Monday 29 March 2010

review 3

round 3 - the machine as considered by florence, rage, and radiohead.

for rage, the machine is the other - that to which they proclaim to rage against. for florence, the machine is the companion; that which constitues the other half of the partnership. both consider animate living things to be in fact machinic (sic(k)) - inhuman creations deviod of individual agency. rage are addressing political systems, systems of power. systems constituted by individuals who, by the very nature of the system, create a sort of machine unto themselves; each individual performing small taks but none really holding any real power. the power is realised through the combined participation of the individuals. the resulting machine is the oppressor. florence's machine is her machine, she is the puppeteer. the machine is her slave. but this machine too is formed from people, people playing instruments, who individually hold little power, little influence, but once drawn together, to realise the musical ideas, create songs. the dichotomy is one of figurative standpoints, opposed upon these overseers by themselves. they both claim to wield power over the machine, whether in rebellion against it or utilising it, but their view of the machine is held in different lights. one could see florences's standpoint as one of opimism - the machine is at her beck and call. but is she as in control of her machine as she might like to think? what happens when the machine abandons her? does her machine end with band members? should it include the synths, the managers, a & r, the industry? rage by contrast see only the negative, and rage against it with a supreme irony they surely must be aware of, being situated deeply within the machine of their nightmares, feeding off it. but let us not undermine them for this, the argument is too easy. the condition of late capitalism does not permit critiique from anywhere apart from within, this is its nature. radiohead knew this, and became the machine, enveloped it, embraced its cold ability to exemplify itself in the song fitter happier. here the machine is used to create, like with florence, and to undermine, a la rage, by going one further than the other two; fully removing the human, not attempting to challenge or control it, thereby unvieling the true nature of the situation - a morbid acceptance to the posthuman condition. pessimistic? surely not.