// taxonomy
01// Is everything already conceived?
Introduction02// To create something new, must we destroy the old?
Acceleration / Jungle / IDM03// Music that breaks the rulesArca04// When a machine becomes a co-creatorHolly Herndon05// What is happening with modern rap?Kai Angel & 9mice06// Nothing new arises from a vacuumConclusion
01// Everything has already been planned?
Sometimes it feels like there is nothing fundamentally new left to invent in modern music. Artists are returning to the sounds of the nineties and noughties, borrowing from older genres, and reinterpreting past aesthetics.
But does that mean music has stopped evolving?
I believe new possibilities still exist. It just doesn’t always have to emerge from scratch. Sometimes, connecting familiar elements in an unexpected way is enough to create an entirely different sound.
Aphex Twin, Selected Ambient Works Volume II (1994), and PinkPantheress, Heaven Knows (2023).
02 // To create something new, must you first dismantle the old?
In class, we discussed accelerationism—the philosophical idea of speeding up existing processes. This theme is particularly interesting to explore in music through the evolution of jungle and IDM. For example, jungle formed in the 1990s from existing genres, including breakbeat, hardcore, and reggae. The acceleration and chopping of drum patterns transformed familiar rhythms into a new musical language. It turns out that the new doesn’t necessarily arise from rejecting the past, but from its radical transformation.
03// music that breaks the rules
For me, a great example of modern musical experimentation is Arca. In the composition Mequetrefe (2020), she fuses Latin American dance rhythms, electronic distortions, and unconventional vocal processing. The music is constantly shifting, making it difficult to assign to a single genre.
It’s interesting that Arca’s experiments extend beyond sound itself. Her visual style is also built upon the transformation of the human body and interaction with technology. In my opinion, what is new here emerges precisely from the dissolution of conventional boundaries.
