disinformation | outsider music

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outsider music
by Alex Burns (alex@disinfo.com) - January 15, 2001

"Outsider Art has been around for centuries, long before the name was coined a few decades ago. But the term 'outsider' applied to music is relatively new."
~ ~ Irwin Chusid

"It's not to make money, become famous or get laid; it's a necessity."
~ ~ Tom Griswold

If, as Robert Fripp has claimed, "music is the cup which holds the wine of silence," then Outsider Music is a very strange brew.

Outsider Music is definately an acquired taste. It's really the shadowy doppelganger of the "weird music" that is niche-marketed by the music conglomerates. Outsider Music doesn't get played on MTV. Outsider Music doesn't get "indy" label promotion. It won't be turning up in the pages of Rolling Stone magazine. If it does anytime soon, I'd start worrying.

If not for the efforts Outsider Music would have happily remained at the fringes, if not for the efforts of connoisseurs like Irwin Chusid. However, with the growing 'Napsterization' of the music industry, Outsider artists such as Jandek, The Shaggs, BJ Snowden, Wesley Willis and Hasil Adkins may finally get their due . . . whatever that may be.

Even if our artistic tastes aren't always eclectic enough to embrace Outsider Music, we can learn something important from the artists. Like Emperor Norton and H.P. Lovecraft, these artists have embraced visions that are highly subjective and deeply personal. In a world where music increasingly resembles Muzak, their antinomian stance is to be applauded.

Songs in the Key of Z: The Curious Universe of Outsider Music
Irwin Chusid writes of B.J. Snowden in his landmark Outsider Music study: "The guileless B.J. is a roving ambassador of musical goodwill. Like those of her New England compatriots, the Shaggs, B.J.'s songs brim with post-adolescent wonder. Her music radiates a warmth that can keep you snug to minus-20 degrees Fahrenheit, and a magic that undercuts any concept of cool. 'New York audiences didn't know what to expect,' said [the B-52s' Fred] Schneider, who introduced Snowden's first gig. 'But soon enough, they were clapping and cheering for her.'"

WNYC Radio: Irwin Chusid/Outsider Music Interview
When WNYC Radio interviewed Irwin Chusid, they opened their listener's minds to a parallel universe of strange Outsider Music. Features excerpts from artists deemed too strange for radio airplay. RealAudio.

Incorrect Music
"The weekly dysfunction of WFMU 91.1 FM, freeform radio from Jersey City," spearheaded by Irwin Chusid and Michelle Boulle. Returning after a brief hiatus in 2000 "due to the urgent need for Iowa cable access programs to revive exhausted Florida election workers."

Disinfo Nation: Outsider Music (Hi-Res)
"From New York's Times Square, series presenter Richard Metzger introduces weird performance artist Kembra Pfahler and a look at the musical genre of 'outsider music.'"

Disinfo Nation: Outsider Music (Low-Res)
"From New York's Times Square, series presenter Richard Metzger introduces weird performance artist Kembra Pfahler and a look at the musical genre of 'outsider music.'"

Outsider Music Mailing List
"The Outsider Music Mailing List is devoted to those songs that make you stop in dumbfounded wonder . . . Outsider music includes all manner of incompetent but sincere recordings, music by the mentally challenged, industry rejects, eccentrics, singing celebrities (& don't they always sing?), lovable oddballs, grandiose statements, etc."

The Sound of the City: Outsider Providence
This Village Voice article (October 25-31, 2000) by Nick Catucci and Hillary Chute details what happened when Outsider Music came to the 20th annual CMJ Music Marathon (October 2000). Did Irwin Chusid create a scandal? RealAudio.

Who Is B.J. Snowden?
A Venus Records biography of B.J. Snowden, including updates about her projects. Plus, you can now purchase B.J. Snowden recordings online!

Anxiety Obscura
"If B.J. Snowden had the resources to apply studio wizardry to her music, she probably would have done so. Thankfully, this never happened, and her music is refreshingly naive, disarmingly innocent, and insanely catchy."

In Canada
Click here to hear B.J. Snowden's homage "In Canada" in RealAudio.

Disinformation Dossier on Jandek
Check out the Disinformation dossier on Jandek.

Key of Z is for meeeeeeeeee

Outsider music

the shaggs and wesley willis?

Just another stupid fucking label....

Music by the Everyman