Machines of Joy: I Have Seen the Future and It Is Squiggly

Byrne, David, 1952Leonardo Music Journal, Volume 12, 2002, pp. 7-10 (Article)
Published by The MIT Press

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Machines of Joy: I Have Seen the Future and It Is Squiggly

David Byrne
ABSTRACT

lip Hop as it is represented here is a form of music created at the end of the 20th century, primarily by Northern Europeans. For centuries these people have lived in a cold, damp climate, where the winters are long and gray. The social-democratic governments take care of their needs, leaving the people with many hours of free time to spend with their computers, electronic devices and binary hierarchy trees (see Fig. 1). As a result of this ample leisure time, they have in recent years devised radical new programming languages and unparalleled mobile-phone technology, and, as early as the late 1950s, they were the rst people to enjoy art and music made entirely by machines. These are the rst people on Earth to create and live in complete harmony with their machines. They have learned to think like machines and reexively have developed machines that mimic the seeming quirky randomness of the human mind. Other societies have chafed at such symbiotic relationships, but the Northern Europeans have turned, through years of trial and error and the process of natural selection, a seeming handicap into a virtue and a unique way of life. A life that suits them, maximizes their strengths, minimizes their weaknesses and lessens the effects of their unfortunate geography. The geography and climate in Northern Europe (see Fig. 2) has historically necessitated the development of unusual personal strength and perseverancequalities evolved no doubt in order to survive the harsh months in the isolated villages and hamlets in that region (see Fig. 3). The long and dark winters favored a people who could look inward for months at a time and not go crazy. It would also favor intense social cooperationrules and sets of elaborate prescribed behaviorsall designed to maintain the delicate social balance during those long, difcult months. In addition, the inhabitants became accustomed to a monotonous diet and sporadic social contact. Naturally, all this has led to the evolution of a rather extreme but focused frame of mind. Order and thought became their companions and allies. To survive in these harsh lands, one must live in an orderly fashionthe climate does not allow for much leisure or idleness. Every moment counts, and the seasons and hours during which farming is possible are short.
Fig. 1. Northern European binary hierarchy tree. (Illustration Danielle Spencer)

Grazing lands are limited, and therefore elds and pastures are well delineated, marked out precisely. The unforgiving geography has also led to the development of a society in which social relationships are by necessity formal and well dened. A society in which opportunities are infrequent and not to be squandered is a society in which order, planning, sacrice and diligence become ones closest friends.

he author discusses the relationship of human and machine in Northern European Blip Hop. The embrace of electronic and computer technology by the regions inhabitants nds its musical expression in peculiar stylistic attributes. The author identies a preference for obviously nonnatural sounds, an avoidance of rhythms easily danced to and a disposition toward effects only achievable through computers (as well as the sounds of the malfunctions and failures of such technologies) as indicative of Northern European acceptance of this modern symbiosis.

Fig. 2. Map of Northern Europe.

David Byrne (composer, musician), Luaka Bop Research Facility, Todo Mundo, Box 652, Cooper Station, New York, NY 10276, U.S.A.

2002 ISAST

LEONARDO MUSIC JOURNAL, Vol. 12, pp. 710, 2002

Fig. 3. Isolation of Northern European communities.

Never comfortable with their bodies, due to years of wearing bulky warm clothes (Fig. 4) and to infrequent social interaction, the Northern Europeans have developed elaborate rituals in order to facilitate the physical contact needed by all human beings. The football match and the disco have become the foremost among these. We will ignore the football match for the time being, that phenomenon being covered in depth and beautifully by Professor Le Duc in his paper The Bodies in The BowlA Study In Stadium Physicality, and will focus instead on the disco. The disco developed in the middle part of the century; a small-scale phenomenon limited to Gays, AfricanAmericans and Socialites in the worlds capitals, it spread rapidly. From that simple seed it evolved in myriad directions each manifestation unique and separate, with various aspects exaggerated or eliminated in order to suit the needs and demands of the local inhabitants. Some music evolved in response to particular drugs and social situations and from the various economic classes involved with these clubs. Often the delineations between the various forms of music would be a means of marking social and class territory (see Neil Withers, Handbag House and the Flavor of the Month [Cambridge Univ. Press, 1999]). Early discos were small compared to todays massive rave events involving tens of thousands of participants, but their formative patterns of behavior were similar, even in
Fig. 4. Traditional Northern European dress. (Illustration Danielle Spencer)

those primitive models. We see the elaborate dress codes, the repetitive rhythms, the consumption of intoxicants and/or psychoactive drugs and the restrictive entry policies all in place years before the emergence of the more famous models. Typically, discos present dancing for the most part without physical contact, dancing that implies and insinuates fantastic sex later at a more private location. The promise is of better things later, pleasure deferred. This is a comforting and familiar mode of social and even spiritual interaction for the Northern Europeans, and therefore they adapted this form of dance to their own needs very rapidly. (Not as thoroughly as in Japan, it must be said, where the men and women danced facing away from each other during this period, but the idea is the same.) It was therefore in this region that the mechanically produced beats of Giorgio Moroder [1] and Kraftwerk [2] were created and eventually went on to gain worldwide acceptance. Other, more severe human-machine models were developed simultaneously by others. Alongside these popular developments, the academic and intellectual communities saw the evolution of extremely conceptually based musics. The psychoacoustic and direction-based music of Stockhausen and others sometimes interacted withand certainly had an inuence on the popular rituals and music for dancing developed by these same cultures. This academic music took forms in which both the performers and creators were treated somewhat like machinesboth were given a set of written instructions (as opposed to musical notes, which are also a set of instructions) and were then asked to merely follow said directions. What differed between this mode and that of reading musical notation (e.g. Bach and the tempered scale, another process by which musical

production was ordered) was that instructionally based music was not only the means by which the music would be performed, but also the way in which it was created. The parallels to computer algorithms are obvious and need not be spelled out here (Fig. 5), but this might be the rst instance of creative cultural production being willingly given over to a mechanized process. Is this the triumph of Cartesian logic (see Fig. 6) in an aspect of life not prone to such ordering? One would think so, but there are many elements of this work, and of Northern European culture, that imply that things are not as simple as they seem. The sense of irony and humor of the Northern European has evolved to become something exquisite and rened. Herein lies the ghost in the machine. After many dark days and cold nights, and after many, many years, the mind eventually begins to turn inward; and after such long periods of contemplation, of waiting and shivering, a person begins to differentiate between extremely subtle nuances of mental and emotional states, philosophical concepts and thought patterns. In all peoples a sense of humor presupposes a common knowledge and experience among the populace, and that developed by the Northern Europeans is based on the common inwardly directed interior experience, as it is one that they all share. Therefore, the resulting sense of humor is subtle, frequently extremely so, and can often be overlooked or go unnoticed by the outsider. Often there appears to be no humor present at all, but this, it will be seen, is clearly not the case. I would like to propose that much of this music and cultural production by Northern Europeans is meant to be perceived as humorous and ironic, and that their imitation of machine processes and languageseven their imitation of mechanical dancingare meant not to be taken at face value. I would further propose that the Northern Europeans are in fact laughing at themselves, their own obsessions, psychological hang-ups and complexes, at the same time as they are indulging in these obsessions. They are laughing at
Fig. 5. Parallels to computer algorithms. (Illustration Danielle Spencer)

Byrne, Machines of Joy

Fig. 6. The triumph of Cartesian logic.

their own peculiarities and xations on order, rules and rational thought, and yet they are producing music and rituals that both emanate from and encapsulate these same obsessions. The music expresses a love of order and logic and, at the same time, an anxiety regarding it. There are three aspects of this music that might support this hypothesis: 1. The attraction to non-natural sounds, obviously not produced by natural or acoustic means. 2. The preponderance of herky-jerky rhythms and beats. The abhorrence and avoidance of smooth, sensual rhythms. 3. The attraction to structures and effects only possible through the use of the computer. The use of almost exclusively nonnatural sounds could be said to be an identifying feature of this music. Other electronic-based dance music styles made attempts to emulate and imitate the sounds of acoustic instrumentsof drums and percussion especially, often using samples of acoustic instruments as their foundation. In this music there is a conscious denial of anything resembling acoustic natural sounds (for obvious exceptions see below). This appears to be an aesthetic decision based on the invisible doctrine that honesty is virtuous; not only in daily behavior but also in cultural matters as well (consider the Bauhaus, Mies van der Rohe, etc.). The honest use of materials, in this case sonic materials, the acceptance of their machine origins and of their mechanical qualities, is a hallmark of this music. The music says that there is no need anymore to disguise the articial sources of the sounds, no need to emulate real drums or pianos. In fact, the more obvious it is that the sounds were produced by articial means, the more honest, and therefore better, the music is. More unnatural is natural, if you follow my meaning. Some workers in this eld (Matmos [3] and Skist [4], for example) use acoustically produced sounds to imitate electronically produced sounds. This could be seen as a sonic equivalent of a philosophical conundrum. Illogical logic. Irrational rationality. These apparently twisted impulses also serve as examples

Fig. 8. Some Blip Hop music utilizes the sounds of broken electronic lters. (Illustration Danielle Spencer)
Fig. 9. Blip Hop rhythms inspire one to twitch, to oscillate and to vibrate in an asexual sexualitysimilar to the dance of singlecelled organisms. (Illustration David Byrne)

of the convoluted insider sense of humor referred to above. As stated above, this outlook and approach is not applicable only to music; it informs all aspects of the cultural life of the Northern European. Although its inuence sometimes lters in slowly, imperceptibly. The humor and slyness is always apparent if one looks closely. The preponderance of herky-jerky rhythms (Fig. 7) is another unifying aspect of this music. Again, there seems to be a willful attraction towards rhythms that have no obvious references to Africanrooted musicFunk, Hip-Hop, House or any of the other sensuous body rhythms. Paradoxically, that is not to say that the music does not have roots in many of these same styles. Pole, for example, uses the delays and techniques of Jamaican dub as a foundation for their experiments [5]. Other artists are clearly indebted to Hip-Hop. They have strayed far from their musical parentsthese children are for the most part unrecognizable. These spastic rhythms also announce an intention to admit to the musics mechanical origins. It is a true celebration of those origins and a love of what they can produce. The Northern European has come to embrace what many other cultures abhor, and in so doing has created something hilarious and wonderful: Machines that laugh, sigh and swoon. The third aspect of this music is that it revels in effects, structures and techniques

that could only be possible using the computer as a tool and instrument. Impossibly accurate rhythms, inhumanly accurate interplay of sounds and beats, sudden abrupt transitions and perfect repetitionsall these effects revel in and are proud of their mechanical origins. The sounds themselves are ags and banners, heralding the aesthetic of the machine and of those machines gone slightly haywire. Yes, as an apparent opposite to this perceived perfection, as a kind of sonic mind game, many composers nd joy and pleasure in the use of the sounds of their machines malfunctioning. Pole and the Mouse on Mars contemporary Oval [6] use the sampled sounds of stuck records and CDs, while others utilize the sounds of broken electronic lters. (Pole, the group, is named after a type of lter [see Fig. 8].) The obvious use of the sounds of their worldthe world of ones, zeros, zips, pings, hisses and clicksfalling apart is another example of the willfully perverse celebration of the machine and simultaneously its limitations and failings. There is humor inherent in this music and in its attendant rituals. This convoluted logic is in itself both a joke on obsessive rationality and an acceptance of its importance to this culture.

Fig. 7. Blip Hop has a preponderance of herkyjerky rhythms.

Byrne, Machines of Joy

Fig. 10. Blip Hop points to many inuences outside of itself. (Illustration Danielle Spencer)

This music has part of its roots, but not its sound, in dance musicHouse, Techno, Dub-Reggae, Hip-Hop and Electro. But much of this music simultaneously and willfully also seems to deny the physical. It is often difcult, if not impossible, to dance to itnot that it has no rhythms; it has lots of rhythms, but they are often rhythms that do not relate to the body, to the human anatomy. They are rhythms that inspire one to twitch, to oscillate and to vibrate rather than to sway and swing. It is an asexual sexualitypossibly closer to the dance of single-celled organisms (Fig. 9). To some extent the music refers to dance music; it is a signier for dance music in that it uses the same technology and similar sound sources; it points to it, but it itself is not that thing, not true dance music. It points at things outside itself (Fig. 10), but prefers not to associate with those things. It is Meta Dance Music. It is sometimes, signicantly, referred to as dance music for listening. A contradiction in terms, which these artists may enjoy. In other words, the original source, the raison dtre, of the music has been removed, and we are left with a beautiful shell. The shape of a shell is a memory of the animal that produced it, but that animal has long since vanished. Oh yes, did I say that the music is beautiful? It is. In its own self-dened universe

it is eminently listenable and beautiful. This beauty is the seductress that draws one in to this joyous mechanical universe, makes the introductions and invites one to linger. It is a vision of a future that is severe, squiggly and only semiserious. Acknowledgment
Danielle Spencer greatly aided the author and editors by coordinating the details of publication, as well as the articles illustrations.

5. For information about Berlin-based Pole, a.k.a. Stefan Betke, see http://www.matadorrecords. com/pole/biography.html ; http://www.polemusic.com/ . 6. For information about Oval, see http://www. thrilljockey.com/bandpage.html?artistnum 28 ; http://www.popmatters.com/music/reviews/o/ov al-commers.html . Ovals Vario is included on the Ghosts and Monsters: Technology and Personality in Contemporary Music CD of the LMJ CD Series, Vol. 8, curated by Matthias Osterwold (EMF CD 012). Available through http://www.cdemusic.org . For information on Mouse on Mars, see http:// www.mouseonmars.com/ ; http://www.sonig. com/ . Manuscript received 24 January 2002.

References and Notes

1. Giorgio Moroder is known as the 1970s father of computer disco; he produced such lasting hits as Donna Summerss Love to Love You Baby and I Feel Love. See http://www.geocities.com/ moroderzone/ ; http://www.algonet.se/~jonwar/ moroder.html . 2. Formed in 1968, Kraftwerk were, according to Kraftwerk member Ralf Htter, the spirit of Bauhaus in electronic sounds. See http://home7.swip net.se/%7Ew-74559/cave/kraftwerk/kraft.htm ; http://www.kraftwerk.com/ : http://home. t-online.de/home/0625138143/discog.htm ; http://web.bham.ac.uk/busbykg/kraftwerk/links /resources.html . 3. Matmos is the San Franciscobased duo of M.C. Schmidt and Drew Daniel. For information about Matmos, see http://www.brainwashed.com/mat mos/ ; http://www.popmatters.com/music/re views/m/matmos-chance.html . 4. Skist is the Tokyo-based electronic music improvising duo of Samm Bennett and Haruna Ito. For information about Skist, see http://www. japanimprov.com/skist/ ; http://www.headlight journal.com/music/more_scan_than_warp/more scan-jukebox.html .

David Byrne co-founded the group Talking Heads (19761988), and through the years he has been involved in a variety of projects spanning music, lm and visual art. In 1987 he won an Oscar for co-writing the score for Bertoluccis lm The Last Emperor. In 1988 he founded a record label, Luaka Bop, which has evolved from a label specializing in world music compilations to one with a wide range of emerging artists. Byrne has just completed a year of touring in support of his most recent solo album, Look into the Eyeball. He has been publishing and exhibiting his visual work for the past decade, and he has published three books of his work: Strange Ritual, Your Action World and The New Sins. Byrne continues to exhibit internationally in galleries and museums and has created public art installations in cities around the world.

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Byrne, Machines of Joy