It's Art Rock Week! Art, or arty: that is the question

dankrsta · 02-07-2011, 05:30 PM

ART ROCK!!! What the hell is that?

If there is a weekly theme so broad that you can put very different kinds of rock music in, probably every one of your favorite bands, it's this one. You're already thinking: *Isn't all rock music art?* It's obvious it has to be narrowed down a bit, since the term points to some art outside of popular music, and a big question is: What kind of art does Art Rock refer to? Your definition of Art Rock depends on how you answer this question. Needless to say, there isn't one definition, hmmm...I might say there is no real definition at all. But, there are some guidelines, like going back when this term was first used, what it meant then and what it means now.

What every music usually labeled Art Rock has in common is the strive and the ambition to go beyond the limits of rock. The term goes all the way back to late 60s when it was almost synonymous with Progressive Rock. Here's what allmusic says:

Quote:

Progressive rock and art rock are two almost interchangeable terms describing a mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility. The differences between prog-rock and art rock are often slight in practice, but do exist. Prog-rock tends to be more traditionally melodic (even when multi-sectioned compositions replace normal song structures), more literary (poetry or sci-fi/fantasy novels), and more oriented toward classically trained instrumental technique (with the exception of Pink Floyd). Art rock is more likely to have experimental or avant-garde influences, placing novel sonic texture above prog-rock's symphonic ambitions. Both styles are intrinsically album-based, taking advantage of the format's capacity for longer, more complex compositions and extended instrumental explorations.

...the first wave of Art-Rock musicians decided that the only way the genre could grow was if they could incorporate elements of European and classical music to rock......Art-rockers also frequently wrote their music as a concept album or rock operas, with the intention for the entire record to be perceived as a larger work, not a series of songs. As the genre progressed, Art-Rockers that drew from jazz instead of classical emerged, but the genre never quite shook its fascination with European music.

Relation of Art Rock to Experimental Rock (allmusic)

Quote:

Experimental rock is tangentally related to Art-Rock. It shares many of the same traits as Art-Rock, particularly in how it self-consciously expands the boundaries of the genre, yet it is more challenging, noisy and unconventional. It has more to do with modern art, particularly the avant garde, than classical music and consequentally Experimental Rock isn't nearly as easy to assimilate as conventional Art-Rock.

Wikipedia page tries to cover many definitions, but here's one that has some relation to Glam Rock.

Quote:

The Guide to the Progressive Rock Genres......also gives another definition of "art rock", which "describes music of a more mainstream compositional nature, tending to experimentation within this framework", such as "Early" Roxy Music, David Bowie, Brian Eno's 70s rock music, and Be-Bop Deluxe.

Connolly and Company argue that the "creation of the 'art rock' sub-genre, whose members were identified by music played with artistic ideals (e.g., Roxy Music, 10cc)... was in many ways a response to prog rock’s long-winded concepts, an attempt to condense progressive rock’s ideas into shorter, self-standing songs." He argues that "Art rock’s lifespan was brief, generally contained to the ‘70s."

Art rock - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
You can read here what else Art Rock may refer to, its relation to New Wave and especially New Romanticism and what it means today. (Check out the interesting talk page that will persuade you that you actually have no idea what the hell is art rock)

For early history:
The Early History of Art-Rock/Prog Rock

So enough of this talk, let's listen to some music. This is what first comes to my mind:
Brian Eno (Before and After Science, 1977)

David Bowie (Low, 1977)

What is it that you immediately think of when you hear "Art Rock"?

Ska Lagos Jew Sun Ra · 02-07-2011, 05:56 PM

Personally, I think the Residents are epitome of what Art Rock should be:

Mrd00d · 02-07-2011, 06:38 PM

Absolutely.

Absolutely!

Anteater · 02-07-2011, 09:07 PM

Personally, I feel art-rock is essentially an umbrella moniker, referring to anything that occupies a happy nexus between progressive rock and more avant-garde stuff stylistically yet still incorporates commercially viable hooks.

For example-

almauro · 02-09-2011, 05:53 AM

Eno's first band Roxy Music. Great guitar by Manzanera and Brian Ferry's unique vocal stylings. This one's without Eno and is a change towards a more commercial direction for Roxy.

Dotoar · 02-09-2011, 02:02 PM

Art rock, wow! That's something for the linguists to chew on! As is the case of indie, art rock itself won't give much clue of the actual sound (and I've already put forth a proposition that indie is the modern day extension of art rock), but rather the approach to music altogether. One could argue for instance that all progressive rock is art rock, but not all art rock is progressive rock. I'd even go as far as claiming that art rock has been around even way before what seems to be the common notion of its birth with the more ambitious glam rock acts like Roxy Music and Bowie, i.e. the 60's with psychedelia, baroque pop, folk rock and so on.

I'd say that if anything, art rock is 'music for the mind' as opposed to classic rock'n roll being 'music for the body', which is to say it's more profound and self-sufficient and carries a grander message than just rock'n roll all nite and party every day and in the process getting laid. It aims at being, well, art in its own rights and calls for artistic ambition to push the envelope, with little care for chart success and critical acclaim. You're welcome to prove me wrong, but the first true example of a band that stuck to this approach from the very beginning was The Who, not least because their debut consisted almost entirely of self-penned songs (bar the two James Brown covers) which for 1965 was something revolutionary and itself speaks tons of The Who's (read: Townsend's) artistic ideal. Even the Beatles' first albums couldn't boast that. And the artsy ambitions didn't exactly cease thereafter either; In albums like "The Who sell out", "Tommy", "Who's next" and "Quadrophenia" you will find some of the finest and most ambitious yet perfectly adequate art rock ever recorded.

So, even if I had other more obvious bands in mind, I just have to practice what I preach and prove my point:

Mrd00d · 02-09-2011, 02:40 PM

The first time I heard the term art rock it was directed at Tool. Whether that's a valid label or not for them, is hard to say. But I believe that it is correct.

Especially taking into account your definition of art rock, I feel like Third Eye, Lateralus, 46 & 2 really are the epitome of what I mean. Adam Jones guitar work is majorly in setting tones. His guitar work is a great supplement to the song at whole. The time signatures, spiraling

Ska Lagos Jew Sun Ra · 02-09-2011, 04:24 PM

I would definitely consider Zappa an overlooked early influence on art rock:

Mrd00d · 02-09-2011, 04:42 PM

Surely the Residents and Zappa were early art rock, but what about maybe Ziggy Stardust stuff?

Ska Lagos Jew Sun Ra · 02-09-2011, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrd00d

Surely the Residents and Zappa were early art rock, but what about maybe Ziggy Stardust stuff?

Bowie's already been mentioned, and I feel it'd be a tad redundant because, and rightfully so, he is the name most associated with the genre.

To me, though, anything that's based off of art is sort of art rock, or at least anything abstracted to the point to where it stands as inspiration for a mood/feeling/thought, rather than directly translating to meaning. Freakout was said to be an attempt to create music in the nature of surrealistic painting(apparently as stated in liner notes), and Residents have vehemently stated that their main intention is to be an art group first, and a rock group second.

Here are some other good examples, though:

Velvet Underground:

Captain Beefheart:

John Oswald:

Phillip Glass:

AMM:

Bruce Haack:

Just for favorites of mine I'd consider artistic. I mean, it's really a broad category. One could argue that even things like Boredoms, and Ween have some roots in artistic expression. Just felt that I'd include things that I know that I would particularly consider as artistic.

02-07-2011, 06:38 PM	#3 (permalink)
Mrd00d Stoned and Jammin' Out Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Northern California; Eugene, OR; mobile Posts: 1,602	Absolutely. Absolutely! __________________ Mrd00d's Last.fm

02-09-2011, 05:53 AM	#5 (permalink)
almauro Way Out There Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 850	Eno's first band Roxy Music. Great guitar by Manzanera and Brian Ferry's unique vocal stylings. This one's without Eno and is a change towards a more commercial direction for Roxy. __________________ rock n music blog Last edited by almauro; 02-09-2011 at 09:03 AM.

02-09-2011, 02:02 PM	#6 (permalink)
Dotoar Supernatural anaesthetist Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Örebro, Sweden Posts: 436	Art rock, wow! That's something for the linguists to chew on! As is the case of indie, art rock itself won't give much clue of the actual sound (and I've already put forth a proposition that indie is the modern day extension of art rock), but rather the approach to music altogether. One could argue for instance that all progressive rock is art rock, but not all art rock is progressive rock. I'd even go as far as claiming that art rock has been around even way before what seems to be the common notion of its birth with the more ambitious glam rock acts like Roxy Music and Bowie, i.e. the 60's with psychedelia, baroque pop, folk rock and so on. I'd say that if anything, art rock is 'music for the mind' as opposed to classic rock'n roll being 'music for the body', which is to say it's more profound and self-sufficient and carries a grander message than just rock'n roll all nite and party every day and in the process getting laid. It aims at being, well, art in its own rights and calls for artistic ambition to push the envelope, with little care for chart success and critical acclaim. You're welcome to prove me wrong, but the first true example of a band that stuck to this approach from the very beginning was The Who, not least because their debut consisted almost entirely of self-penned songs (bar the two James Brown covers) which for 1965 was something revolutionary and itself speaks tons of The Who's (read: Townsend's) artistic ideal. Even the Beatles' first albums couldn't boast that. And the artsy ambitions didn't exactly cease thereafter either; In albums like "The Who sell out", "Tommy", "Who's next" and "Quadrophenia" you will find some of the finest and most ambitious yet perfectly adequate art rock ever recorded. So, even if I had other more obvious bands in mind, I just have to practice what I preach and prove my point: __________________ - More is more -

02-09-2011, 02:40 PM	#7 (permalink)
Mrd00d Stoned and Jammin' Out Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Northern California; Eugene, OR; mobile Posts: 1,602	The first time I heard the term art rock it was directed at Tool. Whether that's a valid label or not for them, is hard to say. But I believe that it is correct. Especially taking into account your definition of art rock, I feel like Third Eye, Lateralus, 46 & 2 really are the epitome of what I mean. Adam Jones guitar work is majorly in setting tones. His guitar work is a great supplement to the song at whole. The time signatures, spiraling __________________ Mrd00d's Last.fm

02-09-2011, 04:42 PM	#9 (permalink)
Mrd00d Stoned and Jammin' Out Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Northern California; Eugene, OR; mobile Posts: 1,602	Surely the Residents and Zappa were early art rock, but what about maybe Ziggy Stardust stuff? __________________ Mrd00d's Last.fm