Postmodernism in Popular Music:

Genre hybridity and pastiche in contemporary music

Zanskar M. Ianusi (2010)

Honours Research Practice Essay
Waikato Institute Of Technology
School of Media Arts
Private Bag 3036
Hamilton
New Zealand

Postmodernism in Popular Music:

Genre hybridity and pastiche in contemporary music
Zanskar M. Ianusi (2010)

Defining ones work is akin to defining ones self; the culmination of the
complexities of a text into a single term is near impossible, yet we attempt to
define works of art into an all encompassing genre which is expected to
succinctly characterize and catalogue the diversity which exist within these texts.
Our attempts to term or generalize music styles for example has that very effect
of making ones art generic the connotations of which can be seen by the
artist or author of the text as an insult as generic seems to be an antonym for
creativity. However the terming and categorization of texts are as important for
the artist as their audience. The process of creating music like any other art form,
although creative, is not autonomous. We are influenced by our pasts, our
histories and our predecessors in our chosen field whether we are aware of it or
not, and more importantly, whether we choose to admit it (Bourdieu, 1977). For
the popular musician there is a commercial necessity to acknowledge these
influences and term your own work accordingly in order to appeal to a specific
audience- an audience who browses through websites or CD shops sorted by
these generic labels. Alternatively you could relegate the task of terming your
work to your audience, or to musicologists, but for the artist, the
acknowledgement of influences in the creation and thereby categorizing of new
works allows for the Postmodernism of popular music and the hybridized music
genre.

Genre - Definition by Comparison

In order to better define the concept of hybrid musical genres we must first
understand the very idea of musical genres. Franco Fabbris definition of musical

genre as a set of musical events (real or possible) whose course is governed by

a definite set of socially accepted rules (Fabbri, 1980), is a succinct statement,
however it leads to further questioning. What exactly qualifies as a musical event
and, more importantly in this discussion, if genre is defined socially what role
does the artist play when terming ones own work?
Firstly the concept of a musical event is highly subjective as in its broadest
sense could include any sonic activity, or in a more restrictive sense refer to a
complex system of harmonic and melodic devices that adhere to a defined set of
musicological rules. The definition of music genre relies on a definition of music,
but by defining music you are calling upon your previous knowledge or
relationship to music- a relationship often defined by textual analysis or genre
models. In Fabbris Theory of Musical Genres: Two Applications, he discusses
the hermeneutic relationship of defining the musical event, and thereby
arguments on musical genre in its reality or possibility as redundant and that
genre eventually becomes a socially legitimated terminological system reliant on
comparison to existing works.
According to the definition of a similar genre would imply that a given
community had agreed on a certain set of rules relative to the course of
musical events (real or possible), and that these events did not exist:
which is not only a paradox from the logical point of view, but mostly from
the sociological one (and from many others). The situation nearest to this
would be the proclamation of a manifesto, of an aesthetic programme: in
this case, of course, made according to the rules of that programme.
Therefore the empty genre can be reduced to a role of purely topological
abstraction in order to guarantee the carrying out of operations with sets,
without its reality being questioned.
This need to analyse and classify music through genre has lead to a loss of the
perceived autonomy of music as described by Richard Middleton in Musical
Belongings: Western Music and Its Low-Other (2000). He observes that:

Music can never belong (to me). It is always already other always
located elsewhere (than here), in the matrix of dialogically constructed
codes and historical debris responsible for specific forms. Its interiority
has been turned into a myth of origination and possession. This is a hard
argument for cultural property-owners to accept, but taking that step isparadoxically- a precondition for any possibility of superseding musical
alienationThe price of any reconciliation between subjectivity and
(musical) nature is an acknowledgement of the irreducible mediated
sociality of both; for to belong to music (to a music) must mean not
some pseudoatavistic regression but a reflexive acceptance of the selfs
dependencies.

From an authors perspective, this concept of definition by comparison removes

the notion of pure creativity in music. To define ones work means to compare and
acknowledge the influence of your predecessors- with genre definitions
effectively eliminating the illusion of uniqueness of the artist and their work.
However for an audience, comparison to existing works/artists are the essential
means of discernment and quantifying the potentiality of its appeal. For example,
a musician trying to convey to a potential audience a description of his work as a
symphonic dalliance into the realms and possibilities of the Phrygian mode in an
electronic instrument based setting would be better off (commercially) saying Its
like Trip-Hop or compare it to an existing or previous artist creating similar works(eg. Sounds like Massive Attack). This brings up the question of which is the
correct way of defining a new genre? Is the artist the only authority on the
labelling of a work, or is it rather the audience who consumes it? Alternatively
should the definition of a musical style be reliant on a musicologist analysis of the
work? Fabbri (1980) suggests that- A new genre is not born in an empty space
but in a musical system that is already structured. Therefore a considerable part
of the rules that define it are common to other genres already existing within the

system, those that individualize the new genre being relatively few. In other
words, creative purity does not exist. To be able to term a work as existing in the
system of Music is reliant upon a social acceptance of the definition and some
commonalities to previous works in the field, therefore the terming of a new
works genre must constrain to the realms of existing genres and their sub-sets as
it relates to them. This introduces the concept of hybrid musical genres, a trend
arisen from the necessity to acknowledge ones allusions whilst still maintaining
some semblance of complexities in ones new work.
New York band Brazilian Girls are described by their audience as belonging to
the genres of Reggae/ Electronica/ Jazz/ Bossa Nova (Myspace.com), however
they are listed under the genre category of Rock & Alternative on commercial
music websites whose purpose it is to sell to this prospective audience
(music.aol.com) and on their official website they consider themselves to be
Electronica/Experimental/Pop (www.braziliangirls.info). This is an example of
disparity in genre terminology proving that although an artist may purport to be a
certain combination of genres, an audience may not entirely agree, and a
commercial entity would rather be less specific and label anything that isnt a
clearly defined genre as Alternative. The hybrid genre could be seen as a
postmodernist structure in that its admittance of its non-originality is defined in its
willingness to refer to its influences- which could be seen as an attempt at
humility on the part of the popular musician (in comparison to a modern elitist
view of art i.e. it just is).

Postmodernism, Pastiche and Popular Music

The basis of postmodernism of popular music today is that the creation and
reception of popular works are dependent on or responsive to existing works.
Postmodernism and its new sensibility began essentially a revolt against the
modernistic cultural elitism of art. It is subversive in that it admits its own
fallibilities and references and promotes them, revelling in the very popularity and

commerciality of itself. The movement is essentially the treatment of the popular

--or rather the familiar- with the seriousness of art.
A view of postmodernism by Frederic Jameson defines it as, above all else, a
periodising concept, one of pastiche: a culture that is marked by the
complacent play of historical allusion (Storey, 2010). Jameson further explains
that:
Pastiche is, like parody, the imitation of a peculiar mask, speech in a
dead language: but is a neutral practice of such mimicry, without any of
parodys ulterior motives, amputated of the satiric impulse, devoid of
laughter and of any conviction that alongside the normal tongue you have
momentarily borrowed, some healthy linguistic normality still exists.
Pastiche is thus blank parody. (1984)
Postmodern culture and its use of pastiche is essentially a culture of nostalgia,
born from previous cultural production and devoid of creative purity. It is a
culture without latent possibilities, deriving it hermeneutic force from others,
relying on the exhausted interplay of intertextuality. The world of postmodernism
pastiche is a world in which stylistic innovation is no longer possible, leaving the
artist to imitate the styles of the past. (Storey, 2010) In a postmodern society, this
continual revisiting of historic genres has the resulting effect of creating a
constant or rather perpetual present- in other words a loss of historicity. Jameson
describes this as cultural schizophrenia- a loss of the continuum of pastpresent- future, and instead, the intensified sense of the present- which has the
effect of replacing history with nostalgia. This postmodern aesthetic of recycling
in Western popular music is not simply a re-hashing of the old, but rather is
integration of old and new. For Jameson Postmodernism is a hopelessly
commercial culture. Unlike modernism, which taunted the commercial culture of
capitalism, postmodernism, rather than resisting- replicates and reproducesreinforcing the logic of consumer capitalism. He describes it as being, basically,
a commodity-, which is entirely fitting when applied to popular music, as its

function as an essential triviality is commercial in its basis. (Jameson, 1984)

Jamesons pessimistic view of postmodernism being a pastiche and blank
parody is one challenged by Andrew Goodwin (1991). While Jamesons
argument is based on a time span progression of popular culture to define
modernism and in turn the responsive postmodernism, the cyclical nature of
popular culture makes this a difficult argument to sustain. Goodwin suggests that
technological developments could in fact add to concepts of postmodernism as
being more than a re-presentation of the past. He argues, Textual incorporation
cannot be adequately understood as blank parody. We need categories to add
to pastiche, which demonstrate how contemporary pop opposes, celebrates and
promotes the texts it steals from. As well as this he calls for an awareness of the
historicizing function of sampling technologies in contemporary pop and the
ways in which it is used to invoke history and authenticity.

Recreating and Redefining Retro

Genre hybridity in popular music is an obvious attempt at categorising the
variations in the integration of retro styles in new musical works. Genre terms like
Nu-Jazz or Electro-Folk seems to be paradoxical descriptors for music styles
yet are appropriate in a postmodern sense as they are attempts to recognise the
historicity of retro music styles existing in contemporary settings or through the
incorporation of contemporary production techniques (sampling etc.).
Contemporary pop musicians have a hard task in defining their work when
referencing, or recreating sounds of the past. One prime example is that of
Swedish musicians Koop (Magnus Zingmark and Oscar Simonsson) who use
sampling techniques to create a sound that is heavily influenced by popular jazz
styles of the early 20th century. On their latest compilation album Coup de grace
Koop gives an insight into how they actually go about recreating this seemingly
authentic jazz sound, stating:
When listening to Koops music it is somehow easy to believe that it is
played by a small orchestra, but in fact the music is made through
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computer and electronics with only vocals and maybe a few hundred
instruments added. This is a very time consuming way to make music (it is
one of the reasons it takes such a long time to make a Koop album), but it
is the only way to create the surreal Koop sound
(Coup de Grace, 2010)
Koop and their music are an example of pastiche, a blatant harking back to
music styles of the past, although pastiche in this case suggests nothing new is
brought to the table. However Koop are quick to defend their work against being
termed as solely retro but rather attribute their use of modern technology in the
creation of their work as a defining factor against simply a blank parody of past
styles saying, Weve gone from creating experimental sampler-soundscapes to
discovering a way to produce classic songs via samplers. And instead of the
using the retro label placed on them by their critics, Koop suggests that they are,
more than anything Hyper modern, stating that, Music is always developing
with the technical inventions. Our music couldnt be made fifteen years ago.
(www.soulismsofficialblog.wordpress.com)
Koop like Brazilian Girls- face the same issues of defining their style by existing
genres when incorporating styles of the past as although many aspects of their
music deal with past music styles which creates their distinctively nostalgic
sound. There is however no escaping the influence of the present- be it lyrical,
melodic or technological which leaves the hybrid genre term as an obvious
means of defining their work. Jazz Pop is a term used by Koop to describe
themselves, which is an interesting way to term ones work. They are admitting
their references of Jazz and the popular, but they have also avoided appropriate
contemporary popular music genres in their description (i.e. Electro)- essentially
avoiding the issue of time and the original (being popular Jazz of the 1940s
onwards). By labelling their genre as such they are effectively creating a hyper
reality which Jean Baudrillard (1983) terms as the characteristic of
postmodernity- where the distinction between real (original) and simulation
collapses into each other with the result of reality and simulation being

experienced without difference. In fact simulations can be experienced as more

real than the real itself (Storey, 2010). Baudrillard states that, When the real is
no longer what it used to be, nostalgia assumes its full meaning. There is a
proliferation of myths of origin and signs of realitya panic stricken production of
the real and referential. By labelling their work as Jazz Pop Koop are in effect
passing themselves off as original to a modern audience who has no
relationship with or recollection of whom the artists are alluding to or knowledge
of the modern techniques employed to create this nostalgic sound. However we
cannot deny the increasing enlightenment of ones audience largely due to the
prevalent utilization of media and saturation of information. The awareness of the
audience and the power wielded by them through social media allows them to be
the expert on the subject and thereby the critic, resulting in a label differing from
the artists intention. In Koops case, their audience has labelled them as ElectroLounge and adversely as Retro which consequently denies or rather defies the
hyperrealism seemingly intended by the artist when defining their own work as
such.
Norwegian musicians Royksopp (Svein Berge and Torbjorn Brundtland) are an
example of the opposite side of the spectrum, creating a contemporary music
style that incorporates retro themes rather than purely emulating them with
modern production techniques (Koop). On the subject of the track Miss It So
Much taken from their 2009 album Junior, Royksopp are quick to point out that
nostalgia is a theme and not a basis with Svein Berge stating that,
[It] is very much a track romanticising the old, we wanted it to have
certain sense of naivety Its very nostalgic, to us in terms of harmonies
theres a fling with sort of 50s to it for some reason, and again with the
lyrical content, saying something about missing makes it even more
nostalgic. The soundscape thats created is supposed to sound warm and
old[while] maintaining what uniquely identifies us as Royksopp, namely
the sounds. (www.thelinofbestfit.com)
For Royksopp the general consensus on genre title is Electronica, a rather
modern all encompassing genre term defined by production technique, but one

that allows for retrospective influences rather than an attempt to belong to a

certain historic era/genre of popular music.

The Era of My Ways

This year as part of my own postgraduate studies at Waikato Institute of
Technology I have gone about creating works that rely on retrospective music
aesthetics whilst incorporating contemporary music styles and production values.
My research project involved the creation of new standards - compositions that
reflect the popular jazz styles associated with the 1950s and 1960s. My
references included the works of Burt Bacharach and Antonio Carlos Jobim
whose compositions are still relevant and sought after in modern music styles
(covers/ sampling). My songs were composed following in depth analysis of
these composers works along with existing real book songs from this era with
the view to create works that could exist within this context as well as then be
interpreted into a contemporary Electro music production style. My goal was to
create music that was nostalgic- harking back to an era that I, being born in the
1980s, had no experience of.
Baudrillards concepts of simulation and hyper-reality are integral to the
understanding of the reasoning behind the compositional aim of my research
project. Slowly I have come to the realisation that I am a child of a postmodernist
culture, brought up listening to music of every era and assuming it as my own.
Introduced to a retro aesthetic through television reruns and getting my taste for
Jazz and the Broadway musical through Sunday afternoon screenings of
Rodgers and Hammerstein films, this became my reality- the past indelible linked
to my present (Baudrillards hyper-reality). For me they are one and the sametherefore it didnt seem inauthentic to deliberately compose works that relied on
retrospective music genres and their stylistic qualities. In this sense I was
following in the example of Koop and their postmodernist music style of
pastiche attempting an honest portrayal of a retro aesthetic without an intention
of parody (Jameson).
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For the second part of my project I was to integrate these new standards into a
contemporary electronic music setting using modern production techniques whilst
trying to maintain their original retro songwriting sensibility. My intent in the
creation of these recordings was to create nostalgia associated with popular jazz
song form in a contemporary music production style. My main reference in this
aspect would be artists like Bjork and Royksopp whose works refer to or
incorporate the feel of past genres whilst still maintaining creativity that is allowed
by Electronica and similar technological production based music genres. The end
result being like Goodwins postmodernist ideal- a work that is an
acknowledgment of pastiche as a feature of the work, but not as simplistic as a
pure parody. The most challenging aspect for my work is defining it by genre- the
predominant quantifying terminology of popular music. Postmodernism requires
an acknowledgement of the artist to their predecessors and taking cue from
Koop and naming my work Lounge or some other sub-set of Jazz would be
challenged instantly. Alternatively taking Royksopps lead and only naming the
modern influence of Electronica is in a sense a denial of historicity. For the
postmodern musician who in a sense recreates history, hybrid genre labels go
ways in encompassing both musical influences as well as the artists own
creativity in a culminating term.
After carefully studying my work and analysing my influences I only recently
settled on a term to describe my postgraduate work this year - finally settling on
Electro-Lounge as my hybrid genre. Electro refers to the means and methods
of recording and production that is entirely synthesiser/ digitally based recording,
and Lounge is referring to my songwriting practice that are heavily influenced by
popular jazz styles of the 1950s and 1960s. This label is only a term from the
authors perspective, and can and will be challenged by audiences and a
musicologist analysis. As one who is at various times belonging to all three
groups (author/ audience/ analyst), I cannot be too precious about the
terminology of my work and I understand that genre labels are temporal, however
my view of postmodernism in popular music requires giving credit where it is due

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in order to maintain a sense of historicity. My intention had always been to create

two distinctly separate parts to my work and define them as such- one retro and
one modern, however I have discovered during this postgraduate research
process that all my work is postmodern- reliant on or responding to the previous
and using hybrid genre terms as an attempt to recognise this relationship of
dependence. I am, and therefore my work is, an example of a postmodernist
cultural amnesia- forever recycling, reinterpreting and renaming.

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1981

Goodwin, A. (1991), Popular music and postmodern theory, Culture Studies 5 (2)
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Simonsson, O. & Zingmark, M. (2010). Coup de grace 1997-2007. [Recorded by Koop]. [CD]. Germany:
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