Quote from: post-morten on March 15, 2023, 01:47:22 PM
Possibly I tend to over-analyze things that happened purely as a matter of synchronicity. Similar things have occurred in Finland or Sweden too. But for me as an outsider all of these, however disparate, US bands/projects seemed to coalesce into a real revivalist industrial movement, at least in sound and intent. Then to what extent they adhered to "trve" industrial dogmas such as the anti-authoritarianism or the use of shock tactics is up for debate though.
I suppose question of revival was not really if it has happened in past - but about happening again?
I'd supposed there has been multiple revivals by now. Thinking for example the mentioned Finnish and Swedish things. But also, Germany, Austria, Italy.. There was so strong currents of things happening in 90's, that were clearly sort of "back to basics" (wink) attitude, to take new look on industrial heritage and work something new on it.
I recall American friend who was talking sometime mid 00's, who concluded that EVERYBODY wants euro power electronics / industrial / heavy electronics. Anything on Tesco, Loki, MDP... The era of Cold Meat where they'd start to put out IRM and Proiekt Hat, Finns would be first time known in global noise genre with names such when Pain Nail, Order.,
Strom.ec, Cloama and such made themselves visible and it wouldn't be just BU, UND and Grunt networking out there. Italians going strong with MC, DBL, Atrax Morgue and many more. None of them probably in unbroken lineage from TG/SPK or even Come Org/BF, but some sort of rejuvenation, revival with a bit of something else happening than retro.
I think strength of those revivals was that nobody was really absolutely consciously imitating anything. Or there was no knowledge or technology. Sure everybody had their influences, but it's not like now, when someone can have idea of what product to make, who to market it for, how it must sound and look like. Those revivals still happened into world where slower human interaction and aim for something bigger was the making it possible.
One topic that I have been thinking, in times when we are allowed smaller pressings of everything it has changed a lot of things. Making CD in times when you had to make 500 or 1000 was drastically different from times when you can make 100. Also thinking when edition of 100 LP's was anomaly. Even 200 was. It is true, that factually, a lot of old tapes were dubbed microscopic amounts, as they had quite different function than in times when you sell tapes as albums in existing market. Just about everything else, was produced bigger quantities, were it may have not been idea, but resulted that you had to reach more people. You had to put lots of time and effort to move stuff and reach new listeners. Now, it appears as if most publishers have kind of defeated mentality, that more often is pressed LESS than there is demand. No faith that there could be more, not even interest that there could be more. While I do not advocate everything to be mass product, or expect anyone to really care does their work get heard by 20 or 2000, I think there is something counter productive in label/publisher approach if for example sniffing around cool artists, and then just putting out their new stuff in clearly too small edition. Almost like intentional suffocation of possibility of potential?
I know I personally am kind of half&half. In a ways, I'm fine checking out good artists at invite only noise gig at basement. Putting out item that doesn't need to be, or is meant to be "spread out there". But in other hand, pushing things further, reaching new ears and minds and seeing what may come out of it, seems very crucial.
Swedes can probably elaborate, but I would suppose, something like what CMI was doing, including "Estheticks Of Cruelty - An Explicit Odyssey Into Swedish Agricultural Sounds". Kind of create sense of
something is happening here. Kind of gathering together the new vital forces and displaying it clearly that there is something to cultivate and see what can come out of it. That is kind of opposite action of running label who will try to collect all the fruits and fuck it up in ways that new releases of best artists can't be even found.
