Music as a Tool for Social Control
There was a period during the post 9/11 years that music across the dance floors of the world was predominantly aggressive. This gave rise to the phenomenon know as Dubstep as a reaction against the hard aggressive sound that was being pushed by the DJ’s, producers and Promoters at the time. There was a large crossover in terms of the aggression as The producers and DJ’s who were previously enjoying the earnings from there hard sound found their audiences dwindling and they tried to keep up with the momentum away from the Hard sound to the more enlightened soundscapes that were being presented by the pioneers of the Dubstep sound.
There ensued a period of confusion as the aggressive’s tried to dominate the Dubstep sound with an overflow of aggressively sounding productions being labelled as Dubstep and attempts were made to control the direction of production and distribution to retain the harsh sound that had previously been the bread and butter of the DJ’s and producers in those other dance floor genres.
Now the trend has moved away from the harder sound to the more interesting and challenging sounds of the current releases. There is also a larger proportion of music with the theme of Love being produced in the genres where formerly it was the exclusive territory of sexuality without any of the trappings of Love.
So it appears that Love has overcome, people did eventually get tired of being sycophantic, aggressive and self indulgent. Now they are more interested in being aware, progressive and at least attempting to care for those around them. Whether this period of production values continues is an unknown commodity. What we can be glad of is that the movement for change has been well embraced across a large sector of the music producing society. We could attribute the previous period of hate and aggression as a direct response to the constant barrage of Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt that the world mainstream media was attempting to push on us. We could attribute it to a direct reaction to the illogical and terrifying actions of the western military in invading the middle east and starting a massive war killing millions in the process.
The push back is now coming in full force to the point where recently even mainstream pop music has seen a resurgence of enlightened lyrics and thought being placed directly into the minds of the listeners. It’s still a trickle but it seems to be building. The other important aspect is that people in general have been put off from the constant aggression and have actively sought out more enlightened music. We are seeing a resurgence in the musical following of the likes of Fela Kuti. Music that interacts on multiple levels and inspires positive thought processes and value systems.
This is just a taste of the things to come as the musicians of the world take advantage of modern production techniques and tools to create catchy songs that immediately appeal. The formula for success is now well established and understood so we can expect subversive productions to be sent forth with abandon. Just make sure they include, breathy female vocals, bouncy catchy beats and harmonies, at least one short rap from a strong male vocalist… Shall we call this the Zeitgeist?
We don’t need your money, money , money…
Bang, Bang, Bang… Guess who they are gunning for?
Mark Ronson & The Business INTL “Bang Bang Bang” from Warren Fu on Vimeo
Paranoid Android… Insightful and predictive for the years to come
Radiohead – Paranoid Android by hushhush112







