Zola Jesus

[Andrew McIntosh]

I also think that nobody seems that interested in discussing noise/pe related shit here anymore, so, if not for discussing subjects like these I think nothing/not much would be said at all.

The brain-eating zombie strikes again.

[Mme Deficit]

So, long story short: Zola Jesus apparently enjoys industrial/noise, but doesn't perform it herself. How exactly is this fact worthy of a four-page thread? If the noise fan in question were, say, some dude with a successful minimal-synth project, would anyone give a shit?

[NEHPF]

So, long story short: Zola Jesus apparently enjoys industrial/noise, but doesn't perform it herself. How exactly is this fact worthy of a four-page thread? If the noise fan in question were, say, some dude with a successful minimal-synth project, would anyone give a shit?

Well, anything Prurient/Hospital Records related?

[bitewerksMTB]

I thought the most interesting thing was Phil's comment that ZJ was active on the forums but she kept getting so many requests to do collabs, she had to split. I'd love to know who was bugging her.

[Black_Angkar]

I thought the most interesting thing was Phil's comment that ZJ was active on the forums but she kept getting so many requests to do collabs, she had to split. I'd love to know who was bugging her.

luckily I was not active at the time. it would have been utterly embarrassing, me groveling like a dog for the opportunity to bask in her fame and glory...

So, long story short: Zola Jesus apparently enjoys industrial/noise, but doesn't perform it herself. How exactly is this fact worthy of a four-page thread? If the noise fan in question were, say, some dude with a successful minimal-synth project, would anyone give a shit?

Now. i wasn't going to write anymore since I've said all I've got to say about why I think it is not irrelevant. But this thread has become a real favorite and if people seem willing to keep it alive, I shouldn't be one to stand behind my word. And one should remember that comments like these also help keep the "unworthy" thread alive.

I find myself forced to repeat myself: the limitations of the [post]industrial genre should NOT be so narrow as to exclude discussion on things which could easily be traced to it. Noise it is not, PE it is not, yet "industrial" must rather be subjected to some other analysis in regards to its character. Just as with punk it is not as simple to pin down as a musical style, while its subgenres are. I do think that is a really interesting subject, with or without ZJ being a part of it.

And some of the ZJ material does actually bring late COIL to mind now that I think about it, definitely not as groundbreaking, historically important or multilayered as COIL, but there is something with the etheric feel to the music, the beautiful voice etc which makes me think there are aural similarities. Which MIGHT be a complete coincidence, but probably not - since influences of the artist have already been pinned down.

(I think it is interesting to examine how industrial culture has influenced mainstream culture, even though a "movement" (in lack of a better word, I'm sick of using "scene") wishes to stay underground and far away from broad daylight it should not shirk from its own history and relative importance. That attitude, of only acknowledging what is considered "correct" at the moment is just like liberal bullshit = dishonest or stupid)

[Bloated Slutbag]

This forum has already brought up for discussion a lot of artists who don't fit into the definitions given in the title piece above - there's a thread on fucking hip-hop for fuck's sake... a lot more energy could be spent on the very, very huge amount of artists and projects that do fit in. That this has to be stated is a little surprising to me.

My response to this could overlap with the "On not being an artist" thread (and a few others besides). I think people involved in the soundproduction racket are more hesitant to talk at length about soundwork whose characteristics might overlap with their own work - lest they appear too sales-y. A big no no, that. The rules of decorum call for a certain degree of affected restraint. (Affected is the operative word.) At the same time, it's generally given – and expected - that anything one says in a public forum is self-serving and therefore part of the broader sales pitch (re- "My shit is cool", for example, because "I'm cool.")

If you'll bear with the questionable sense of decorum -
Taking myself as an example. A while back, on another forum, I started a thread that attempted to characterize a potential trend in the future possibilities of one particular area of sound. One commentator came out with, "Well, of course you'd say that because your work sounds like that." It doesn't ("sound like that") but I wouldn't blame him for assuming as much since I'd often offered words in support of "that" kind of sound. I've met people at events who, having never heard anything I'd done, assumed it sounded a certain way based on certain comments I'd made, or perhaps a certain persona I'd projected.

The point is, we're all expected to be SHAMELESS WHORES. But it's easier to do that when you can talk about something significantly less "controversial" - eg something somewhat removed from your own special area of productive interest.

EDIT Of course, I'm probably just saying that cause I want to appear cool.