Machines of Joy: I Have Seen the Future and It Is Squiggly

The author discusses the relationship of human and machine in Northern European “Blip Hop.” The embrace of electronic and computer technology by the region's inhabitants finds its musical expression in peculiar stylistic attributes. The authors identifies a preference for obviously non-natural sounds, an avoidance of rhythms easily danced to and a disposition toward effects only achievable through computers (as well as the sound of the malfunctions and failures of such technologies) as indicative of Nothern European acceptance of this modern symbiosis.