Rise of Conceptronica

#1

Now here’s an article that has been generating a lot of debate online:

Simon Reynolds, for those who may not know, reported on rave and jungle as it was originally popping off in the early 90s and eventually wrote the definitive book on dance music called Energy Flash. He also coined the term “Post-Rock” and has written early articles about people like James Ferraro and Oneohtrix Point Never, in addition to other books on post-punk (“Rip It Up and Start Again”) and loads of other stuff.

I don’t agree with everything he says (I feel the term Conceptronica in particular is a bit antiquated) but he notes some very interesting trends in electronic music that are worth contemplating. It’s also cool seeing an in-depth analysis (finally!) on some really important modern artists like Lee Gamble, Holly Herndon, Jam City, etc etc.

#2

It feels an appropriate subject to write on. The rise of sound art and residencies alone encourages this sort of eloquent, sometimes pretentious articulating. It’s not a great term really but that’s not the point.

The idea can be stretched too far, though. Artists like Lee Gamble aren’t in any sense pretentious or trying to access museum spaces. And lots of people who are being conceptual are doing it from an angle of identity politics (ie, NON Worldwide) rather than academia.