twoheaded_boy: AWTHUM FETHT!

Saelan (

twoheaded_boy) wrote,
@ 2006-03-14 16:23:00

AWTHUM FETHT!

There are some seriously wacky freakazoids making music in Texas right now, and it looks like most of them (and their pals) are going to be at AWTHUM FETHT! I highly recommend that you follow this link and view their multimedia flyer, because it will blow your fucking mind.

This is via

autokrater, who you should add. Definitely one of the most unhinged dudes on livejournal.

...and yes, I'm aware that Lesbians On Ecstasy aren't very good and most of these other kids are clearly really, really obsessed with Paper Rad or Forcefield or Wolf Eyes or Ariel Pink or Kites or Arab On Radar. But they have got ENTHUSIASM, and no one is going to stop them from living their visual-overload, neon-coloured, acid-tripping, costume-wearing lifestyle. More power, yo.

(42 comments) - (Post a new comment)

gun_sho
2006-03-15 03:27 am UTC (link)

"crystal mexico peacepipe warphole "

i'm all for enthusiam as well as mysticism
but there's one thing that i've been noticing too much of lately.

as a white person who spent a considerable amount of my childhood existance
surrounded by American Indians and then a large portion of my adult
life living near RISD and watching carefree 30K-a-year art-school students running
around in costumes and living in a total fantasy world oblivious to their own role
in the so-called gentrification of Providence- I've got to say that boho tribalism
and reference to Native American themes totally make me want to puke.

it's just more lipservice and the visceral simplification of non-white culture
(which is always going on in the "avante garde") completely reveals what
a luxury it is to be a upper-middleclass white bohemian. then again, we live
within pure spectacle at this point, everything's simulacra, and there's potentially
no origin to anything at all, so I suppose these kids may as well enjoy the end-times
while they can.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	kaosrobot 2006-03-15 05:37 pm UTC (link)
	(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	gun_sho 2006-03-15 07:40 pm UTC (link)
	apples and oranges. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	astarte93 2006-03-16 11:47 am UTC (link)
	LOL (Reply to this) (Parent)

	cutoffhisarm 2006-03-16 10:56 pm UTC (link)
	(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	haughty_hottie 2006-03-17 06:58 am UTC (link)
	hey, i told you those were for PERSONAL use only!!!!!! (Reply to this) (Parent)

	haughty_hottie 2006-03-17 07:00 am UTC (link)
	(Reply to this) (Parent)

goldenmelodies
2006-03-15 10:07 pm UTC (link)

"I've got to say that boho tribalism
and reference to Native American themes totally make me want to puke."

YES. I totally agree and have noticed this myself in the last year especially. It's really weird to me. The problem to me (and I think you are getting at too) is not simply white people appropriating aspects of another culture = automatically bad. I think the problem has more to with trivializing what they are appropriating and reducing it to PURE STYLE and aesthetic with no ideas behind it. I see people appropriating American Indian styles and to the artists they seem to be nothing more than a wacky set of stylistic devices. They don't seem mean shit beyond being a cool set of motifs and patterns and costumes to adopt. To me that always seems to be totally disrespectful when the nature of the orginal subject/style/culture was one totally based on deeper meanings and ideas. It seems to be a huge contradiction which wasn't intended by the maker.

However, I do see a couple of artists/bands/whatever using this general aesthetic in respectful, earnets and honest ways. For example: the band Get Hustle and even Devendra Banhart. They totally adopt American Indian motifs in their visual presentation, but when you look at the other aspects of these artists (lyrics/interviews/etc) I think it is clear that they are totally intune with and consious of the ideas behind these images, and they corrospond to honestly to their beliefs and lifestyle. It isn't just like "Hey! I'm into the look of headresses/skulls/feathers/animals/whatever, let's party" it's more like those styles represent real, honest feelings/thoughts/ideas about nature/spirituality/animals/etc.

Does that at all makes sense??? Does anyone agree/disagree?

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	goldenmelodies 2006-03-15 10:22 pm UTC (link)
	Also, I feel like I should say I TOTALLY admire the creativity and enthusiasm happening in the above link, in what I wrote I am not even thinking so much in terms of that stuff specificly, just things I've seen in the current art/music scene and observations on trends in general. (Reply to this) (Parent)

gun_sho
2006-03-15 10:35 pm UTC (link)

i agree totally.

i try to keep in mind that most of "art" is made up of a large percentage of folks who don't have
the time or energy to commit to much more than what's on the surface. the state of art as it is today
exists as pure representation anyway, at least that's what i've begun to gather.

things tend to boil down to fashion. And fashion is what it is. i don't expect a whole lot of concentrated
reflection to come out of groups of people who tend to lap up whatever is served to them. interestingly
enough, there is something in common between an Insane Clown Posse fanatic and the human subjects
of our current conversation yet has nothing to do with warpaint. Both sets adhere to a particular code that defines their identities and creates a sense of comfortable individuality. the slight difference only being the nature of the commodity they consume which is mass-produced vs. boutique. what the hell is the difference between some 19 year old mallrat's dumbass meaningless tribal tattoo and a 19 year old bohemian's dayglow homage to the trickster coyote?

i agree with what you're saying 100%.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

twoheaded_boy
2006-03-16 04:28 am UTC (link)

hey, thanks to both of you guys for the engaged commentary. I totally agree with what you're saying. even while I was making this post, I was thinking that it could probably stand an injection of critical thinking. I'm fascinated by the scene going on here, but I have a lot of misgivings about aspects of it that you guys have illustrated pretty aptly).

As far as the appropriation of native American aesthetics goes, I think it's worth pointing out a band like The USAISAMONSTER and their last album, where they took a serious view of the struggles and lost histories of oppressed peoples (American Indian tribes in particular). Not everybody involved in this brand of art/noise music is just using Native mysticism as a springboard for detached individualistic self-exploration/gratification/fashion.

I think what gets me most about these Texas kids is their obsession with the excess of visual culture, particularly with fantasy. They (ironically or not) focus on and reproduce the most outrageous and unselfconscious manifestations of fantasy (LARPers, for example, or any sort of retard-in-a-costume). They dig up bizarro subcultures and hapless individuals (bad taste, etc.) in the deepest depths of "uncoolness" and then reprocess it through some "psychedelic" filters in order to view the whole spectrum of excess as a carnival that's available for their own life-as-costume-drama. It's a weird combination of escapism and immersionism, and I can't help but look at it as a sort of terminal point on the cultural ladder of increasing complexity/self-referentiality.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

kaosrobot
2006-03-16 06:27 pm UTC (link)

"...a sort of terminal point on the cultural ladder of increasing complexity/self-referentiality."

sign of the times perhaps?

im actually the one responsible for the awthumfetht video, and for organizing the awthumfetht performance music event. thanks for posting the video and link! i think theres a lot of interesting commentary going on here, heres how i feel

i too have noticed the influx of native american aesthetic style and art in the modern world the past few years, and though it is not necessarily my cup o tea (i tend to always dress as if im on my way to the gym), i refuse to dismiss the musical visual fashion etc output as any more or less valid than their ancient predecessors. instead of letting the decisions of others frustrate the shit outta me and thus hinder my own creativity and capacity to grow, i have decided to accept, embrace, and observe it

for me, whats going on is an overloaded, panicked, and emotionally dismal reinterpretation of culture. however detached, precise, or historically naive it may be, i feel it deserves healthy dialog and analysis (which is why i think it's great we are all talking about this)

i am not so much disgusted by dumbed down mysticism as i am attracted to its satirical parallels to mainstream culture...to me, the costumes, psychodelic imagery etc are an inverted parody of many sickening rituals of the mainstream world....girls gone wild, TRL, war, etc....though to criticize escapist visions of others, whether or not we agree with them, seems absurd. hmm

i cant help but get defensive about comments like "these Texas kids" cuz, well, by your definition, i AM one of those texas kids (even though im older than you ;-p ), and watching friends (some wow still in high school) perform and make music has been an incredible inspiration for me, which is basically why i've decided to organize this event. i wish to display a wide variety of evolving, harsh, absurd, maybe even comical perceptions of reality in a positive and exciting light

on a side note, i think we must be very careful in our judgements, cuz a huge portion of my friends who have been lumped together as 30k/yr art school paper rad load recs fanatics come from broken homes, low income areas, etc, and to me, whatever they do to let out frustrations of life is their own vehicle for survival

but again, thanks for supporting the cause and starting an interesting conversation!!

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

twoheaded_boy
2006-03-16 07:36 pm UTC (link)

Hey, thanks for being so amiable. I guess I should apologize a little. Phrases like "what gets me most about these Texas kids" sound dismissive, and that's not my intention. I don't mean to be judgemental, I'm just fascinated by your scene and I think what you are your comrades are involved in bears some scrutiny as a cultural phenomenon.

i think it also interests me as something specifically american, being from canada. seripop and their associates have some rad things going on in montreal, but i have a hard time imagining canada producing a scene quite like yours, particularly if you think of the Alberta as the Texas of Canada. there's no neon mysticicist noise punk in Alberta, that's for sure.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

haughty_hottie
2006-03-16 08:08 pm UTC (link)

"on a side note, i think we must be very careful in our judgements, cuz a huge portion of my friends who have been lumped together as 30k/yr art school paper rad load recs fanatics come from broken homes, low income areas, etc, and to me, whatever they do to let out frustrations of life is their own vehicle for survival."

having known this super awesome dude and a lot of the other people involved in this event since i was like 16 or 17 (and even younger in some cases), i know that a lot of them a) do not fit into this neat little stereotype (dude, i don't even know one person who goes/went to risd) and b) they know their shit and are not prescribing to any particular mode of aesthetics - it's part of a lifestyle choice, to eschew bourgeuois middle class white values and beliefs and heteronormative "american" standards of living - to make their own tiny little subculture within a society they don't necessarily agree with, so they can live. to lump them in with these whiny rich douchebags is totally wrong. although i can understand the resentment, don't judge a book by its cover.

anyone would be extraordinarily lucky to be friends with these kids. i know i'm appropriately thankful.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

gun_sho
2006-03-16 09:44 pm UTC (link)

haughty_hottie, this isn't directed at you, i just don't know where else to reply.

again, and hopefully for the last time, my opinions are based on personal experience in
the place that i live. yes, a major portion of the people that i was referring to and was personally aquainted with were (and some are still) indeed 30K a year RISD students. yes, that has nothing to do with Texas and Texas has nothing to do with my commentary- which by the way, resulted in a purely retarted anonymous and insulting post from someone who was offended (which was later deleted).
providence is an epicenter of a lot of the aesthetics that we are talking about.

as far as "assumptions" go, there are a lot of them going around. one of which is the assumption
that if someone like myself has a detracting opinion on some element within that "subculture"
then we're judging a book by a cover.

that very idea assumes that someone like myself doesn't understand what's going on, is ignorant, and judging by the bullshit personal attack i experienced, is to be subject to a barrage of snobbish juvenile
crap.

when people automatically assume a defensive position on a subject and refuse to listen to any sort of criticism it does a complete and total disservice to that subject. if we're talking about an aesthetic that is
supposed to be so sensitive and in tune with all the cultural detritus that's spewed out in all directions
at us all the time, they need to be prepared to explain themselves when someone calls them on something. you can't have it both ways and be both a populist and an isolationist.

taking an isolationist position only reinforces the suspicsion that such a subculture is some sort
of "member's" only thing and when people take that position, they're bound to experience a backlash.
it also, in a way insures the ultimate demise of subculture, because once something has been "named",
it's entered into the cycle and it aquires a lifespan. like i said before, judging by the off the cuff visceral
response by some folks (which ironically is what i don't like about the Native American references), the
end is near and it will be a short time before we see it all on MTV.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	cutoffhisarm 2006-03-16 10:04 pm UTC (link)
	You sir have way too much damn time on your hands. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	gun_sho 2006-03-16 10:17 pm UTC (link)
	sorry but someone already burned me really good today. nice try though bro. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	cutoffhisarm 2006-03-16 10:29 pm UTC (link)
	I'm not trying to make fun of you Toxic Warlock, I'm just stating the obvious. -Will Sellari (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	gun_sho 2006-03-16 10:37 pm UTC (link)
	awesome, thanks! (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	cutoffhisarm 2006-03-16 10:49 pm UTC (link)
	killer, welcome! -Will Sellari (Reply to this) (Parent)

haughty_hottie
2006-03-17 07:06 am UTC (link)

i only know one person who lives in providence.

all i know is she went to brown, her parents were loaded, and she was selling ecstacy out of some sort of flophouse basement with 8 people living it. i think all college towns are familiar with what it means to be slumming it.

anyway, i don't know about those other big words you used. i think you just called me a stupid bitch who can't back up her opinions. which is fine, 'cause i have better things to do than justify myself on the internet.

... "better things" meaning buying dreamcatchers and kokopelli batik wall decorations off of ebay.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	haughty_hottie 2006-03-17 07:11 am UTC (link)
	even though that wasn't directed at me, of course. god, i am so confused. i must be getting a contact high from all of these sxsw assholes smoking blunts in my parking lot. (Reply to this) (Parent)

twoheaded_boy
2006-03-17 07:15 am UTC (link)

I don't think he was insulting you, I think he was responding more to the guy that was posting really stupid and offensive personal insults in response to his comments (I had to delete a few things).

I've appreciated your comments quite a lot. You actually have a personal perspective on the people and the music that we're talking about, and points like...

"having known this super awesome dude and a lot of the other people involved in this event since i was like 16 or 17 (and even younger in some cases), i know that a lot of them a) do not fit into this neat little stereotype (dude, i don't even know one person who goes/went to risd) and b) they know their shit and are not prescribing to any particular mode of aesthetics - it's part of a lifestyle choice, to eschew bourgeuois middle class white values and beliefs and heteronormative "american" standards of living - to make their own tiny little subculture within a society they don't necessarily agree with, so they can live. to lump them in with these whiny rich douchebags is totally wrong. although i can understand the resentment, don't judge a book by its cover."

...are really good to have in this discusion.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	haughty_hottie 2006-03-17 07:24 am UTC (link)
	yeah, i kind of figured after that opening statement. i just meant that in a royal we sort of way. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	seripop 2006-03-16 09:36 pm UTC (link)
	great reply . i find your take on the "new mysticism" as it would be quite interesting. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	seripop 2006-03-16 10:21 pm UTC (link)
	mmm my comment was meant for kaosrobot (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	kaosrobot 2006-03-16 10:35 pm UTC (link)
	thanks seripop! i dig ur work a ton! (Reply to this) (Parent)

haughty_hottie
2006-03-16 08:20 pm UTC (link)

"I think what gets me most about these Texas kids is their obsession with the excess of visual culture, particularly with fantasy. They (ironically or not) focus on and reproduce the most outrageous and unselfconscious manifestations of fantasy (LARPers, for example, or any sort of retard-in-a-costume). They dig up bizarro subcultures and hapless individuals (bad taste, etc.) in the deepest depths of "uncoolness" and then reprocess it through some "psychedelic" filters in order to view the whole spectrum of excess as a carnival that's available for their own life-as-costume-drama. It's a weird combination of escapism and immersionism, and I can't help but look at it as a sort of terminal point on the cultural ladder of increasing complexity/self-referentiality."

i have lived in austin for 22 years and i am totally unfamiliar with this phenomenon. but then again, austin is nothing like the rest of texas? should i be really confused by this???

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	twoheaded_boy 2006-03-17 06:37 am UTC (link)
	well, all I was going by when I said that was the AWTHUM FETHT video and koalas_in_love's livejournal. when I say "texas kids", all I mean is "these two sources, which I take to be indicative of a specific scene in texas". (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	haughty_hottie 2006-03-17 06:53 am UTC (link)
	sorry, i read it as "these texas kids" instead of "these texas kids". honest mistake. (Reply to this) (Parent)

haughty_hottie
2006-03-16 08:18 pm UTC (link)

you said "However, I do see a couple of artists/bands/whatever using this general aesthetic in respectful, earnets and honest ways.... They totally adopt American Indian motifs in their visual presentation, but when you look at the other aspects of these artists (lyrics/interviews/etc) I think it is clear that they are totally intune with and consious of the ideas behind these images, and they corrospond to honestly to their beliefs and lifestyle."

well, they do. at least the individuals i can vouch for, i've never met the touring bands.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

goldenmelodies
2006-03-16 09:17 pm UTC (link)

Well that's good! I hope so!

Again, like I said above my comments are not specificly directed at this festival or bands. The conversation just happened to come up within the context of discussing this festival (although I do think "crystal mexico peacepipe warphole" can sound a little rude or flippant or representative of this trend or something). I honestly only know about 3 of those bands at most. My thoughts were more about observations on general current trends in art and music, and I had a few specific examples in mind when writing (none of which were to do with those bands in the link, I actually think koalas_in_love is totally awesome!!!!). I could have mentioned specificly who I was thinking of and post links/pictures, but it seems kind of bad taste to shit-talk and name-names totally unprovoked. But you know... you could probebly guess the kind of thing I mean. Mindless ultra-trendiness.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	cutoffhisarm 2006-03-16 10:13 pm UTC (link)
	"I could have mentioned specificly who I was thinking of and post links/pictures, but it seems kind of bad taste to shit-talk and name-names totally unprovoked." You should. -Will Sellari (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	haughty_hottie 2006-03-17 06:57 am UTC (link)
	hey will, please tell me where i can purchase said t-shirts. i would really like to dress like one of those risd kids with 30 grand a year to throw away on looking like a yuppie bohemian living in a total fantasy world, oblivious to my own role in the so-called gentrification of Providence... er, i meant to say east austin. love natasha (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	(Anonymous) 2006-03-17 05:42 pm UTC (link)
	Sorry Natasha, I feel that at this time you're one of those Texas Kids, and being an import in Austin I should keep them all for myself. Good luck driving your Lexus, Will PS: http://www.nogardgifts.com/catalog/ http://www.animalshirts.net/ This is where I blow my 30K a year on clothes. "Austin Texas, the Paris Hitlon of Tie-Dye" (Reply to this) (Parent)

	cutoffhisarm 2006-03-16 10:15 pm UTC (link)
	Get these off the market first you poor over looked Art Crusader. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	Quick Gun_Sho Help! (Anonymous) 2006-03-17 05:36 pm UTC (link)
	MATTHEW BARNEY EXPLOITING THE JAPANESE! http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/drawingrestraint9/trailer/ (Reply to this) (Parent)

(Deleted post)

gun_sho
2006-03-15 08:05 pm UTC (link)

First off, I'm a fan of a lot of the music and the art that is generated by the people who I'm describing.
My complaint is with something that has been snowballing in recent time. It's pretty specific and it's
directed towards the adoption of a particular cultural aesthetic that in effect (and it's just an opinion) reduces
that particular aesthetic to pure simulation and is done so at the expense of American Indians. This is an observation and a complaint that is rooted in something that is close to my own personal experience living
next to and Indian Reservation. I'm not proclaiming to be right.

Yes, folks pictured above wear makeup and and suffer from hero-worship just like the neon-garbed folks that I was describing. There is a distinct difference between your average costumed Insane Clown Posse fan and kids (or adults or otherwise) who are the target of my commentary.

One major one being that Insane Clown Posse "lifestyle" is a purely commodified identity that can be purchased at most any Hot Topic in most any mall. That very fact makes a huge difference considering that once this particular current wave of "outsider" fashion/music/whatever is commodified and available at The Mall, it will be dropped like a hot rock by the folks that are so married to it at this point.

I'm aware that some of these kids have been into this for years, I'm sure that some of them will still be going strong in 15 years. That's not the focus of my complaint. The length of time that someone has commited to a particular identity has nothing at all to do with the fact that it bothers me.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	(Anonymous) 2006-03-16 03:55 am UTC (link)
	SO WHAT IS THE SOLUTION TO THIS CULTURAL MONSTROSITY??? (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	gun_sho 2006-03-16 05:08 am UTC (link)
	i don't know, i guess that it would have to be witty all caps posts. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	astarte93 2006-03-16 11:46 am UTC (link)
	I want to go. (Reply to this)

	lyrachroma 2006-03-28 02:04 am UTC (link)
	dude, crystal mexico is just a fun name... shit. I really don't think eli (the dude that lives there) has any mal intent toward native americans. (Reply to this)

(42 comments) - (Post a new comment)

Username:		Create an Account Forgot your login or password? Login w/ OpenID
Password:
	Remember Me
	English • Español • Deutsch • Русский…

About

Help

Get Involved

Legal

Store

LJ Labs