MONDAY MUSING

Today I came across a discussion of how the history of electronic music often omits the women who had a major role in it’s development technically, as well as sonically.

I am putting together a few thoughts on this for a future post as it’s not so clear cut and to be honest, there aren’t many now, who haven’t come across the names Daphne Oram or Delia Derbyshire, via their social media platforms.

Not denying their importance at all but I do feel there is a pedestal effect which is often western centrist and white. With this in mind and back to my original morning read, I came across a discussion that sought to question, rightly, this western view, with a few suggestions of women from around the world AND a great mixcloud playlist.

“This episode is curated by theorist, collector and artist Cedrik Fermont.
Cedrik writes: “This mix took inspiration from Sisters with Transistors, a film that raises awareness about female pioneers in electronic/electro-acoustic music who have often been ignored or whose role has been minimized but unfortunately the film fails to include non-Westerners who were also active from the 1950s onward… I understand that one cannot include every single pioneer but failing to include non-Westerners is comparable to when male’s narrative excludes women. This is not the first time I notice this kind of behavior and my guess is that it is not only about gender, but ethnicity and sometimes class too. This criticism doesn’t mean that it’s a bad film, nevertheless it is incomplete”.