"A superb book."-Daniel Birnbaum, Artforum If registered, Joseph’s new mapping should disperse the ‘major’ names and terms that have for so long defined the postwar canon and its largely modernist models of theorization, models that limit the capacity to seize the expansive territory of experimentation that sparked postmodernism-pertinent now as the DNA for much contemporary art."- CAA Reviews "Joseph’s Trojan horse harbors an estimable array of ‘minor’ figures whose radical practices change history, this history, for good. Joseph moves across and between disciplinary genres of scholarship and thereby challenges the reader’s capacity to think outside familiar categories."- Leonardo "Beyond the fascinating and heretofore untold story recounted here, this book is important for the way its method mirrors its subject. Rather, by drawing on Deleuzian notions of the “minor” and the Foucauldian problematization of authorship found in Conrad’s own artistic/musical project, Early Minimalism, it disperses him into an “author function.” Neither monograph nor social history, the book takes Conrad’s collaborative interactions as a guiding thread by which to investigate the contiguous networks and discursive interconnections amongst the arts of the time. Yet Beyond the Dream Syndicate does not claim Conrad as a major but under-recognized figure. Creator of the “structural” film, The Flicker, collaborator on Jack Smith’s Flaming Creatures and Normal Love, follower of Henry Flynt’s radical anti-art, member of the Theatre of Eternal Music and the first incarnation of The Velvet Underground, and early associate of Mike Kelley, Tony Oursler, and Cindy Sherman, Conrad has significantly impacted cultural developments from minimalism to underground film, “concept art,” postmodern appropriation, and the most sophisticated rock and roll. Ok, sure ? the Syndicate have occasionally committed a long song to vinyl, "John Coltrane Stereo Blues" was 9 minutes with live versions over the ten-minute mark.Tony Conrad is exemplary of the 1960s artist who remains inassimilable to canonic histories. When one thinks of the Dream Syndicate, it's not just the wild abandon with which singer/guitarist Steve Wynn, drummer Dennis Duck, bassist Mark Walton, and lead guitarist Jason Victor perform ? it's the carefully constructed songwriting of Wynn that comes to mind.Įvery article or review ever written will claim "this is new and different" ? well, it is! Just look at the song lengths: 20:27, 7:36, 8:56, 9:55 and 10:53. The dazzling display of album cover artwork alone should clue you into the changes. What seeps in are Dennis Duck's knowledge of European avant-garde music, Jason Victor's passion for 70s prog, Mark Walton's experience in Southern-fried music collectives and Wynn's love of vintage electric jazz. Ok, sure - the Syndicate have occasionally committed a long song to vinyl, "John Coltrane Stereo Blues" was 9 minutes with live versions over the ten-minute mark.įor the first time, every song is a group songwriting effort. This time, don't! Which brings us to The Universe Inside.Įvery article or review ever written will claim "this is new and different" - well, it is! Just look at the song lengths: 20:27, 7:36, 8:56, 9:55 and 10:53. When one thinks of the Dream Syndicate, it's not just the wild abandon with which singer/guitarist Steve Wynn, drummer Dennis Duck, bassist Mark Walton, and lead guitarist Jason Victor perform - it's the carefully constructed songwriting of Wynn that comes to mind.īy now every rock critic in the country has predetermined who he or she feels Wynn reminds them of and what they think of that style of songs.
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