Sounds like we’re not the only ones wrestling with categorization
of music. Is anyone familiar with the 2002 edition of Mutek which took place in Montreal?
Presented
in the screening room of Montreal’s
Goethe Institute, one of the main concerns in all four panels was the idea of
categorization in the face of seemingly endless new genres and subgenres
proliferating in new music. The difficulty in categorization is greatly
enhanced when the practitioners of this music operate under multiple monikers,
as nearly every act at Mutek this
year illustrates. Unless a specialty store has its act together, good luck
figuring out where to find all but the one solo album that bass guru and
producer extraordinaire Bill Laswell has released under his own name. Laswell
didn’t appear at Mutek, but
his case is a good one. I am, of course, greatly anticipating his appearance at
the Montreal Jazz Festival with Zakir Hussein under the guise of Table Beat Science, but that’s
another story.
Categorization
is discussed at least 7 more times:
http://www.horschamp.qc.ca/new_offscreen/mutek_pt1.html
Tom
