is already ridiculous to speak in terms of "morality" in the usual banal sense. If we allowed morality to dictate our aesthetic preferences we would not be following or accepting the existence of industrial culture in the first place. Moreover, a society governed by mainstream morality would be as totalitarian as one governed by the agendas of some openly Fascist industrial groups. So in the context of industrial culture morality is certainly a "nonsense", or at least it is faintly ridiculous to invoke it.

Just as we cannot easily speak of morality in the industrial context, neither can we talk credibly about the “corruption” or “perversion” of a genre that departs from an acceptance or diagnosis of corruption. However, some of us now believe that we can speak about the attempted appropriation and political normalisation of industrial culture by forces that are ultimately as conservative and censorious as the liberal mainstream that industrial producers and listeners find to be so oppressive.

With these issues in mind we want to start a debate to explore some of the questions often posed of industrial and its listeners:


How do you reconcile buying music by or attending shows by acts whose politics you despise but whose aesthetics interest you?

How do you explain to those outside the scene that aesthetic identification or appreciation is not always the same as political identification?

Do you still listen to such acts but refuse to buy their music or watch their shows? Which ones?

Are thre any acts you boycott completely on political grounds? Which ones?


At a time when acts from industrial and related genres as well as their fans remain subject to violent hostility we believe that discussing these issues openly will make a valuable contribution to the debate.

Please add your comments here (bear in mind that for obvious reasons comments are moderated, they will appear here as soon as they are processed...)

Alexei Monroe/ICRN.








Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Klub V.E.B. II at The Others, July 2nd. FREE


LIVE

Sz. Berlin
(Extreme electronics from the Warsaw Pact)

www.virb.com/szberlin

Graan
(Granular synthesis meets ritualistic droning ambience)

www.graan.org.uk

DJ’s:

Codex Europa (Dark Electro Industrial)
Kriegslok (Power Electronics)
Floressas (Esoteric/ritual dark ambient)


Stage times:

2000 - 2030 - Codex Europa
2030 - 2100 - Floressas
2100 - 2145 - GRAAN
2145 - 2215 - Kriegslok
2215 - 2245 - Floressas
2245 - 2330 - SZ BERLIN
2330 - 0000 - Codex Europa

FREE

Thursday July 2nd, 20.00 – 00.00

Top Floor, 6 - 8 Manor Road,
Stoke Newington
London N16 5SA