Classic, Modern, and futuristic.
There's a thread of irony that goes through the presentation of these three (as, arguably, the guys doing Apache didn't know they'd look retarded in 25 years), but they're also good music (at least the last two).
For all of these, what I mean by irony is the simultaneous position of attracting and deriding each work: The Apache video is fun because it's goofy and over-the-top, but if there was no resonant chord of nostolgia for that time, there'd be no reason to notice it. Similarly, the "Dragostea Din Tei" video (the second one), lets us both enjoy being that goon who sings along with infectious pop and ridicule that part of ourselves. And the third one, "Galanga-alanga-alang-a" by Tamil/Brit artist M.I.A. has both the love of the '80s aesthetic and a conscious reappropriation within it.
It's future-kitsch, something that will be remembered tomorrow not for the references it makes to the past but for being part of the past, inspererable from the currents that produced it. If someone in 2050 sees this, they won't be able to differentiate the '80s from the aughts, but will see it all as a melange, and it will remind them not of the '80s nostolgia but of a similacrum of '80s nostolgia.
It's also goddamn catchy. This is the future of kitsch.
(EDIT: Thanks Brandon. Apparently, Kitsch is spelled with an "s" in there. As a guy who took German for too long, you'd think I'd remember things like that. If I weren't, you know, retarded.)
1 comment:
kitSch, dude.
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