Loop-dee-doo: Bjork, Stereolab, and the
Butthole Surfers Push the Boundaries, Matt Ashare,
Providence Pheonix.com
The pop music climate of the last 10 years has felt, at times, like
stepping in and out of a time machine. ”50s swing, ’60s
psychedelia, ’70s punk and disco, and ’80s new wave have all
resurface in some guise’ writes Matt Ashare in the Providence
Phoenix, to ‘the point where it feels not only as if it had
all been done but as if it had all been redone at least once
before.’ But, Ashare argues, in this landscape that seems to reward
unoriginality, digital wizardry in the studio has enabled certain
artists to stretch the limits of the art of pop music. Though no
new kid on the block (digital technology has been around longer
than we like to admit), it’s only recently been utilized as a tool
for innovation. Examining recent works by such artists as Bjork,
Stereolab, Radiohead, and the Butthole Surfers, Ashare points out
that these artists are able to use technology to ‘keep their fans
happy and themselves challenged.’
–Al Paulson
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