American poet and critic Amiri Baraka argues that playing James Brown's music in a bank changes the environment. It indicates the usual role of music in a post-Fordian society: in the background, intertwined with social and economic reality until it does not fit.
Paul Rekret uses Baraka's statement several times in his recently published book Take This Hammer. This kind of anecdote gives his writing a lighter touch. The density of exciting ideas from cultural theory and philosophy and their cross-connections in Take This Hammer is dazzling and can seem overwhelming. But Rekret accomplishes his mission: after reading the five chapters in this book, it is impossible to separate pop music from the economic system in which it operates. His writing style is charming, as if you were sitting next to him with your eyes closed and listening to his ideas slowly unfold as he philosophized. Take This Hammer seems more like a representation of a set of lectures than a completed whole.
That fits with the book's subject: exploring the meaning of the relationship between pop music and labor. Philosophers and sociologists have studied pop culture since the beginning, but usually in an instrumental way that examines the role of pop culture in society. Looking through the lens of labor, as Rekret does here, provides interesting insights.
On the first page, Rekret links music to work. The book's title references an old song sung by enslaved people. During the first half of the last century, it developed from music sung during labor to consumer music. The development of Fordism and post-Fordism plays an essential role in Rekret's story. Fordism structures Western society, especially after the Second World War, and leads to far-reaching specialization. This specialization creates 'categories' such as worker, woman (who stayed home to care for the family), musician, and listener. The world of music has developed into an industry in which the process of making music has been separated into specialist sub-areas. Fordism protects the white male body and organizes society into gender and race, Rekret explains. This, in turn, leads to dichotomies: work versus leisure, public versus private, and working time versus personal time. Pop music becomes a consumer product.
Rekret previously published in book form about the role pop music plays in the formation of young adults (Down With Childhood, 2017), about the differences and similarities in the work of Derrida and Foucault (Derrida and Foucault, 2018), and he wrote for various scientific and popular magazines, including The Wire and Frieze. Since the beginning of this year, he has been teaching at the University of Westminster in London. This book is a reflecting of his broad academic interests. Rekret seamlessly links the rise of post-Fordism to the emergence of specific music genres, technological developments, and new academic theories. He focuses on three music genres (ambient, hip-hop, and world music) and two themes (nature and technology).
His analysis of developments in ambient and hip-hop are impressive. Rekret takes the revaluation of the Japanese 1980s ambient around 2013 as a starting point. Around that time, the algorithms of streaming platforms make non-disturbing music popular. The relationship between ambient and post-Fordism is evident for Rekret: the implosion of hierarchy, de-standardization, and the disappearance of strict categories fit seamlessly with ambient. Ambient has no direct work function. Where disco, techno, and house are purely functional music, ambient techno, for instance, is music that does not care about the rigid structure of function. Ambient is, above all, a mood. Playlists on streaming platforms mimic this idea by ignoring genres and focusing on specific moments in one's life.
Rekret makes an exciting connection with the rise of theoretical movements such as Object-Oriented Ontology (OOO) and Speculative Realism, in which affective sensations are more important than cognitive perception.
In his analysis of the rise of the hip-hop genre Trap, Rekret takes changes in the financial markets and housing as a starting point. The rise of Trap in the southern states, especially in Atlanta, parallels the gentrification of inner cities and the exodus of the former working class to the suburbs. Rekret characterizes Trap as rejecting the right to property and the ideal image of one's own home. Above all, Trap is about work. Two albums marked the start of the genre in 2005: Traphouse by Gucci Mane and Let's Get It by Young Jeezy. Both rappers position themselves as hybrid entrepreneurs. For both, there is no distinction between work and leisure. The music reinforces Trap's rushed character: the high synths evoke the soundtracks for horror films in the 1980s, and the synthetic drums sound both fast and slow.
Rekret's analyses often appear to be interpretations with carefully chosen arguments. Yet they make sense, and Rekret's reasoning is logical and well-founded. Although he cleverly links one development to another. For example, the post-Fordist obsession with old technology makes us long for the promise of eternal growth and innovation so typical during Fordism. Although clear conclusions are lacking, Rekret convincingly argues that pop music, labor, and crisis are inextricably linked. In the last paragraph of the book, he lists other genres he would like to analyze. I can't wait for more of these deep dives.
Take This Hammer: Work, Song, Crisis (2024) by Paul Rekret is published by Goldsmiths/MIT Press.
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SHORTS
Static
The new album by Darren J. Cunningham, aka Actress, sounds grayish - not dull or boring. Gray refers to the layer of static or noise that hides what is going on. ‘Hides’ is not the right word. Nothing is hidden on Statik. The interplay between the noisy grittiness and dull, staccato drums makes the details less dominant, but the richness of the details is still one of Actress’ unique features. In comparison to earlier albums, Actress sounds pretty lo-fi and direct here. Also, Statik is his most accessible album yet. It’s also his first album on the Oslo-based record label Smalltown Supersound. He learned about the label while doing remixes for the Norwegian/Mexican artist Carmen Villian.
In a way, Statik sounds a bit like the cold and distant ambient techno by the likes of Pantha du Prince (who just rereleased his The Bliss album), but with more detail and adventure in drum rhythms. Those elements give the album a Lovecraftian cosmic horror feel of isolation, despair, and dread. Statik is the perfect soundtrack for one of my favorite recent series, The Terror (2018), about a lost Royal Navy expedition in the 1840s. Cold, cool stuff.
Statik by Actress is released on Smalltown Supersound.
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Cold War
Altered Undefined Waveforms (AUW) from the city of Heerlen is a nomadic art project focused on studying how different physical surroundings affect emotions and behavior using the psycho-geography tool derivé. For Ark-D0, AUW documented the trip from Heerlen, The Netherlands, to the Bosnian city of Konjic, where the atomic bunker Armijska Ratna Komanda D-0 is located.
Now seen as a failed Cold War artifact, the bunker’s construction lasted from 1953 to 1979, one year before Tito, the then-president of Yugoslavia, died.
The cassette tape is an oral documentation of the trip. On side A, field recordings are blended with beats, voices, sounds from various instruments, and senses of melodies. Snatches of songs are hearable but change before they can become actual songs. The more literal, linear field recording of the trip on side B is even more intense.
The first AUW zine is a travelogue and visual guide to the trip and the band’s performance during the Habitat Culture Fest near Konjic in August 2023. Designed like a late 1980s, early 1990s DIY zine, it includes a travel diary, photos, and visual and typographical explorations. Ark-D0 is the third project by AUW and the first to feature more detailed documentation of the process. Curious about what the next project will bring.
ARK-D0 by AUW is self-released as a cassette and DIY magazine.
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Genre wrestling
The work of British-Chilean Kamixlo possesses a certain melancholy. The Bala Club party and music label he started in his early 20s are both cross-genre and always fueled by pop culture aesthetics you won’t expect. Kamixlo’s love for wrestling and nu-metal is always present. After three EPs since 2015 and his debut album Cicatriz in 2020, Deathwork is a culmination of the pop culture Kamixlo is influenced by, including the wrestling mask on the album cover.
Musically, Deathwork is a rollercoaster of styles. As if he is looking for a way to combine all the elements that were important to him during his musical coming of age. That’s a familiar feeling: in our late teens, we don’t see any boundaries between genres, art, and culture as long as it has the right ‘vibe’. In our 20s, we unconsciously convert to a specific taste, and what remains is the melancholy of losing the ability to embrace everything without judgment.
For me, Deathwork is encapsulating this feeling. From the reggaeton meets grime of ‘Pitch Black’ to the nu-metal techno of ‘Chaos’, this album is a blend of genres and moods. The melodic beats in ‘EGO FRAGILE/SPIRIT WEAK’ and ‘One More Night at the Line’ refer to emo aesthetics. Extraordinary album.
Deathwork by Kamixlo is released on PAN Records.
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HYPERSPEED
To keep track of interesting pop culture, I started a :padlet. Updated weekly. https://padlet.com/theoploeg/stasis-479aiazww8y184km
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One of my favorite ambient producers, Kaito, will release his new album on Infiné Records in September. The first track, ‘Silent Sky,’ is beautiful.
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On Saturday, July 27th, I’ll visit the Zwart Goud festival in Maasmechelen. It’s probably the coolest small-scale festival around because of the cool selection of new musical talents and vegan food. See you there! https://zwartgoud.be
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Is the new post-punk hype just a reenactment? Jonas ÄŒeika of CCK Philosophy dives into post-punk, Mark Fisher, and popular modernism.
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The exhibition Dance - Design of a Culture, about contemporary dance culture since the emergence of house and techno in the 1980s, is still running in the Design Museum in Den Bosch. https://designmuseum.nl/tentoonstelling/dance/
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Yeah, new track and upcoming album by Floating Points.
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Between beats and breaks, we find the people is the title of an exhibition at the Van Abbe Museum about the history and present of hip-hop culture in Eindhoven. https://vanabbemuseum.nl/en/zien-en-doen/tentoonstellingen-activiteiten/eindhoven-a-hiphop-story
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On the weekend of 16 to 18 August, thousands of international breakdancers will perform their skills on The Notorious IBE in Heerlen. https://www.thenotoriousibe.com
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Do punk and Islam go together? Of course, they do. Watch this documentary about Muslimcore by Arte Tracks to learn more.
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Summertime and slow disco go together well. In this set, Hot N’ Spicy mixes disco, nu-disco, boogie, and downtempo house together for a perfect Sunday afternoon set for Humano Studios. Enjoy!
Until next time!