Power Electronics is Dead.

[Bigsby]

Would this be an accurate claim to make today? Why or why not?

[theotherjohn]

No, it just smells funny. At the very least, the special edition packages usually do.

[Atrophist]

I think what people take for the process of decomposition just might be signs of grotesque, unnatural, against-all-odds life. When a musical (or "musical") genre is truly dead, will anyone even bother debating it?

[GenitalStigmata]

I would say no, and more importantly I would be more curious as to what specifically triggered this conclusion in the first place

[Atrophist]

No, it just smells funny. At the very least, the special edition packages usually do.

Are you sure you're not thinking of the audience at the typical live show?

[Atrophist]

I would say no, and more importantly I would be more curious as to what specifically triggered this conclusion in the first place

I second this. Not totally loving the "prove me wrong", slightly clickbaity approach here. But hey, it might lead to something interesting anyway.

[Bigsby]

Understood. I am not making the claim myself, I just think it's a more  provocative thread title than a question would be. I just thought it'd be a chance to coalesce various conversations.

It's clear GO is alive, for example. And Bloodyminded is playing the Ramleh show in Queens, as are the halflings. But I thought I'd sensed  a general attitude that pe might be exhausted.

Get the feeling I'm wrong and it's best to X the thread. I'm not trying to troll. Thanks.

[Cranial Blast]

I don't know...dead maybe isn't the word perhaps, but maybe lying dormant somewhere until something new and interesting rekindles the fire. It never seems to die, but seems to always find a new way to reproduce itself throughout time, whether it's reinventing the wheel, or something different. Scatmother brought that something new and different to power electronics. I think the more that can follow his template or version of PE, the more this modern era of it can still exist and also stay interesting as well. That's just my 2 cents!

[FreakAnimalFinland]

It appears that such claim is usually made by people who have feeling that may be either "it is not what it used to be" or "I am not entertained!".
In both cases, tends to be moment of needing to look into mirror. Something that is alive, won't stay exactly same. We may see it belongs to same lineage, but expression is probably slightly different. If this different is not what one is looking for and therefore feels they are not entertained... It may be time to address what is actually dead, hah.

Like when you see aged businessmen declaring punk is dead, while you got youngsters at squat playing hc shows... or Black Metal dudes crying how all is safe and clean now, when their experience of BM is via spotify and IG. A lot of things may be in state of decay, sure, but grown men expecting others to deliver again their teenage years emotions... appears to be most common situation.

[Penon]

Majority of genres that started, by design, as underground or counter-culture, including punk, BM, all sorts of darkwave etc. at some point at least for some period of time spilled into mainstream (from post-punk revival heroes like Interpol to Flenser's modern black metal roster, examples are plenty). I say it with no criticism at all, rather opposite, I am always glad to find out that what I (as a teenager, perhaps) thought to be niche music for rare connoisseurs of fine taste can actually be liked, understood and appreciated by masses. That spotlight moment is what I think often resurrects a stale genre that would otherwise die.

PE and harsher types of noises, as for as I can see, never had their MTV/arena moment and yet it is still here, after 40 years, with a decent mix of old and new artists, traditional and new technics, from pure play PE to experiments and fusions. Sure, average age of a fan/musician is higher than it used to be (and it has imnplications that Mikko mentioned above), but it is far from demographic crisis. So I would argue that PE has proven to be incredibly resilient and not easy to kill despite the fact it has always been pretty UG.

[Cranial Blast]

It appears that such claim is usually made by people who have feeling that may be either "it is not what it used to be" or "I am not entertained!".
In both cases, tends to be moment of needing to look into mirror. Something that is alive, won't stay exactly same. We may see it belongs to same lineage, but expression is probably slightly different. If this different is not what one is looking for and therefore feels they are not entertained... It may be time to address what is actually dead, hah.

Like when you see aged businessmen declaring punk is dead, while you got youngsters at squat playing hc shows... or Black Metal dudes crying how all is safe and clean now, when their experience of BM is via spotify and IG. A lot of things may be in state of decay, sure, but grown men expecting others to deliver again their teenage years emotions... appears to be most common situation.

Haha, indeed, very true! Often times it's the individual who has R.I.P. not the music or scene per se. Definitely reminds me of the late 80s, early 90s whiffle thrashers out there. There was a great abundance of those, who are now middle aged men who grew up with the MTV telling them how great the big 4 were and so most of them who were interested in it at that time and will tell you how nothing is as good as Slayer anymore or nothing has been good since, which any real metal folk know better then that. It's generalization of course, but we all know the metal guys I'm talking about and these are the ones who want to take control of every conversation to tell you how metal use to be good, before it died.

[BatteredStatesofEuphoria]

PE and harsher types of noises, as for as I can see, never had their MTV/arena moment

This is true mostly, especially as far as the sounds and instrumentation go, but can it really be said about the subject matter, at least the more sexually themed aspects?

For instance, here in the US, a few years back, there was a big controversy about the Cardi B song-W.A.P. aka, Wet American Pussy.

This song was not about cats.

There was quite a sustained debate about what it meant for society that such a vulgar song was released, available for children, etc.

Anyway, no need to listen to it. Its as annoying as you can imagine. But, as someone who listens to p.e., I got an entirely different angle out of the whole kerfuffle. Reading the lyrics, its basically not that far off from something you might have seen Whitehouse/SJ do in their early days. The difference, being, of course, that W.A.P. is all wrapped in a nice, saccharine sweet layer of pop syrup.

Of course, I seriously doubt that Cardi B was inspired by early Come Org records to make this song, but it does show that popular music is dancing up to more taboos that noise has never had an issue with.

Which is what I find pathetic about it. Its FALSE. There's nothing "poppy" about this kind of stuff. Its dirty and nasty. And that's exactly what the best p.e. is, in the entire presentation. It not sugar coating anything. Its forcing you to stare into the abyss in all its blackest and make of that what you will. You can criticize their lyrics and subject matter all you want, but Bennett and co were HONEST. There was no hypocrisy.

And that maybe brings up something which actually does relate to the question of this thread. Is pe/noise maybe suffering a bit because the degeneracy of the culture it critiques has caught up with it? What is shocking anymore in a world that seems more mad and stupid by the day?

I think, like most music, it means artists have to be more creative in what they do, but there's still plenty of room for noise/p.e. to point out the hypocrisies of modern life and uncover the dark underbellies of our civilization in that honest way, as a contrast to the "safety" of popular music. Its needed more then ever, in fact.

Its just that only screaming "FUCK!" and "CUNT!" really loud over feedback and a bondage sample isn't going to cut it anymore. And that's probably a good thing. Leave that to Cardi B.

Just as an example of a relatively "newer" act that shows its not dead, take Am Not. Creating always interesting p.e. that very much is built on what came before, but putting his own spin on it, which very thoughtful and engaging lyrics for the current age.

[Thermophile]

I have made the argument before that Industrial/PE/Noise peaked at some point and then followed the decline or "conservation/preservation" mode.
It happens to all movements in art if you pay close attention to history, there is always a golden age. That doesn't say anything about the spermatic influence of the genre, influencing people who might not necessarily be doing anything under the "PE" tag.

It's hard to say exactly when the decline started and why. Usually reasons are complicated and connected to the historical context and dramatic changes to world. End of cold war, rise of the internet just to name a few.
Another reason for the decline is because 'PE' or "Industrial" suffer the close association with youth cultures despite being less popular than other youth cultures such as rock music, metal, punk. In contrast to other forms of artistic creation that do not rely on youthful energy and youthful dispositions such as writing, painting, filmmaking. It's pathetic to imagine an 80 years old guy scream "FUCK" or "CUNT" really loud over feedback, but the same cannot be said about a painter who paints for as long as it's physically possible or Clint Eastwood still directing films at 94 years old.

Once the first generation of artists gets old and there are no disciples to continue at the same level the genres die eventually.
Going back again to the topic of changing times and historical context. It's no longer subversive to use themes such as porn, gore etc when every normative person have access to the real stuff within seconds search on the internet.
Or take for example the experimentation of Genesis P.Orridge with sex and gender taboos, completely institutional and mainstream today.

[Andrew McIntosh]

What happens with scenes of music like these is they peak, then ossify. They go on, so they're not dead, but only technically. Anything confronting/engaging about such scenes just becomes rote, and any "innovation" is just a matter of what can be stretched as far as possible, or sometimes tacking some other little idea on. Whatever. It's more a case of them being walking dead than actually dead.

No one has to keep up with it all. It's legitimate to go, "I'm bored with this", and move on. Probably smarter.

[Bigsby]

"but Bennett and co were HONEST. There was no hypocrisy."

I'm not sure about this. There's an irony and humor that I think a lot of pe projects completely miss. I think Phillip Best is more interested in language than honesty.