[Dancecult-l] [IASPM] Metal in Teheran

[hillegonda@zoo.co.uk]

Fantastic! Thanks for this info. I'm looking forward to reading this.

Have you found any links with the Israeli trance scene, in terms of 
attitudes?

Gonnie :)



Keith Kahn-Harris wrote:

> At this point I suppose that it's probably legitimate for me to plug a 
> couple of my publications:
>  
> 2002. "'I hate this fucking country': Dealing with the Global and the 
> Local in the Israeli Extreme Metal Scene." Critical Studies 19: Music, 
> Popular Culture, Identities:133-151.
>
> Also, my book 'Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge' will be 
> published by Berg at the end of the year. It contains a whole chapter 
> on these sorts of issues.
>
>  
>
> Keith
>
>  
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> From: Subscribers of iaspm list [mailto:IASPMLIST at liverpool.ac.uk] On 
> Behalf Of <Hillegonda Rietveld>
> Sent: 18 April 2006 17:55
> To: IASPMLIST at liverpool.ac.uk
> Subject: Re: [Dancecult & IASPM] Metal in Teheran
>
> Such universalism should be regarded critically. My main question: 
> what about this specific gothic fantasy of a medieval European 
> anti-Christ? How does this fit in specific contexts? Do participants 
> actually care? Or is such imagery, indeed, part & parcel of a 
> 'universal' (read: globilised) simulacrum?
>
> Gonnie.
>
>
>
> Keith Kahn-Harris wrote:
>
>> Good point Rajko. Just to reinforce your point: Not only is emulation 
>> not to be disparaged, perhaps we should nto see it as emulation at 
>> all. Rather, given the globalisation of the metal underground, it is 
>> rather an attempt to contribute to the global development of metal. 
>> Of course it is true that metal is most strongly rooted in the 'west' 
>> and bands from Europe and the USA are much more important in 
>> contributing to the global direction of metal. Nevertheless, there is 
>> at least some value in a global metal 'esperanto' in facilitating a 
>> global scene in which all can potentially participate. Like the 
>> language esperanto, its universal pretensions disguise western 
>> biases, but the desire for musical universalism is still laudable.
>> Keith
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> From: Subscribers of iaspm list [mailto:IASPMLIST at liverpool.ac.uk] On 
>> Behalf Of Rajko Mursic
>> Sent: 17 April 2006 20:08
>> To: IASPMLIST at liverpool.ac.uk
>> Subject: Re: [Dancecult & IASPM] Metal in Teheran
>>
>> Gonnie (and Keith),
>>
>> Thank you for this very interesting example. Though I am not an 
>> expert on Iranian metal neither, I would like to add something. 
>> Western writers should be cautious if they ridicule emulation or a 
>> simulacrum of »western« popular musics in »the East«. Patronisation 
>> is a pillar of orientalisation.
>>
>> Emulation is a pre-condition for the later appropriation and 
>> transformation of »foreign« influences. If we consider that all the 
>> western music was recently outlawed in Iran, it is almost a miracle 
>> to find at least some »emulators« there. Sooner or later, their 
>> expression will break the limits of emulation.
>>
>> But if non-westerners are supposed to play only their non-western 
>> music, this is the best way to produce the (submerged and/or 
>> dangerous) Other.
>>
>> Rajko
>>
>>   
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Od: Subscribers of iaspm list [mailto:IASPMLIST at liverpool.ac.uk] 
>> Namesto <Hillegonda Rietveld>
>> Poslano: 11. april 2006 1:04
>> Za: IASPMLIST at liverpool.ac.uk
>> Zadeva: Re: [Dancecult & IASPM] Metal in Teheran
>>
>> Hi Keith,
>>
>> Thanks for the insights. I'd still like to argue that the use of SDS' 
>> and Explode's imagery amounts to a simulacreum, as flat cartoon-like 
>> fantasy of late medieval Catholicism (an era when the fear of the 
>> anti-Christ was, arguably, huge in Europe, amounting to 
>> witch-burnings, crusades and pogroms) But then, perhaps those middle 
>> ages are not over just yet.
>>
>> Gonnie.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Keith Kahn-Harris wrote:
>>
>> Gonnie (and others)
>>
>> Thanks for posting this. I'm no expert on Iranian metal/underground 
>> music but a few points can be made here:
>>
>> - It's important to view Iranian metal in the context of a country 
>> with a very wide secular/religious divide. Metal in the middle east 
>> is strongest in countries with a substantial secularist culture, 
>> particularly Israel and Turkey.
>>
>> - Note also that Iran has a large global diaspora, which may well 
>> provide support and encourage to underground acts in the country.
>>
>> - Metal is an astonishingly globalised music. There are scenes pretty 
>> much everywhere except for sub-Saharan Africa and the Carribean. Many 
>> global bands from across the world do draw on a similar set of 
>> imagery. This shouldn't be seen as simply producing 'simulcara' of 
>> western images. Rather, the global metal scene has historically been 
>> reasonably open to participation from 'marginal' countries - so bands 
>> from Brazil (not just Sepultura!) were important in the development 
>> of thrash and death metal in the 1980s. That said, an increasingly 
>> important trend in metal since the 1990s has been the production of 
>> local syncretic metal hybrids. However, bands in countries where 
>> metal is persecuted such as Iran, tend to concrentrate in producing 
>> more generic, rather than innovative forms of metal.  For them, 
>> simply getting the semiotics right is a triumph over adversity.
>>
>> - Underground metal has been produced in countries with very strong 
>> censorship regimes. For example, there are plenty of Malaysian bands 
>> producing Satanic black metal without any problems. The fact is that 
>> this music tends to be pretty obscure and state censors tend to be 
>> more interest in the threat of mass popularity. The ubiquity of the 
>> internet has to some extent eroded the possibilities of obscurity. 
>> Furthermore, playing live is always asking for trouble.
>>
>> Hope this helps
>>
>> Keith
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> From: Subscribers of iaspm list [mailto:IASPMLIST at liverpool.ac.uk] On 
>> Behalf Of <Hillegonda Rietveld>
>> Sent: 09 April 2006 14:52
>> To: IASPMLIST at liverpool.ac.uk <mailto:IASPMLIST at liverpool.ac.uk>
>> Subject: [Dancecult & IASPM] Metal in Teheran
>>
>> Does anyone know more about metal, hip hop or, even, trance in Iran?
>>
>> Today I read an old-ish Dutch newspaper clip from February 06, about 
>> a concert by a metal band SDS, at the university of Teheran. The 
>> band's crowd control, as well as 'secret' police, were present to 
>> curb any singing or dancing. The crowd was sitting still on chairs; 
>> 90% male in black T-shirts and long hair, while the women had their 
>> heads covered with black headscarves. The band performed whilst 
>> standing quite still and played instrumentals only, while the 
>> audience whispered parts of SDS' death-wish lyrics. Anyone heard 
>> reciting more than just the occasional single word, or making mild 
>> head banging or other rhythmical movements, was immediately removed 
>> from the room ... After 40 minutes, when it seemed impossible to keep 
>> the crowd sitting still, the authorities stopped the gig, upsetting 
>> the students who in despair asked the reporter (a concert pianist on 
>> professional visit in Iran) to report about it back in Holland.
>>
>> Such 'moral panic' reminds me of orthodox Christian reactions in the 
>> US to 'immoral' (but arguably amoral) music and its events, from 
>> metal to hip hop, and from raves to night clubs. It speaks of clear 
>> fear of the 'uncontrollable' communal dancing/singing body. Despite a 
>> long religious tradition of tranced out dancing and singing in 
>> Sufism, some Muslim authorities seem to take the Koran quite 
>> one-sidedly when it warns of the possible dangers of music.
>>
>> Looking at the web site for SDS-band, the twist for me is its imagery 
>> of Western medieval gothic 'anti-Christ' fantasy. This can be 
>> understood as a flat simulacrum, but it may be interesting to follow 
>> possible changes in its meanings as current international politics 
>> produce new contexts?
>>
>> Metal info:
>> http://www.sds-band.com/
>> http://www.explode-band.com/
>> http://www.dad-band.com/
>>
>> More on Iranian or 'Persian underground' popular music:
>> http://www.pink-purple.com
>>
>> Gonnie.
>>
>> ----------
>> Dr Hillegonda Rietveld
>> London South Bank University
>>
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