File Under Popular: Theoretical and Critical Writings on Music

by Chris Cutler, Dirk Vallons (Illustrator)

Fervent and deep takes on pop music arguing against the culture of alienation and for a meaningful form, arrived at through theory, consciousness, and praxis. By one of music’s most ardent thinkers and innovative drummers (Henry Cow, Cassiber). “A stirringly aggressive antidote to contemporary pop cynicism.” —Simon Frith

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

184 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book played an important part in my life as a music fan and listener. The author, Chris Cutler, is an English musician, a member of a number of leading bands (such as Henry Cow, and The Art Bears, and a cool short-lived trio with Amy Denio and Wadi Gysi). He has played a lot with Fred Frith, and he is the brains (and posssibly the muscle) behind ReR Megacorp (a.k.a. Recommended Records), a label that has released a lot of interesting music, especially in the 1990s. Cutler was one of the major forces behind RIO (Rock In Opposition), an art rock movement that never achieved wide renown, but I loved it. The discography on pgs. 137-140 of this book was my guide, and I checked out a lot of the bands listed there.

In these essays, Cutler covers a number of subjects. He shows off his Cambridge education in a couple of them. In "What is Popular Music?" he discusses what he considers to be the 3 primary elements or influences on contemporary music - traditional folk, classical, and the new recording techniques now available. His perspective is a fairly standard leftist one, and he believes that the new technologies will require greater collaboration and thus a music that comes more from the hearts of the people. His view is that progressive music should somehow reflect progressive politics, and that the stuff produced by the big capitalist music industry is not truly popular music. One has to respect Cutler for being a serious thinker as well as a unique contemporary drummer.

It is more interesting to read the author's views on some of his favorite musicians and what they meant to him. There is a piece on Phil Ochs, whom he compares favorably with Elvis Presley. Cutler admires Ochs's leftist commitment, but views "The King" as pretty much of a sell-out, a great talent who was packaged and sold to the public. There is a piece on The Residents, a wacky bunch of art purists. Another group that Cutler is fascinated with is Sun Ra and his Arkestra, and he discusses with admiration the group's communal music-making, and how they all lived in the same house, with no girls or alcohol or drugs permitted. He also admires their very adventurous and odd free jazz, which is not for all tastes.

My favorite piece here is "Progressive Music in the U.K." In it Cutler presents his view on the development of adventurous rock/contemporary music. He starts with the 1950s and discusses The Shadows, whom I had no idea were so influential, then goes over The Beatles, Syd Barrett, Hendrix, and Soft Machine. At this point, Cutler says, the creative thread was lost, and hedonism and commercialism took over. He has little positive to say about progressive rock groups like Yes, Genesis, and King Crimson. He is entitled to his opinion, and his opinions make for thought-provoking reading for anyone who has put some eartime into this kind of music.

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The scope of this book seems obvious today, but I couldn't believe that such a book would exist when I first saw it. Essays on Sun Ra, The Residents, This Heat, and Phil Ochs' obsession with (later) Elvis toward the end of both of their lives makes this a fascinating read for the avant music nerd.