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Article

French

ID: <

10.4000/volume.9722

>

·

DOI: <

10.4000/volume.9722

>

Where these data come from
From Erik Satie to Smashing pumpkins: about a fragile boy’s RIFF

Abstract

Are there riffs in Satie’s music? Are The Smashing Pumpkins impressionists? In the fashion of a remix, pop music’s syntax always results from past sound materials, although differently articulated to social life. From La Belle Époque to alternative rock from the 1990s, this article engages with the archeology of a riff. It starts with a reevaluation of the riff as a concept, followed by comparing Satie’s and The Smashing Pumpkins’ work. While Satie’s Gymnopédies relates to a dissolution of tonality as a paradigm, it also helps to explore the meaning of the iconic riff from “1979”, especially in terms of ambivalent masculinity. In this sense, this article does not only sheds light on indie rock music through the use of Satie’s work, but it also updates the analysis of Satie through the concept of the riff. It combines a musicological approach to a more social one and articulates different shapes of music’s meaning.

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