"Yes, it's a very bodily thing, and academics and sex is a very sad story. It's very hard to explain to intellectuals about the need to incorporate the body."
Jan St. Werner, of Mouse On Mars, in this month's The Wire
Need I say more?
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6 comments:
ah, sometimes jan is a bit of a wancker. in germany there are enough academics that incorporate the body in their work. in engeland/usa and netherlands however..
actually, now that you mention it, i need to provide some context. he was coopted as artistic director by STEIM in amsterdam. and thus he is talking about dutch academics indeed :-)
nonetheless i think it is mostly true.
the discussion i had with k-punk (and through him, the trouble
i'm always having with simon reynolds) is that in a way they dispose of the bodily effects music can have, the rush you can get (correction: i always get) from hearing a piece of music. for me this bodily rush always comes before the thoughts i have.
it is of course a bit of a stale discussion, because almost immediately after the rush come the thinking processes.
but i still think there is a difference, be it an infinitisimal moment when the brain reacts in a physical rather than in a conscious way.
and this has nothing at all to do with popism (reynolds calls someone a popist when he experiences music directly without the context of ideas)
nevertheless, i went to a wolf eyes gig and the way i experienced that gig was completely physical. it was just a purely physical reaction to sound, not to the surmised ideas that go along with this or that style of music.
i've never been to a (death) metal concert but i can imagine that it produces the same kind of rush, as does the bass during a dubstep dj-set or the overtones during a freejazz concert.
i mean: who has never sat behind his computer listening to music and suddenly a particularly powerful riff or bassdrum comes on and before you realize it you are moving your arm or pounding your fist. there are just no thinking processes interfering. it is a purily physical reaction to sound.
need i add that i consider that physical reaction many times more important and satisfying than the thinking about music? think not :-)
okay, i understand what you are saying.
but... the whole problem with this way of thinking (popism versus rockism, physical versus ideal) is that music is both, and is always both. why trying to prove that one is more important than the other?
for me personally the physical undergowing of music is essential, so are the ideas that come in my mind when listening or experiencing it.
I don't have the need to find one more important than the other. it narrows my love for it way too much.
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