The real underground is offline...

[Nick Sevilla]

The black metal scene in the middle east is interesting in this light - Iran, among other places, has a number of pretty good black metal bands that, for obvious reasons, have to remain entirely anonymous.

I'd love to hear some of that. Where can it be found?

In Iran. Flights from London daily.

Because you know, it's "underground".

[Rufer]

The black metal scene in the middle east is interesting in this light - Iran, among other places, has a number of pretty good black metal bands that, for obvious reasons, have to remain entirely anonymous.

I'd love to hear some of that. Where can it be found?

Hilarious.

[chris harris]

[ubertar]

Laugh all you want... dfuruta PMed me links.

Note he said they have to remain anonymous. Anonymous doesn't mean it's not disseminated, only that you don't know the identity of the players.

He who laughs last...

[MoreSpaceEcho]

check out dfuruta's stuff while you're at it.

[ubertar]

I'm listening to a Book of Sand piece right now... good stuff.
http://paradigms-recordings.com/audio/BOOKOFSAND.mp3

[Gregg Juke]

Well, hilarious, and then again, not so much.

I brought up Iran because if you do enough research, you'll find a bunch of bands, and one in particular that's a standout (_not_ black metal, but they started out as a pretty heavy heavy metal band, and eventually morphed more into experimental electronica). They have a rather open Internet presence, have garnered quite a few fans around the world, but then again, it's very easy for them to run afoul of their government for one reason or another, so I didn't mention them by name. I interviewed them a few years back for a masters project, and I was going to also try and get the interview published, but they asked that I not, because there might be repercussions. When I first contacted them, they weren't even sure that I wasn't a security forces spy. So yeah, if you look hard enough, you can find, but you also have to bear in mind that musicians in other countries under other forms of government are not as free to express themsleves as we've grown accustomed to, so the whole "mystique" thing is not just promotional artifice, it's self-preservation...

GJ

Update: >>>>Note he said they have to remain anonymous. Anonymous doesn't mean it's not disseminated, only that you don't know the identity of the players.<<<< Ah yes, this <--^^^^

[ubertar]

musicians in other countries under other forms of government are not as free to express themsleves as we've grown accustomed to, so the whole "mystique" thing is not just promotional artifice, it's self-preservation

I never meant to imply that it was promotional artifice for the folks Electricide called "type 2". Only that there is inevitably a mystique around their work, to the extent that we hear about it at all, and to a much stronger degree than for the work that is deliberately made scarce by the artists.

[Gregg Juke]

Oh, yeah, I wasn't implying you implied or anything. Just a general caveat/awareness thing. Some bands do cultivate mystique for it's own sake, and some hipsters do love their "exclusivity"/obscurity for obscurity's sake. We (my friends and I) were like that in high school. But real world, some folks would love to have their music reach a much wider audience, only it could mean decapitation...

GJ

[ubertar]

This is awesome:
http://www.metal-archives.com/lists/IR

Thanks, dfuruta.
Listening to Qutin right now.

[ubertar]

This article in today's NY Times (it's behind a paywall... open it in a private browsing window if you've used up your free monthly page views) shows one reason why eventually there will be a backlash against social media and online culture in general. Here are a few quotes-- I think this is within "fair use" guidelines:

This is a generation so consumed with surface connection they will do anything to appear connected, including pretending to text when alone so they don?t look, as one student said, ?like a total loser without friends.?

I asked students to take on another experiment, one that challenged their Facebook ethos: to eat in a crowded university dining room without the company of school work, laptops or smartphones. Or friends. Then they had to journal about it. The results were sobering. ?I gathered my things and bolted out the door,? one student wrote about her reaction once she finished her meal. ?I was glad that I could feel like I belong somewhere again. . . . What I hated most was being alone and feeling like I was being judged for it.?

[One student] confessed to what could be the anthem for this porcelain generation: ?I realized something disturbing after doing this. If I don?t feel connected with others, I automatically feel alone, unpopular, less confident.? A sea of eyes jarred open in unexpected solidarity.

This is the world we've created. How could there not be a push-back?

[MoreSpaceEcho]

Studies show that American college students spend, on average, three hours texting every day.

3 hours a day? jesus. doing bong hits and listening to dead bootlegs would be more productive than that.

i dunno that this generation is really all that different from previous ones...most everyone worries about being seen as a "loser with no friends" when they're 20. when you're 40 you don't care so much...and i know plenty of 30-somethings who are all about facebarf as much as any college kid...

but reading that made me glad i'm old. and comfortable being alone.

[vvv]

I'm glad I got you guys.





Now, can we get some ladies here?

[shedshrine]

I'm glad I got you guys.





Now, can we get some ladies here?

[vvv]

That's kinda disturbing, and yet hot.

Back OT, FWIW, just talking today about the new album I'm recording with my new band - I figure mebbe 100 people will ever hear it.

While we'll post it on bandcamp, mebbe mention it to a few strangers at parties or on forums like here, we'll likely do no other promo. And, we'll likely never have "hard copies", just having it only on line.

And for free.

We are underground.