The term "underground music" has been applied to several artistic movements, such as the psychedelic music movement of the mid-1960s, but the term has since then come to be defined by any musical artist/band that avoids becoming a trend/mainstream. Other early "underground" bands include the Velvet Underground, MC5, The Grateful Dead, Patti Smith, Mayhem, and the Stooges. Frank Zappa tried to define "underground" by noting that the "mainstream comes to you, but you have to go to the underground." In the 1960s, the term underground was associated with the hippie counterculture of young people who had dropped out of college and their middle class life to live in an off-the-grid commune of free love and cannabis. In modern popular music, the term “underground” refers to a performers or bands ranging from artists that do DIY guerrilla concerts and self-recorded shows to those that are signed to small independent labels. In some musical styles, the term “underground” is used to assert that the content of the music is illegal or controversial, as in the case of early 1990s death metal bands in the US such as Cannibal Corpse for their gory cover art and lyrical themes. Black metal is also an underground form of music and its Norwegian scene are notorious for their association with church burnings, the occult, murders and their Anti-Christian views. All of extreme metal is considered underground music for its extreme nature.
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Post-Punk: An Examination Of The Underground Music Movement
A great history of the Post-Punk underground music movement. It places bands like Sonic Youth and Pavement into the history of '90s Music, and examines post-punk music as an art form.
Punk rock began as a response to the big budget, over produced music of 1970s. It was a reaction to disco and arena rock. So what is post-punk? The etymology of the word points to it being after punk, but that is not the meaning because punk music is stilling being made today. An interesting analogy can be made with literature to shine a light on the subject of post-punk. Modern literature did not cease to be written after the advent of post-modern literature. The two exist simultaneously as movements in literature. Thus punk and post-punk exist as musical movements. Post-punk is all most a catchall category for underground, indie, or lo-fi guitar rock. It is also the music most representative of the slacker traditions of gen-x.
So how did post-punk begin? It's a hard question to answer, but I think it began as a reaction to the nihilism of punk rock. Punk music was defined by its aggressive vocals, and often sloppy, simple instrumentation. More over, the punks were marked by their attitude, where as most post-punk musicians can be marked by their lack of attitude. Punk music wanted to create a revolution. Post-punk music wanted to create art. The D.I.Y. (Do it Yourself) ethic of punk was perhaps the greatest influence the genre had on post-punk. Post-punk bands initially avoided major record labels in the pursuit of artistic freedom, and out of an 'us against them' stance towards the corporate rock world. The movement probably begins with Sonic Youth an avant-garde noise band from New York. However, there were many bands that influenced the movement like The Velvet Underground, MC5, Joy Division, and The Talking Heads. Read More
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Post-Punk: An Examination Of The Underground Music Movement
A great history of the Post-Punk underground music movement. It places bands like Sonic Youth and Pavement into the history of '90s Music, and examines post-punk music as an art form.
Punk rock began as a response to the big budget, over produced music of 1970s. It was a reaction to disco and arena rock. So what is post-punk? The etymology of the word points to it being after punk, but that is not the meaning because punk music is stilling being made today. An interesting analogy can be made with literature to shine a light on the subject of post-punk. Modern literature did not cease to be written after the advent of post-modern literature. The two exist simultaneously as movements in literature. Thus punk and post-punk exist as musical movements. Post-punk is all most a catchall category for underground, indie, or lo-fi guitar rock. It is also the music most representative of the slacker traditions of gen-x.So how did post-punk begin? It's a hard question to answer, but I think it began as a reaction to the nihilism of punk rock. Punk music was defined by its aggressive vocals, and often sloppy, simple instrumentation. More over, the punks were marked by their attitude, where as most post-punk musicians can be marked by their lack of attitude. Punk music wanted to create a revolution. Post-punk music wanted to create art. The D.I.Y. (Do it Yourself) ethic of punk was perhaps the greatest influence the genre had on post-punk. Post-punk bands initially avoided major record labels in the pursuit of artistic freedom, and out of an 'us against them' stance towards the corporate rock world. The movement probably begins with Sonic Youth an avant-garde noise band from New York. However, there were many bands that influenced the movement like The Velvet Underground, MC5, Joy Division, and The Talking Heads. Read More
