Phase VI - Dissolution

(It isn't dead, really.)
(It just bloats up in the sun and smells really weird while the buzzards pick at the bones.)

Rock is dead - long live Rock.

- The Who

... (17) and no one will step forward from the shadow saying (18) "the journey forward includes movement into despair" (19) and you will be gathering strength (20) even as you don't understand (21) and certain words like love and ...(22) integrity will be drawn into your spine. (23) and then one day... (24) you will turn off the TV. Precious candles - your light is your own ...

- Jane Siberry

"Death seed, blind man's greed
Poet's starving children bleed
Nothing he's got he really needs
Twenty first century schizoid man."

- King Crimson

It's happening. It's happening now, all around us. The creeping death. The demographic is dying off, and Rock, as a style and a force in commodity culture, is dormant as it sells millions and millions of records. There are great works being made every day, but it's all being vented into a cultural vacuum, like so much jetsam from a derelict music starship. The dissolution phase started with the building of a mausoleum - the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. There, the bones, clothes, and divine instruments of Rock's saints and prophets are venerated by millions of pilgrims making hajj to the rock and roll Qa'aba. Museums are where great art goes to die in a public spectacle of execution, and the Rock and Roll Hall of fame is no exception. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was another harbinger of the Dissolution Phase of Rock Music.

Given the enormous popularity Rock music enjoyed, it is unlikely that it will disappear completely for quite some time, and like its grandparents of jazz, blues, and country music, it will have a following for quite a long time. Unlike Jazz, when Rock renewed, it renewed for accessibility at the expense of integrity, and presided over the Dissolution of Jazz. When Jazz intensified and tried to grasp other markets, rock saw it as just another rank and file in the style index, and the Fusion was left to flounder - despised by the Rock critical establishment as pretentious and despised by the Jazz critical establishment as a dull-witted stepchild, the resulting furor threw Jazz into a deeper funk and an even smaller demographic of Dissolution while the Rock juggernaut spun into the high gear of desolation in its Intensification.

Now? There's a lot of jazz being played, but few people listen to it, and even fewer paying to see it. Rock is less popular than it once was, as it is facing a HipHop competition that is well into its renewal phase, but Rock's Intensification was so spectacularly successful, that it is the musical wallpaper for much of contemporary musical experience. For decades, advertising has had its hackles into Rock music - selling everything from Chevy Trucks to Soap Flakes.  Rock has intensified itself into every nook and cranny of the American audio spectrum, and while other competing styles have brought the music market into a multipolar power system where, among popular styles, Rock is one among several, Rock is and will be an enormous force to reckon with over the next few decades as its strength wanes and its stylistic signifiers slowly disappear from the musical landscape.

Over time, the dominance of rock will diminish, and it is likely that it will diminish most in the next 20 years. Just as Jazz and Tin Pan Alley's influences can still be seen in music making and songwriting, so too, Rock's influence will be felt for decades to come. As ever, technology sits in an important position in the development of musical styles. Just as Ludwig's development of the trap kit permitted the creation of Jazz, and Leo Fender and Les Paul's innovations in electric guitar and bass permitted rock and roll, so too, modern computer technology is influencing the development of present styles, and will deeply influence the development of future styles. Of course, this will continue to obtain as long as electrical energy is cheap, steady, and plentiful. If energy gets scarce or expensive over an extended period of time, there would likely be a dramatic return to live performances of acoustic instruments. The creative spirit will continue in any context where there are people, materials, and time - the Muse will not be denied.

In the slow death of Dissolution, superior works will be made. In fact, I argue that some of the greatest moments in Jazz or Rock playing have yet to be played as the player has yet to be born. The same is true for Rock music. One can look at the Dissolution process as a death, or as a withdrawal. England has withdrawn from Empire, and handed the reins over to the USA. But England is still a vibrant and decent place to live, and its people live worthwhile, interesting, and colorful lives. The Vikings set sail for home many centuries ago, but Norwegians, Danes, and Swedes find their Nordic world just as vital and rewarding as any. So too, will Rock. Indeed, freed from the responsibilities of stylistic hegemony, unencumbered by the burden of domination, empire, and the armor of endless defense, Rock can actually breathe more easily. Once the heat is off, the limelights are low, the crowds are gone, "the wine is flat, and the coffee has long gone cold", the real playing can begin...

Henry Warwick (hw@creativesynth.com)
If you would like to purchase a copy of Keraunograph, Henry's CD on Kether Records, you can get it at the CreativeSynth Store.