Honours Research Essay - Wintec 2010

Postmodernism in Popular Music:

Genre hybridity and pastiche in contemporary music

Zanskar M. Ianusi (2010)

Honours Research Practice Essay

Waikato Institute Of TechnologySchool of Media Arts

Private Bag 3036

Hamilton

New ZealandPostmodernism in Popular Music:

Genre hybridity and pastiche in contemporary music

Zanskar M. Ianusi (2010)

Defining ones work is akin to defining ones self; the culmination of the complexities of a text into a single term is near impossible, yet we attempt to define works of art into an all encompassing genre which is expected to succinctly characterize and catalogue the diversity which exist within these texts. Our attempts to term or generalize music styles for example has that very effect of making ones art generic the connotations of which can be seen by the artist or author of the text as an insult as generic seems to be an antonym for creativity. However the terming and categorization of texts are as important for the artist as their audience. The process of creating music like any other art form, although creative, is not autonomous. We are influenced by our pasts, our histories and our predecessors in our chosen field whether we are aware of it or not, and more importantly, whether we choose to admit it (Bourdieu, 1977). For the popular musician there is a commercial necessity to acknowledge these influences and term your own work accordingly in order to appeal to a specific audience- an audience who browses through websites or CD shops sorted by these generic labels. Alternatively you could relegate the task of terming your work to your audience, or to musicologists, but for the artist, the acknowledgement of influences in the creation and thereby categorizing of new works allows for the Postmodernism of popular music and the hybridized music genre.

Genre - Definition by Comparison

In order to better define the concept of hybrid musical genres we must first understand the very idea of musical genres. Franco Fabbris definition of musical genre as a set of musical events (real or possible) whose course is governed by a definite set of socially accepted rules (Fabbri, 1980), is a succinct statement, however it leads to further questioning. What exactly qualifies as a musical event and, more importantly in this discussion, if genre is defined socially what role does the artist play when terming ones own work?

Firstly the concept of a musical event is highly subjective as in its broadest sense could include any sonic activity, or in a more restrictive sense refer to a complex system of harmonic and melodic devices that adhere to a defined set of musicological rules. The definition of music genre relies on a definition of music, but by defining music you are calling upon your previous knowledge or relationship to music- a relationship often defined by textual analysis or genre models. In Fabbris Theory of Musical Genres: Two Applications, he discusses the hermeneutic relationship of defining the musical event, and thereby arguments on musical genre in its reality or possibility as redundant and that genre eventually becomes a socially legitimated terminological system reliant on comparison to existing works.

According to the definition of a similar genre would imply that a given community had agreed on a certain set of rules relative to the course of musical events (real or possible), and that these events did not exist: which is not only a paradox from the logical point of view, but mostly from the sociological one (and from many others). The situation nearest to this would be the proclamation of a manifesto, of an aesthetic programme: in this case, of course, made according to the rules of that programme. Therefore the empty genre can be reduced to a role of purely topological abstraction in order to guarantee the carrying out of operations with sets, without its reality being questioned.

This need to analyse and classify music through genre has lead to a loss of the perceived autonomy of music as described by Richard Middleton in Musical Belongings: Western Music and Its Low-Other (2000). He observes that:

Music can never belong (to me). It is always already other always located elsewhere (than here), in the matrix of dialogically constructed codes and historical debris responsible for specific forms. Its interiority has been turned into a myth of origination and possession. This is a hard argument for cultural property-owners to accept, but taking that step is-paradoxically- a precondition for any possibility of superseding musical alienationThe price of any reconciliation between subjectivity and (musical) nature is an acknowledgement of the irreducible mediated sociality of both; for to belong to music (to a music) must mean not some pseudoatavistic regression but a reflexive acceptance of the selfs dependencies.

From an authors perspective, this concept of definition by comparison removes the notion of pure creativity in music. To define ones work means to compare and acknowledge the influence of your predecessors- with genre definitions effectively eliminating the illusion of uniqueness of the artist and their work. However for an audience, comparison to existing works/artists are the essential means of discernment and quantifying the potentiality of its appeal. For example, a musician trying to convey to a potential audience a description of his work as a symphonic dalliance into the realms and possibilities of the Phrygian mode in an electronic instrument based setting would be better off (commercially) saying Its like Trip-Hop or compare it to an existing or previous artist creating similar works- (eg. Sounds like Massive Attack). This brings up the question of which is the correct way of defining a new genre? Is the artist the only authority on the labelling of a work, or is it rather the audience who consumes it? Alternatively should the definition of a musical style be reliant on a musicologist analysis of the work? Fabbri (1980) suggests that- A new genre is not born in an empty space but in a musical system that is already structured. Therefore a considerable part of the rules that define it are common to other genres already existing within the system, those that individualize the new genre being relatively few. In other words, creative purity does not exist. To be able to term a work as existing in the system of Music is reliant upon a social acceptance of the definition and some commonalities to previous works in the field, therefore the terming of a new works genre must constrain to the realms of existing genres and their sub-sets as it relates to them. This introduces the concept of hybrid musical genres, a trend arisen from the necessity to acknowledge ones allusions whilst still maintaining some semblance of complexities in ones new work.

New York band Brazilian Girls are described by their audience as belonging to the genres of Reggae/ Electronica/ Jazz/ Bossa Nova (Myspace.com), however they are listed under the genre category of Rock & Alternative on commercial music websites whose purpose it is to sell to this prospective audience (music.aol.com) and on their official website they consider themselves to be Electronica/Experimental/Pop (www.braziliangirls.info). This is an example of disparity in genre terminology proving that although an artist may purport to be a certain combination of genres, an audience may not entirely agree, and a commercial entity would rather be less specific and label anything that isnt a clearly defined genre as Alternative. The hybrid genre could be seen as a postmodernist structure in that its admittance of its non-originality is defined in its willingness to refer to its influences- which could be seen as an attempt at humility on the part of the popular musician (in comparison to a modern elitist view of art i.e. it just is).

Postmodernism, Pastiche and Popular Music

The basis of postmodernism of popular music today is that the creation and reception of popular works are dependent on or responsive to existing works. Postmodernism and its new sensibility began essentially a revolt against the modernistic cultural elitism of art. It is subversive in that it admits its own fallibilities and references and promotes them, revelling in the very popularity and commerciality of itself. The movement is essentially the treatment of the popular --or rather the familiar- with the seriousness of art.

A view of postmodernism by Frederic Jameson defines it as, above all else, a periodising concept, one of pastiche: a culture that is marked by the complacent play of historical allusion (Storey, 2010). Jameson further explains that:

Pastiche is, like parody, the imitation of a peculiar mask, speech in a dead language: but is a neutral practice of such mimicry, without any of parodys ulterior motives, amputated of the satiric impulse, devoid of laughter and of any conviction that alongside the normal tongue you have momentarily borrowed, some healthy linguistic normality still exists. Pastiche is thus blank parody. (1984)

Postmodern culture and its use of pastiche is essentially a culture of nostalgia, born from previous cultural production and devoid of creative purity. It is a culture without latent possibilities, deriving it hermeneutic force from others, relying on the exhausted interplay of intertextuality. The world of postmodernism pastiche is a world in which stylistic innovation is no longer possible, leaving the artist to imitate the styles of the past. (Storey, 2010) In a postmodern society, this continual revisiting of historic genres has the resulting effect of creating a constant or rather perpetual present- in other words a loss of historicity. Jameson describes this as cultural schizophrenia- a loss of the continuum of past- present- future, and instead, the intensified sense of the present- which has the effect of replacing history with nostalgia. This postmodern aesthetic of recycling in Western popular music is not simply a re-hashing of the old, but rather is integration of old and new. For Jameson Postmodernism is a hopelessly commercial culture. Unlike modernism, which taunted the commercial culture of capitalism, postmodernism, rather than resisting- replicates and reproduces- reinforcing the logic of consumer capitalism. He describes it as being, basically, a commodity-, which is entirely fitting when applied to popular music, as its function as an essential triviality is commercial in its basis. (Jameson, 1984) Jamesons pessimistic view of postmodernism being a pastiche and blank parody is one challenged by Andrew Goodwin (1991). While Jamesons argument is based on a time span progression of popular culture to define modernism and in turn the responsive postmodernism, the cyclical nature of popular culture makes this a difficult argument to sustain. Goodwin suggests that technological developments could in fact add to concepts of postmodernism as being more than a re-presentation of the past. He argues, Textual incorporation cannot be adequately understood as blank parody. We need categories to add to pastiche, which demonstrate how contemporary pop opposes, celebrates and promotes the texts it steals from. As well as this he calls for an awareness of the historicizing function of sampling technologies in contemporary pop and the ways in which it is used to invoke history and authenticity.

Recreating and Redefining Retro

Genre hybridity in popular music is an obvious attempt at categorising the variations in the integration of retro styles in new musical works. Genre terms like Nu-Jazz or Electro-Folk seems to be paradoxical descriptors for music styles yet are appropriate in a postmodern sense as they are attempts to recognise the historicity of retro music styles existing in contemporary settings or through the incorporation of contemporary production techniques (sampling etc.). Contemporary pop musicians have a hard task in defining their work when referencing, or recreating sounds of the past. One prime example is that of Swedish musicians Koop (Magnus Zingmark and Oscar Simonsson) who use sampling techniques to create a sound that is heavily influenced by popular jazz styles of the early 20th century. On their latest compilation album Coup de grace Koop gives an insight into how they actually go about recreating this seemingly authentic jazz sound, stating:

When listening to Koops music it is somehow easy to believe that it is played by a small orchestra, but in fact the music is made through computer and electronics with only vocals and maybe a few hundred instruments added. This is a very time consuming way to make music (it is one of the reasons it takes such a long time to make a Koop album), but it is the only way to create the surreal Koop sound

(Coup de Grace, 2010)

Koop and their music are an example of pastiche, a blatant harking back to music styles of the past, although pastiche in this case suggests nothing new is brought to the table. However Koop are quick to defend their work against being termed as solely retro but rather attribute their use of modern technology in the creation of their work as a defining factor against simply a blank parody of past styles saying, Weve gone from creating experimental sampler-soundscapes to discovering a way to produce classic songs via samplers. And instead of the using the retro label placed on them by their critics, Koop suggests that they are, more than anything Hyper modern, stating that, Music is always developing with the technical inventions. Our music couldnt be made fifteen years ago. (www.soulismsofficialblog.wordpress.com)

Koop like Brazilian Girls- face the same issues of defining their style by existing genres when incorporating styles of the past as although many aspects of their music deal with past music styles which creates their distinctively nostalgic sound. There is however no escaping the influence of the present- be it lyrical, melodic or technological which leaves the hybrid genre term as an obvious means of defining their work. Jazz Pop is a term used by Koop to describe themselves, which is an interesting way to term ones work. They are admitting their references of Jazz and the popular, but they have also avoided appropriate contemporary popular music genres in their description (i.e. Electro)- essentially avoiding the issue of time and the original (being popular Jazz of the 1940s onwards). By labelling their genre as such they are effectively creating a hyper reality which Jean Baudrillard (1983) terms as the characteristic of postmodernity- where the distinction between real (original) and simulation collapses into each other with the result of reality and simulation being experienced without difference. In fact simulations can be experienced as more real than the real itself (Storey, 2010). Baudrillard states that, When the real is no longer what it used to be, nostalgia assumes its full meaning. There is a proliferation of myths of origin and signs of realitya panic stricken production of the real and referential. By labelling their work as Jazz Pop Koop are in effect passing themselves off as original to a modern audience who has no relationship with or recollection of whom the artists are alluding to or knowledge of the modern techniques employed to create this nostalgic sound. However we cannot deny the increasing enlightenment of ones audience largely due to the prevalent utilization of media and saturation of information. The awareness of the audience and the power wielded by them through social media allows them to be the expert on the subject and thereby the critic, resulting in a label differing from the artists intention. In Koops case, their audience has labelled them as Electro-Lounge and adversely as Retro which consequently denies or rather defies the hyperrealism seemingly intended by the artist when defining their own work as such.

Norwegian musicians Royksopp (Svein Berge and Torbjorn Brundtland) are an example of the opposite side of the spectrum, creating a contemporary music style that incorporates retro themes rather than purely emulating them with modern production techniques (Koop). On the subject of the track Miss It So Much taken from their 2009 album Junior, Royksopp are quick to point out that nostalgia is a theme and not a basis with Svein Berge stating that,

[It] is very much a track romanticising the old, we wanted it to have certain sense of naivety Its very nostalgic, to us in terms of harmonies theres a fling with sort of 50s to it for some reason, and again with the lyrical content, saying something about missing makes it even more nostalgic. The soundscape thats created is supposed to sound warm and old[while] maintaining what uniquely identifies us as Royksopp, namely the sounds. (www.thelinofbestfit.com)

For Royksopp the general consensus on genre title is Electronica, a rather modern all encompassing genre term defined by production technique, but one that allows for retrospective influences rather than an attempt to belong to a certain historic era/genre of popular music.

The Era of My Ways

This year as part of my own postgraduate studies at Waikato Institute of Technology I have gone about creating works that rely on retrospective music aesthetics whilst incorporating contemporary music styles and production values. My research project involved the creation of new standards - compositions that reflect the popular jazz styles associated with the 1950s and 1960s. My references included the works of Burt Bacharach and Antonio Carlos Jobim whose compositions are still relevant and sought after in modern music styles (covers/ sampling). My songs were composed following in depth analysis of these composers works along with existing real book songs from this era with the view to create works that could exist within this context as well as then be interpreted into a contemporary Electro music production style. My goal was to create music that was nostalgic- harking back to an era that I, being born in the 1980s, had no experience of.

Baudrillards concepts of simulation and hyper-reality are integral to the understanding of the reasoning behind the compositional aim of my research project. Slowly I have come to the realisation that I am a child of a postmodernist culture, brought up listening to music of every era and assuming it as my own. Introduced to a retro aesthetic through television reruns and getting my taste for Jazz and the Broadway musical through Sunday afternoon screenings of Rodgers and Hammerstein films, this became my reality- the past indelible linked to my present (Baudrillards hyper-reality). For me they are one and the same- therefore it didnt seem inauthentic to deliberately compose works that relied on retrospective music genres and their stylistic qualities. In this sense I was following in the example of Koop and their postmodernist music style of pastiche attempting an honest portrayal of a retro aesthetic without an intention of parody (Jameson).

For the second part of my project I was to integrate these new standards into a contemporary electronic music setting using modern production techniques whilst trying to maintain their original retro songwriting sensibility. My intent in the creation of these recordings was to create nostalgia associated with popular jazz song form in a contemporary music production style. My main reference in this aspect would be artists like Bjork and Royksopp whose works refer to or incorporate the feel of past genres whilst still maintaining creativity that is allowed by Electronica and similar technological production based music genres. The end result being like Goodwins postmodernist ideal- a work that is an acknowledgment of pastiche as a feature of the work, but not as simplistic as a pure parody. The most challenging aspect for my work is defining it by genre- the predominant quantifying terminology of popular music. Postmodernism requires an acknowledgement of the artist to their predecessors and taking cue from Koop and naming my work Lounge or some other sub-set of Jazz would be challenged instantly. Alternatively taking Royksopps lead and only naming the modern influence of Electronica is in a sense a denial of historicity. For the postmodern musician who in a sense recreates history, hybrid genre labels go ways in encompassing both musical influences as well as the artists own creativity in a culminating term.

After carefully studying my work and analysing my influences I only recently settled on a term to describe my postgraduate work this year - finally settling on Electro-Lounge as my hybrid genre. Electro refers to the means and methods of recording and production that is entirely synthesiser/ digitally based recording, and Lounge is referring to my songwriting practice that are heavily influenced by popular jazz styles of the 1950s and 1960s. This label is only a term from the authors perspective, and can and will be challenged by audiences and a musicologist analysis. As one who is at various times belonging to all three groups (author/ audience/ analyst), I cannot be too precious about the terminology of my work and I understand that genre labels are temporal, however my view of postmodernism in popular music requires giving credit where it is due in order to maintain a sense of historicity. My intention had always been to create two distinctly separate parts to my work and define them as such- one retro and one modern, however I have discovered during this postgraduate research process that all my work is postmodern- reliant on or responding to the previous and using hybrid genre terms as an attempt to recognise this relationship of dependence. I am, and therefore my work is, an example of a postmodernist cultural amnesia- forever recycling, reinterpreting and renaming.

Bibliography

Berge, S. & Brundtland, T. (2009). Junior. [Recorded by Royksopp]. [CD]. France: EMI Music

Brazilian Girls artist page listing AOL Retrieved 2010, November 3rd from http://www.music.aol.com/artis/braziliangirls

Brazilian Girls current official website retrieved 2010, November 3rd from http://www.braziliangirlsinfo/myspace

Fabbri, F. (1980), A Theory of Musical Genres: Two Applications. Horn, D. and Tagg, P. (eds.) Popular Music Perspectives. Goteborg and Exeter: International Association for the Study of Popular Music 1981

Goodwin, A. (1991), Popular music and postmodern theory, Culture Studies 5 (2)

Gutman, D., Johndton, A., Murphy, J. & Sciubba, S. (2006) Brazilian Girls: Talk to La Bomb. [Recorded by Brazilian Girls]. [CD]. New York: Universal Music

Jameson, F. (1984) Postmodernism or the cultural logic of late capitalism. New Left Review, I/146.

Johnson, A. (2009, February 23rd) Royksopp interview retrieved 2010, November 3rd from http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/2009/12/tlobf-interview-royksopp/Koop current artist page listing retrieved 2010, November 3rd from http://www.myspace.com/koop

Koop online interview (2007, 18 October) retrieved November 3rd 2010 from http://soulismsofficialblog.wordpress.com/2007/10/18/koop-interview/

Lyotard, J. (1984), The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge, Minnesota, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press

Middleton, R. (2000) Musical Belongings: Western Music and its Low-Other. Born, G. and Hesmondhalgh, D. (eds) Western Music and its Others. University of California Press. Berkeley, Ca. 2000.

Simonsson, O. & Zingmark, M. (2010). Coup de grace 1997-2007. [Recorded by Koop]. [CD]. Germany: Diesel Music

Storey, J. (2010), Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction Fifth edition, Harlow, England: Pearson Longman / University of Sunderland

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