The Abject - Bjork, Matmos, Herbert

A Chance to Cut is a Chance to Cure had some bodysampling on it.

I know, that's why I'm asking.

Matmos collected the samples on 'Chance to Cut...', also used by Herbert on loan.

Both worked with Bjork on the Vespertine record.

But thematically, how are these samples deployed? Do you think that they are inherent similarities between the three? If so, what?

I'm just wondering...

you could throw the vocals in there too I think but it's probably not intentional on bjork's part (the kristeva connection, not the vocals sounding the way they do)

That's actually a really good point. This might seem a bit abstracted of a way to put it, but I think there was a big late-90s transition from images and philosophies of technology and electronics as cold, precise, and robotic to becoming interest in how closely they could mesh with micro-scale biology -- this sort of walking over the point where mathematics at their most complex become the same as biology at its absolute least complex. During the maybe two year run of MTV's Amp, the imagery did this radical shift from block digital "techy" stuff over to mathematically-based natural processes, things like time-lapse photography of waves or minute details of flowers blooming. (The same movement was going on in CGI animation, anyway, the switch from concentrating on complex stylized techiness from having the technology to replicate near-natural things on a small scale.)

Bjork seemed to latch onto that pretty hardcore, both visually with Gondry and musically -- I get the feeling Matmos and Herbert basically just got into it as well and are sort of converging with Bjork. Hence that interface coming up constantly: hyper-mathematical editing of micro samples seems to describe these very basic, minute organic processes . . . robotic Bjorks in the "All is Full of Love" video can be manipulated so complexly as to convey basic organic eroticism . . . etc. etc. etc. Even apart from the music I think it's just a fascinating, fascinating thing to be exploring, and I think it's pretty amazing how most people sort of intuitively pick up on that connection and find it at least somewhat captivating.

Yeah,

It's an interesting point of connection, even just as an evocative gesture. But surely there's more going on here.

w/ 'Hidden Place', the miasmic fluid is much like the waste described by Kristeva - the it's me/but not me syndrome - breaking down the boundaries of self, in other words.

w/ 'Cocoon', the concentration on breast as a signifier of femininity, but also imprisonment - 'Pagan Poetry', the pearls as jewellery but also mutilation (again).

Herbert has many images of the Mother and Child, the opening track 'Unknown to Me' is completely about that distinction, that Otherness.

Most of this is overtly psychoanalytic...

Don't mean to divorce this from the body, but in terms of the glitch sounds, I always wondered how much they had to do with the 'imperfect technology' thing that is related to perceived vinyl 'warmth'. CDs and the digital era supposedly made everything cold and pristine, lacking the soothing subtle and miniscule crackles on the surface. Perhaps this too, stems in the whole microscopic bodily functions?

I wrote recently in my blog about Farben's recent work and how he seems to carry on the tradition of body sounds under the pretense of "Love" all over his song titles (sounds particularly distinct from last year's Jan Jelinek record). Again, nabisco's point about basic organic biology comes up here.

Actually, before somebody says "that is nostalgia at work" about my vinyl comparison, its also possible that that feeds into the glitch thing. What is evoking what is the question.....so perhaps the body stuff just extrapolates upon an existing largescale association of 'warm' sound, or perhaps it is much deeper.

Yeah Honda I think glitch = return of the 'crackle' is a good point. Glitch and noise also has a bodily/organic connection for me aside from the 'human error' thing - maybe it taps into early experiences with language/sound, the way the infant learns to pick familiar noises and words out of the soup of stimuli surrounding it.

I don't enjoy any of the music mentioned very much though, but it's an interesting aesthetic definitely.

David Cronenberg to thread.

Very interesting topic. I loved the fact that Honda brought the concept of love into all this. I've used love as a metaphor for a two- way relation between user and machine in glitch aesthetics (or the blurred boundaries of said relation). You might be interested to read