“Protest music is fine but it's not something that interests me – certainly if it involves local politics. I guess I'm apathetic, but for health reasons. I'd rather not know than go insane. It's a middle-class survival thing. I can't go to a protest in my daddy's sedan, you know. The small concerns spoken in music ring truer to me, far more than some folk strumming and lyrics about toppling the government. “-Marcel Thee
1984, a proper novel which is heavily over-referenced
by shitty bands like Muse and used by deeper-than-thou dummy middle class to
confirm their fulfilling-literate-pedantry, taught me to hack the system
appropriately. Granted, rebellious acts sound and feel heroic, thrilling,
enjoyable, challenging and self-fulfilling but the rebel should be kept at
minimum fuss so as to not to entitle oneself with exuberance that leads to parched
emptiness that needs to be satisfied with a certain point of excess.
As quoted from Elie Wiesel, “The opposite of love is not
hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's
indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the
opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.”
I don’t entirely agree on that statement but I do spot bit
of truth within the “The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference” part.
The excerpt proves a paradoxical understanding that there’s no point in
expressing your hatred to the system. Observe the system, embrace it and create
something about current event out of it.
One of the few answers for those premises is Pyongyang
Traffic Girls (“PTG”), a collective emerged from the realm of nowhere. Without
unnecessary furor, but as cognizant as self-aware living beings, adapted to its
surrounding and created something which is more than relevant. A true artistic
statement of which, attempts can only be executed by the discerning.
In case you miss it, Pyongyang Traffic Girls, non-figuratively
speaking, are traffic wardens employed by Kim Jong Il, who are dressed in uniforms
and they perform robotic mime-show that directs North Korean (sparse) traffic.
As robotic as what inspired PTG (?), the collective (?)
created nothing but looping digital soundscapes, a resemblance of monotonous
electric generator which probably served as the only means of entertainment for
plain citizen who are not entitled to access more “decent” means of entertainment.
Yet among the abstract musical palette, somehow, I can imagine how monotonous
the life of Pyongyang residents in general, and this article confirms my imagination,
I kid you not. The best thing about the collective is their reluctance to pity
the citizen’s predicament but somehow, I can sense hidden defiant contempt to
the moguls. All the group’s objectives are achieved without neither hyper
literation nor redundant furor. But if throes were to happen, i'm expecting that works will surely
be pointed as one of the "can opener" and whoever wins, the works will secure a place in the triumphant's history.
True wordless non pretentious call to arms as the real
plausible “protest” that can only happen once in such dystopian Pyongyang. Gone
is my adoration to those whose idealism is merely to “fight” for common casual causes
fueled by vague understanding upon the issues delivered within their songs.
This is the test for the true only.
Eloquently degrading the Korean moguls means to stay anonymous.
If you think that your shiny yarbles underrated bands are
obscure enough, this collective opted to bury their secret as deep as they can as
if they are allergic to the limelight, hence bringing the overused “obscure” term
return to its place. Shunning the limelight, they provide nethermost amount of
information in their social media page instead of succinct one sentence: “The
Real Static Noise of Pyongyang”, obscurity that will easily eradicateany of my
premise. Every theorem counts as if the collective force me to imagine what is
the backbone behind the group’s shadow. Are they really from North Korea hence
the necessary anonymity? Or are the group just a puppet created by North Korean
moguls to partake in edgier music scene? Are they counterfeiting their imagery
so as to confirm that they really came from North Korea?
Due to the enigmatic identity and, furthermore, agenda, it is
probably not a disservice to the collective that their
works barely get the recognition they deserve.
All in all, after PTG, my faith in Marcel Thee’s acerbic
statement grows stronger.
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