Comments on: A Ballardian Burial

By: WTM #1057: JG Ballard RIP « bart • wreck

WTM #1057: JG Ballard RIP « bart • wreck — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 09:01:43 +0000

[...] http://www.ballardian.com/a-ballardian-burial [...]

By: conscious error

conscious error — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:20:25 +0000

Haven’t read through all of the comments, but maybe no one else noticed this… when I got my copy of “Burial” by Burial there was a cover blurb about the album being Burial’s vision of the future, of a half-submerged South London (the cover art seems to support this), and it seems I read similar things online. However, I’ve read a couple of interviews, and he has never personally mentioned this concept as far as I know.

Whatever its genesis, might this bit of PR also be part of the Ballardian connection some reviewers have made?

By: anorki i norge » Blog Archive » Portal

anorki i norge » Blog Archive » Portal — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 14:16:45 +0000

[...] 1,2,3. Posted by admin Filed in Musikk, Skrevet [...]

By: Simon Sellars

Simon Sellars — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:48:05 +0000

Cheers Chris! I agree, Steve’s comments make me think too, make me realise Ballard in new and different ways… I’m very much looking forward to his book.

By: Simon Sellars

Simon Sellars — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:46:30 +0000

Oh, that’s very nice of you, Tom, cheers… but I just see my articles as asking questions, really. I love it when answers subsequently come in, and this post has done that from far and wide. So dubstep really is a net phenomenon… this post attracted more hits than just about any in the last 6 months on this site, more than even the straight-up interviews with Ballard and so on! In. A. Word: P.h.e.n.o.m.e.n.a.l.

By: Chris J

Chris J — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 10:52:21 +0000

“The Drowned World, set in London underwater, a kind of tropical London, most of the city’s flooded. The creatures undergo this sort of weird negative evolution, so that there are pterodactyls flying down what used to be streets but are now lagoons. And the humidity and clamminess of that idea of London, I was kind of hearing it in jungle.”

This whole post is amazing, deep, thought-provoking stuff.
Kode9’s comments above about jungle/drum ‘n’ bass really resonate with me.

And I’ve always thought of the whole raving/bassbin/warehouse experience as a kind of repository for lost sounds. I always wondered where they had been swept from, toward me, in the moment, on the floor.

By: Tom Sparks

Tom Sparks — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 07:45:47 +0000

Simon, the original post was excellent, with your remix/update it has become even better. Thanks for including the radio show from DJ Rupture I have that on my MP3 player and will enjoy it over and over again.

Your devotion to Ballard and your intellect bring a sharp focus to the Balladrian nature of the 21 century, don’t stop, we really appreciate your work.

Cheers!

By: a ballardian burial « noreille

a ballardian burial « noreille — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:28:40 +0000

[...] ballardienne, à rebondir sur le sujet, et à mener sa propre enquète, dans un article intitulée a ballardian burial. Cet article survole les multiples occurrences dans la presse musicale de cette comparaison entre [...]

By: jonny mugwump

jonny mugwump — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:00:38 +0000

I wrote the playlouder review and also wrote a review of the first burial album where i also referenced Ballard.

I think the link is more of a painterly one- both Burial and Kode9’s music is particularly evocative and i mean images whereas Ballard’s best books for me have always read as surrealist paintings in story form. Also, Spaceape’s lyrics very much describe a peculiar kind of weird urbanity so don’t think the influences and any knowledge of the artists involved help inspire this kind of connection. The music just immediately screamed Ballard at me and yes, it certainly makes an enormous change from the usual Crash associations. Very nice piece too .

By: ballardian on hyperdub at states of mind

ballardian on hyperdub at states of mind — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 02:25:11 +0000

[...] Musings on the ever-evolving Hyperdub phenomena include the interesting tidbit that Steve Goodman is writing a book on sonic warfare. [...]

By: Simon Sellars

Simon Sellars — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:14:41 +0000

out1, your piece sounds very intriguing based on what you say here. i agree about burial’s interviews being poetic. and everything you say about erasure and blurred zones connects with me, too, of course.

one thing about dubstep is, it appears to be insanely popular! at least on the web…in certain places… this article has attracted more hits than most i’ve posted in recent times.

By: out1

out1 — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:50:53 +0000

that’s a great piece of work presented here. really great.
some time ago i have written an article on burial for an ukrainian independent music magazine (unfortunately it’s only in ukrainian language, you could check it for the images). it centred around all this psychogeographical stuff and i was more like referring to iain sinclair and the forthcoming olympics 2012.
i would also talk about the erasure of traces, about the inability to leave such traces, about the history of the urban environment, that is not only marked in the victorian villas, but also in the estates and postmodern atrocities like isle of dogs.
i would talk about small places, “blurred zones”, places of instability that are now being erased.

http://gurkit.org/?section=feature&id=5

burial own interviews are also the most poetic things, when he speaks about landscapes, environments, urban impressions.

i think he created one of the most astonishing visions of london to connect with in the present time. and i think this vision is more burial orientated – i have a great longing for london and all its wastelands and corners, without having the possibility EVER to visit it (i’m almost sure).
and he is truly the only living pop-star with whom at least i can associate.
he has the dignity.

chears

By: wayneandwax.com » links for 2008-07-18

wayneandwax.com » links for 2008-07-18 — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 01:30:43 +0000

[...] Ballardian » A Ballardian Burial also via /jace, thoughtful, lengthy, strengthy piece re: kode9, j.g. ballard, and london sonics (tags: blogpost sound london soundscape sci-fi literature aesthetics dubstep jungle) [...]

By: Ben Austwick

Ben Austwick — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 20:17:38 +0000

Great piece Simon. It’s an interesting subject.

I’ve always liked club music, and like the clubbier end of dubstep and grime. I can’t really see any real links with Ballard, but club music’s constant thirst for change and novelty will connect with people looking for the same in art, literature etc, and these are people that may well have come across and enjoyed Ballard. That’s where the connection is I think.

I reckon Kode 9 and Burial may be a little too melodic to be Ballardian, it’s the harder stuff that reminds me of him more, but that’s probably my own prejudices speaking

By: Mikael

Mikael — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 13:53:15 +0000

Simon, I can tell you a little story in response to your question about dubstep as dance music. I went to a Kode9 gig in Singapore, where I live at the moment. It was a fantastic gig, although there were only maybe 50 people in the audience, mostly consisting of sad hipster wannbes like myself. The first hour was definitely head music; soundscapes of the type Kode9 create on their records – very futuristic, sort of non-cheesy cyberpunk music, if that is possible. (For the record, Kode9 and Burial don’t give me any kind of Ballard vibes sonically, either.) People were standing around, nodding, and enjoying it. Suddenly, Spaceape started a monologue about how they had spent 12 hours on a plane here, and that we had to dance. “We come here to dance, OK?” Then he started to walk around among the audience to check that everyone was dancing. The following hour turned out to be very danceable, heavy on the “dub” part of “dubstep” with lots of Jamaican deejay-style interjections from Spaceape. Also a lot of more dance-friendly dubstep by artists like Skream. An excellent night, all in all. By the way, I also interviewed Steve Goodman once for my webzine Powerbase Alpha. The interview might still be out there on Waybackmachine or something. It was quite similar to your interview.

By: Simon Sellars

Simon Sellars — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 06:26:49 +0000

re: “I have never read any Ballard (yes, really) but I do assume the word “dystopian” wouldn’t be the worst choice of adjective to describe the notion of Ballardian?”

Depends if you consider Ballard’s writing to be dystopian: some do, some don’t.

By: Simon Sellars

Simon Sellars — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 01:58:22 +0000

Sabes, I’m in Australia…

Funny, I’ve never really thought of dubstep as ‘dance’ music. How would you dance to it, exactly — would you move like a parallelogram?

By: Sabes

Sabes — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 00:27:03 +0000

where is this blog written from Simon? I only ask as the entry times are not from my time.

Dubstep can resonate whilst played at a party under a motorway bridge. This is when I first heard it. Having said that, there was a collective relief when the drum n bass was played after. We all knew how to dance to this.

By: Simon Sellars

Simon Sellars — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 01:38:38 +0000

I had a thought that sometimes this music reminds me of creeping death… A film like 28 Days Later, in particular, more than Ballard (although that film does of course have its own Ballardian resonance). Would the listening experience be different if Steve had cited, say Lovecraft, as an abiding influence? Perhaps he has?

By: Simon Sellars

Simon Sellars — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 05:06:44 +0000

I think those poor guinea pigs trapped in the train toilets in Essex might agree with you about the dystopian aspects of piped music.

By: Sabes

Sabes — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 23:56:34 +0000

I have another comment to make.

Simon originally articulates how he is interested on what Steve Goodman refers to as ‘the role of sound in an ‘echology of fear’.

Well, piped music soundracks my future dystopian nightmares, not the sounds of Skream et al.
And interestingly, I tend to play my Closer LP during moments of elation. It’s all about the contrast.

By: Jack

Jack — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 23:39:20 +0000

A few years ago (2005, I think) the club I was DJing at booked Kode9 and Daddi Gee, as the Spaceape was known then, for a little tour of Scotland, and we had a quasi-Ballardian moment in Dundee. No one turned up (well, five or six folk) but the two Steves decided to go on anyway. After each song was finished, they played a recording of rapturous applause, which echoed around this big, slightly naff, decidedly provincial nightclub.

By: joanne mcneil

joanne mcneil — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:34:56 +0000

Very interesting points. Would Burial sound ballardian to someone who has never read his books? Or would it just sound like the creaky noises of an empty apartment at night? It’s just remarkable that so many musicians consider him an influence that the type of music is reflected by their favorite books of his. Veering slightly off topic, Anne Clark (Sleeper in Metropolis, Poem for a Nuclear Romance, etc) made “as Ballardian a record as I’ve ever heard.” Moreso than Gary Numan and John Foxx. Her lyrics are so clinical…. if you stuffed her lyric sheets in The Atrocity Exhibition few would ever notice.

By the way, there is a group on Last.fm that aggregates the music fans of JGB have listened to for the week: http://www.last.fm/group/Ballard
At the top of the list this week: Joy Division!

By: Mountain*7 - Music, Books, Culture

Mountain*7 - Music, Books, Culture — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:18:43 +0000

[...] Some stuff to read for the evening: Simon over at Ballardian on the putative link between Dubstep (in the guise of Kode9) and Ballard. Great piece. The Guardian on the discovery of Kafka’s writing papers Posted by poacher in books [...]

By: Simon Sellars

Simon Sellars — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 13:29:00 +0000

Sabes, as a critic of sorts, I would suggest I agree with you! I do believe criticism adds immensely to the vibrancy of music, and I was fascinated to track this Ballardian thread across the kode9/Burial spectrum. It has been a very stimulating progression.

By: Sabes

Sabes — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 13:10:07 +0000

I have never read any Ballard (yes, really) but I do assume the word “dystopian” wouldn’t be the worst choice of adjective to describe the notion of Ballardian? The same adjective can of course be said for much of the music that has become known as “dubsteb”. I say of course as I listen to a great deal of dubstep. But it certainly isn’t all. Matt rightly suggests the Appleblim/Shackleton axis. I do not hear what I assume are Ballardian soundscapes in their music.

But I suspect the point is only the artist will know what their influences are, & to suggest a collective of artists are influenced by a particular concept is simply a natural consequence for a listen or critic to arrive at. This isn’t to say it isn’t worthwhile. Far from it. I would suggest Simon that serious music criticism is invaluable & adds to music’s vibrancy.

Must dash….have work to do. Thanks for the distraction though.

By: Simon Sellars

Simon Sellars — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 09:59:06 +0000

Cheers, I think we are saying the same thing! As for Croydon, i have only passed through it in a bus on the way to Brighton. I only really know of it through Ballard and kode9!

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 09:43:42 +0000

I agree. It’s more that the dubstep angle is slightly spurious to me, at least in a sonic sense. As I said above no one is attributing this stuff to Shackleton or Appleblim – it’s more to with Goodman’s theoretical and personal interests I think. Which isn’t to say it isn’t true, of course, just more problematic.

A really intriguing subject though so nice one for expanding on it.

By: Simon Sellars

Simon Sellars — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 09:26:21 +0000

To my mind, some of the quotes I included did make the case that the actual sounds were ‘Ballardian’. Burial, for example, has never claimed a Ballard influence as far as I know yet this is something ascribed to his music. I guess I’m just wondering how much of the theoretical discourse surrounding the Hyperdub label colours this perception. I think it’s interesting to examine the initial-theory/end-product feedback loop, especially with something as nebulous as music. Would music be as interesting, could it tell a ’story’ as well, without criticism?

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 09:02:38 +0000

That’s a cracking piece, Simon – cheers.

A few things immediately spring to mind with this though. Is the Ballardian/dubstep association more about the people involved here than the actual music? I mean there is no one leaping to make a connection between what Shackleton is doing and Ballard, same with Pinch. Surely this is more about kode9’s personal theoretical affiliations than any direct link between the sounds involved and the writing of Ballard?

As to the ‘Croydon’ element of all this, I’ve always thought it important only as a symbol for something else (certainly in terms of Burial anyway) – i.e. an outside/suburban location from where to long for the romance of the London streets. Untrue is riven with a kind of misplaced nostalgia – a nostalgia for a scene that he readily admits he was never a part of.

Just rambling now…

Cheers

Matt