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Music and the '80s
Aug. 15th, 2013 12:39 pm Somewhat inspired by discussions about VG with Mousy.
So here's just it. I'm super intense about music. My itunes features well over 20 gigs of just music, and though my SO has snuck some stuff in there (as well as I was kind enough to torrent Iron Maiden's discography for him even though I am violently disinterested in that band), it's pretty much all me. My range is pretty absurdly broad, though I suppose you could say my penchant for aggressive or moody music is a dominant theme.
The eighties gets a lot of hate. I mean, for good reason, i suppose. There was a lot of crap in mainstream '80s radio pop/rock. I mean, wasn't that the joke in American Psycho? Patrick Bateman brain fucking these terrible fucking soul-sucking bands and artists (favourite parts of the movie and book, by the way). You know what though? You scratch the surface and you discover there were amazing things happening underneath all the shallow glitz and day glo nightmare visions.
Now admittedly, some of this is awareness is due to my Gothic roots. It's super cute these days, everyone thinks it was a mid-ninties thing what with Nine Inch Nails, Jack off Jill, Marilyn Manson, Genitorturers, and Velvet Acid Christ. In truth it's properly rooted in the '80s, but beyond the Goth scene there was a lot of interesting stuff happening, especially with electronica. Namely, industrial music. Einstürzende Neubauten, Skinny Puppy, KMFDM, and Ministry, for example, started out in the eighties and not just with some silly shit no one cares about (ok, maybe you could argue KMFDM didn't properly come into their own until the nineties, but Opium is so insanely futuristic that I can't deny its impact).
If the '70s laid the groundwork for every type of post-modern rock, the '80s underground just built on that and streamlined it. Perhaps it can be blamed for creating the tangle of sub-genres that has confused and smothered creativity. Still, I wish more people remembered the eighties for the amazing death/goth rock, electronic, and alternative underbelly that lurked just below the surface. There was a sense of adventure that's been ignored for so long.
So here's just it. I'm super intense about music. My itunes features well over 20 gigs of just music, and though my SO has snuck some stuff in there (as well as I was kind enough to torrent Iron Maiden's discography for him even though I am violently disinterested in that band), it's pretty much all me. My range is pretty absurdly broad, though I suppose you could say my penchant for aggressive or moody music is a dominant theme.
The eighties gets a lot of hate. I mean, for good reason, i suppose. There was a lot of crap in mainstream '80s radio pop/rock. I mean, wasn't that the joke in American Psycho? Patrick Bateman brain fucking these terrible fucking soul-sucking bands and artists (favourite parts of the movie and book, by the way). You know what though? You scratch the surface and you discover there were amazing things happening underneath all the shallow glitz and day glo nightmare visions.
Now admittedly, some of this is awareness is due to my Gothic roots. It's super cute these days, everyone thinks it was a mid-ninties thing what with Nine Inch Nails, Jack off Jill, Marilyn Manson, Genitorturers, and Velvet Acid Christ. In truth it's properly rooted in the '80s, but beyond the Goth scene there was a lot of interesting stuff happening, especially with electronica. Namely, industrial music. Einstürzende Neubauten, Skinny Puppy, KMFDM, and Ministry, for example, started out in the eighties and not just with some silly shit no one cares about (ok, maybe you could argue KMFDM didn't properly come into their own until the nineties, but Opium is so insanely futuristic that I can't deny its impact).
If the '70s laid the groundwork for every type of post-modern rock, the '80s underground just built on that and streamlined it. Perhaps it can be blamed for creating the tangle of sub-genres that has confused and smothered creativity. Still, I wish more people remembered the eighties for the amazing death/goth rock, electronic, and alternative underbelly that lurked just below the surface. There was a sense of adventure that's been ignored for so long.
