Intro to Mark Fisher: Hauntology and Music
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- Опубликовано: 12 сен 2024
- An intro to the thought of the late great Mark Fisher, particularly his music criticism.
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This is such a serendipitous find. I just started reading Ghosts of My Life, and Fisher is rapidly becoming one of my favourite thinkers ever. RIP Mark.
He's one of the greats, truly. Really glad the video found you
Fisher never made it onto my radar while he was among the living. I'm stoked to go deep on his work. Thanks.
Great video! As a gen z musician, I sort of subconsciously understood this hauntological idea of there being "no future" for music or post-capitalist desire. Definitely will be looking more into Fisher.
I think the group Broadcast nailed the sound completely. Especially the song Accidentals. Sounds like a futuristic British communist utopian state, but stuck in the 60s
Such an amazing band. The singers death was so tragic.
Another genre that has always given me hauntological vibes is black metal, especially on the more atmospheric/depressive side of the genre. There is one particular song by Burzum by the name of 'Det Som Engang Var' which was released in 1994 which I feel exemplifies this sense of a lost future perfectly (especially, in regards its lyrics).
Although Varg Vikernes has a lot of really stupid far-right beliefs and although the following lyrics weren't exactly meant to be focused on the idea of lost futures, I still feel like they subconsciously tap into the same anxieties that we experience today. I will share them below:
"In between the bushes we stared at those
who remind us of other times
and told that the hope was gone
forever...
We heard elf song and water that trickeld
That which once was is now gone.
All the blood...
All longing and sorrow that ruled
and the feelings that could be stirred
are gone...
forever...
We have never lived"
Thanks for bringing up Holly Herndon. Checked her out and she is lighting me up
she's WILD. She's apparently up in the Xenofeminist realm, which I'm not up on, but is Mark Fisher and acceleration adjacent
Awesome video man - Great introduction to Fisher and loads of hauntological context!
Glad you're feeling it. Thanks for saying so
late to the party but here's my unsolicited 2 cents on vaporwave cuz it is something that caught my attention when it started: i would argue that the 'good' vaporwave/plunderphonics/whatever (like OPN, luxury elite, Nmesh, HKE-related projects, etc) do a great job of eliciting darker, more hopeless hauntological vibes/themes than the typical, as you said, placid and almost fun-loving vaporwave that definitely took over the genre as well as critiquing the genre itself once it took off. there were many folks deconstructing nostalgic concepts and weaponizing familiar melodies and soundscapes to evoke an eerily familiar, obscured, irretrievable version of the past that could resonate with pretty much anyone who grew up in the US between the 80s and early 2000s.
some of these artists accomplish that by bringing the mood way down in the same vein as Burial with city soundscapes, rain, mall ambience, etc. while some are more tongue-in-cheek jabs at the absurdity and cyclical nature of consumerism and profit worship. all in all, i totally get where you're coming from on the topic but these are just some thoughts i've been sitting with for like 10+ years with no better place to put them down so here ya go!
great channel and great music btw
Outstanding video about a key thinker. I am trying to write a novel, and I feel Fisher's lament in my bones. The digital world has made it so easy to snuggle up in the blanket of nostalgia. How can one make art that MIGHT contribute something new without simply "negating" nostalgia. The trap of nostalgia is subtle and deep. Edit: If I were to critique Fisher, it would be that there is still too much Marx and Adorno in him. What does this mean? That there can be one collective that more or less annihilates base politics. I am not sure that this is possible. There may be a plurality of collectives--all of them post-capitalist--that still must "do" politics in some form.
Before "Burial" and "Untrue" there was, and still is, the original creators of what could be called hauntological music, "Boards Of Canada." All their music, but particularly "Geogaddi," "Music Has the Right to Children," and "Tomorrow's Harvest."
Great video again! Been digging into Mark Fisher the past few months. Holly Herdon and Matt Dryhurst do a podcast that has dug into Mark Fisher and a bunch of topics related to the modern music industry. Worth checking out for some projections on how a music future could work, outside of one size fits all spotify models and focused more on community owned spaces.
Ok I am definitely checking out that Holly Herndon podcast. Her music is absolute queen shit. And I know she's also a theorist, so I really need to get on it.
@@charlielookerNYC Her co-host Matt Dryhurst also gets into these topics a lot on twitter, worth the follow!
Great summary of his work! I’ve always been interested in Fisher’s work and I’ve wanted to cover hauntology to my inquiry project in my composition class. As I am also a musician, I really want to compose music that moves forward and inspires people that way beyond our status quo, to hopefully imagine a better future together.
“Turning Dragon” by Clark is an album that sounds like the future picking through the wreckage of the past.
I will check this out :) Thanks for the rec
Really enjoying your channel, Charlie.
What is some acoustic music you feel lives up to some of the aesthetic innovation and urgency needed in 2024?
Have you considered putting these in a podcast format?
yep I'm going to start releasing these as the Last Things podcast soon
Great video man. Really put into words how I feel about vaporwave, synthwave, and that kind of thing.
I actually really liked your little write up here 😍 thanks!
Curious what you think about HEALTH. They seem like a band that's interested in making populist rock that sounds futuristic, or at least current, changing up their sound with every record. Although, there definitely are retro aspects to their sound.
Health are cool. I never sat with any records but when I saw them like 10 years back I was very very impressed. They don't feel like any kind of revolutionary culture though, I don't think... It doesn't scream "movement" vibes to me. Good shit though!
I can relate to the conservative / individualistic problem a lot. Good video.
Hey Laurent! Glad you liked the video. Yeah I don't personally feel like it's a problem to have this technically conservative bent in my work. It just is what it is. It's beauty, it's personal expression, and it connects with people. It just doesn't have that vibe of a movement, anything revolutionary. It's like being Shostakovich vs Schoenberg I suppose
Ghost Box Records for all your hauntological needs :)
I say "the '10s", as well. Also, great explanation
Check out Laurel Halo, Fennesz, Arca, Oval, Gas, Autechre, David Sylvian
Yep I know these! Quite futuristic. I could have mentioned Arca probably. Laurel Halo rules. I got her to do a remix for me back in 2011. I wonder if Fisher knew of her. I would imagine he probably did. Those other artists you mentioned are amazing and futuristic, although they're older, before this Cancelation of the Future that Fisher was lamenting.
@@charlielookerNYC True you're right you should check out Fennesz, Alva Noto, and Oval, Autechre are extremely futuristic especially Oval's music he literally has a track called Post-Post his music microhouse and glitch music. His music is still ahead of its time. Same with Fennesz. That's cool you did remix for Laurel Halo.
@@charlielookerNYC and vaporwave is kind of corny it's a hit and miss genre mostly trash in my opinion. OPN and Ariel Pink are good though but they aren't strictly vaporwave there are elements of that in their music. Vaporwave is essentially is complacency or apathy whereas I feel the negative and antagonistic feelings you were mentioning I can hear in music like Autechre.
i've only read capitalist realism - where can i find that joy division essay?
it's in the collection "Ghosts of my Life" (maybe elsewhere too?). The essay is called "No Longer the Pleasures: Joy Division".
Glad you got into some of the more deconstructed club adjacent stuff, would really suggest checking out specifically Chino Amobi and Elysia Crampton. Also I'd say James Ferraro is much more in line with Fischer than OPN or Ariel. I think he is maybe except for Haela the most brilliant artist of our generation, nothing in music is more haunted than Ferarro, every album is just like discovering the dystopia behind every american aesthetic
@Charlie Looker would love for you to update us on your thoughts about Ariel Pink--considering his recent cancellation and such (your video is now 2 yrs old)
I would say Dean Blunt, Laurel Halo, and Women, but I'm p optimistic.
Laurel Halo is pretty futuristic! I had her remix my old band Extra Life, years back. She's awesome
One is all.
What mic is this??
It's the Audio Technica 4050. *Great* mic, super versatile. I use it for all my recording, pretty much works for any pro situation.
@@charlielookerNYC thank you!
the vapes from shuggie otis inspiration information weren't so somber, maybe that's the spirit in which to imbibe it.
Capitalism Noir, Episode 02: A Critique of Mark Fisher's Hauntology
ruclips.net/video/Iu58_nUXXZo/видео.html
I don't like vaporwave either
Pretty bad opinion about vaporwave tbqh
I'm usually open to the possibility of changing my mind. I just never liked what I heard
@@charlielookerNYC Just thought that vaporwave being called "placid" is not well thought out. It's supposed to be ironic and the plasticity of it is supposed to come off incredibly artificial and foreboding. It's hauntological in that it preludes and contrasts with the negative consciousness of burial and OPN - it's the abandoned malls forgotten by time playing retro hits while the world crumbles. You should try Vacant Places by Hantasi. It's one of my favourite vaporwave albums and it has more of the OPN feel. Even Father by Reflection is vaporwave and I believe possesses the hauntology aspect you describe. Has the same feel as a liminal space.
Love Fisher but I disagree vehemently with him on music. It’s obvious his scope is very limited. The hyper-capitalist, sexist, violence and drug-soaked content of mainstream Hip Hop really wouldn’t have been pulled off in most of the 20th century.
Sub genres like cloud rap I think are soaked in the culture of the 2010s and couldn’t exist elsewhere, I do disagree with him that there is plenty of music that is solely congenial with its current time. Dean blunt and hype Williams is a good example.
kid see ghosts sometimes
He was a commie? Damn.
Epic fail…
He apparently had some more fascist views later in life, I only know that tidbit, I dunno the details and it could be a factoid
@@propername4830 that’s very weird
@@rubenthekid And also not the least bit true.
@@Ray_Dismay him having fascist views later on in life?