Discussion on oversaturation in the PE scene and its nuances

Started by VORACLE, January 11, 2025, 08:57:33 PM

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Phenol

I've given this a few spins in my head and I don't see any indication of oversaturation, lack of musical quality or anything like that. What I do see is a lack of connection on several levels and my take on it is that social media has made us communicate in a different way than we used to leading to certain issues. Before SoMe people used to communicate on a much more physical level; on an international scale they would (hand)write letters, send each other tapes and images, exchange ideas etc. like that and maybe talk over the phone as well. On top of that, they would meet on special and rare occasions for live events. Local scenes would be more like small circles built around friendship and actual social interaction exchanging ideas with reference to the wider international scene they were in contact with. That means there were clear and tangible connections between artists, art an audience. Physical items contained those connections and we could thus relate to them. Now it seems to me that the connection between art and artist is lost in the SoMe public image bullshit machine. Audiences' connection to the art is limited to likes and brief, superficial top 10 lists, fucking bandcamp links and stupid save 10% codes for downloads that have zero value for anyone. That way, the connection between artists and their audience is really just one media image superficially engaging with another one. There is no real and tangible action or meaning behind any of it. We still have live shows, at least, where people meet in real life, form real connections and produce and experience real underground culture in meaningful ways. The point is that with the connections being severed like that on several levels things - releases - lose meaning. That's where we're at, I think, and that's why we often have a hard time connecting with a lot of current stuff.

excruciation

PE and noise are extremely oversaturated and I haven't seen many original ideas or releases coming out in quite a while. It's sort of the same thing over and over again - obscure band name + controversial subject + extreme limitation = boring and generic PE/noise.

how many more releases do we need dealing with child abuse, prostitution, sexual sadism, white supremacy, etc. before enough is enough? these themes have been beaten in to the ground the last 40+ years and are so boring and trite I can't even listen to 90% of new releases coming out.

Commander15

Quote from: excruciation on January 28, 2025, 09:29:34 AMPE and noise are extremely oversaturated and I haven't seen many original ideas or releases coming out in quite a while. It's sort of the same thing over and over again - obscure band name + controversial subject + extreme limitation = boring and generic PE/noise.

how many more releases do we need dealing with child abuse, prostitution, sexual sadism, white supremacy, etc. before enough is enough? these themes have been beaten in to the ground the last 40+ years and are so boring and trite I can't even listen to 90% of new releases coming out.

I guess that we are living in completely different realms of noise and PE then! One should just check the current state of Finnish noise for example: wildly different takes on noise and PE aesthetics, very personal sounds and approaches galore. And in the PE realm, there's no "beaten" themes in Vigilantism and Nostoväki to be seen.

But then i guess that one always finds the stuff that one wants to find, regardless of the true state of things.

Manhog_84

Quote from: excruciation on January 28, 2025, 09:29:34 AMPE and noise are extremely oversaturated and I haven't seen many original ideas or releases coming out in quite a while. It's sort of the same thing over and over again - obscure band name + controversial subject + extreme limitation = boring and generic PE/noise.

how many more releases do we need dealing with child abuse, prostitution, sexual sadism, white supremacy, etc. before enough is enough? these themes have been beaten in to the ground the last 40+ years and are so boring and trite I can't even listen to 90% of new releases coming out.

What are you actually looking to find in Power Electronics?

Cranial Blast

#34
Quote from: Commander15 on January 29, 2025, 09:22:19 AM
Quote from: excruciation on January 28, 2025, 09:29:34 AMPE and noise are extremely oversaturated and I haven't seen many original ideas or releases coming out in quite a while. It's sort of the same thing over and over again - obscure band name + controversial subject + extreme limitation = boring and generic PE/noise.

how many more releases do we need dealing with child abuse, prostitution, sexual sadism, white supremacy, etc. before enough is enough? these themes have been beaten in to the ground the last 40+ years and are so boring and trite I can't even listen to 90% of new releases coming out.

I guess that we are living in completely different realms of noise and PE then! One should just check the current state of Finnish noise for example: wildly different takes on noise and PE aesthetics, very personal sounds and approaches galore. And in the PE realm, there's no "beaten" themes in Vigilantism and Nostoväki to be seen.

But then i guess that one always finds the stuff that one wants to find, regardless of the true state of things.

I agree, especially in Finland. The Terässinfonia series was a great showcasing of such new artists, all in which kind of have their own unique identities. Not only different in themes, but different in sound as well. Nostoväki is a great example of such artist.

I don't think there is ever an abundance of the more controversial themes and topics. I think it goes hand in hand with power electronics as a whole. It doesn't seem to ever get old for me anyway, It's always expected. I hope that it always remains that way.

Commander15

Quote from: Cranial Blast on January 30, 2025, 04:37:51 AM
Quote from: Commander15 on January 29, 2025, 09:22:19 AM
Quote from: excruciation on January 28, 2025, 09:29:34 AMPE and noise are extremely oversaturated and I haven't seen many original ideas or releases coming out in quite a while. It's sort of the same thing over and over again - obscure band name + controversial subject + extreme limitation = boring and generic PE/noise.

how many more releases do we need dealing with child abuse, prostitution, sexual sadism, white supremacy, etc. before enough is enough? these themes have been beaten in to the ground the last 40+ years and are so boring and trite I can't even listen to 90% of new releases coming out.

I guess that we are living in completely different realms of noise and PE then! One should just check the current state of Finnish noise for example: wildly different takes on noise and PE aesthetics, very personal sounds and approaches galore. And in the PE realm, there's no "beaten" themes in Vigilantism and Nostoväki to be seen.

But then i guess that one always finds the stuff that one wants to find, regardless of the true state of things.

I agree, especially in Finland. The Terässinfonia series was a great showcasing of such new artists, all in which kind of have their own unique identities. Not only different in themes, but different in sound as well. Nostoväki is a great example of such artist.

I don't think there is ever an abundance of the more controversial themes and topics. I think it goes hand in hand with power electronics as a whole. It doesn't seem to ever get old for me anyway, It's always expected. I hope that it always remains that way.

Exactly. Terässinfonia is truly outstanding series in compiling finnish new projects and more established projects into same discs but also showing the diversity between the acts and individual expressions. Unified artwork and the feel of that series also pulls the focus into sonic properties of these projects and there is great merits in that aspect also.

And i agree with you about the traditional themes and approaches in PE. It's not like you can drain the life out of the topics like societal decay, totalitariansm, sexual deviancy etc. It is up to the artist to come up with the personal expression and insights regarding those subject matters. It can be done poorly or it can be done really well and with personal touch and vision. Of course one can be put off by those themes but i see that as an personal preference. I'd rather take the "tired", old themes done well instead of something like, lets say, "autofictive" PE with themes focusing on like ones own feelings, emotions and depression etc.

What comes to the original post of excruciation, i don't get the concept of lack of "original ideas". What are the original ideas in this context? Should the sound sources be more original? Or themes? In my view, the mere focus on being original in some vague way can feel forced or be more of a novelty than "original". And the extreme limitations, what does that mean in the context of industrial noise and PE?

excruciation

Quote from: Manhog_84 on January 29, 2025, 10:54:02 PM
Quote from: excruciation on January 28, 2025, 09:29:34 AMPE and noise are extremely oversaturated and I haven't seen many original ideas or releases coming out in quite a while. It's sort of the same thing over and over again - obscure band name + controversial subject + extreme limitation = boring and generic PE/noise.

how many more releases do we need dealing with child abuse, prostitution, sexual sadism, white supremacy, etc. before enough is enough? these themes have been beaten in to the ground the last 40+ years and are so boring and trite I can't even listen to 90% of new releases coming out.

What are you actually looking to find in Power Electronics?
if you look at the original PE artists, none of them really sounded the same despite having similarities. in this day and age, everything is a copy of a copy of a copy. if you can't figure that out on your own then you are part of the problem.

Cranial Blast

#37
Quote from: excruciation on February 02, 2025, 01:19:10 AM
Quote from: Manhog_84 on January 29, 2025, 10:54:02 PM
Quote from: excruciation on January 28, 2025, 09:29:34 AMPE and noise are extremely oversaturated and I haven't seen many original ideas or releases coming out in quite a while. It's sort of the same thing over and over again - obscure band name + controversial subject + extreme limitation = boring and generic PE/noise.

how many more releases do we need dealing with child abuse, prostitution, sexual sadism, white supremacy, etc. before enough is enough? these themes have been beaten in to the ground the last 40+ years and are so boring and trite I can't even listen to 90% of new releases coming out.

What are you actually looking to find in Power Electronics?
if you look at the original PE artists, none of them really sounded the same despite having similarities. in this day and age, everything is a copy of a copy of a copy. if you can't figure that out on your own then you are part of the problem.

Part of the problem? There really isn't a "problem" though, there are plenty of artists out there doing different things. I think you should really explore that Terässinfonia series, so you can catch the full spectrum from a wide variety of different artists, doing different things. Also you can't really compare the pioneers of the past when the genre was first forming to what's been now formed. You'll always have new artists following the blueprint and in some cases I'd say doing it better even. This same argument could be applied to any music genre. I think it's a matter of the listener is going to have to move on and adapt to some change in some form or another or maybe search for a new kind of music genre to listen to entirely that will evoke a sense of worth to you that will be exciting again. Worst case scenario, just stick with what you do like! It's all you can do.