Transgalactica Experiments with Music, Value, and Contemporary Consumption in 'Marginal Music'

The following feature is now included in our online magazine which is also available in print.

Issue #3

Melbourne experimental group Transgalactica is forcing us to rethink the nature of music and its role in daily life with their ephemeral release Marginal Music. For the most part, the release is all about the irony of contemporary culture consumption: where there were streaming sites, subscription platforms, and torrential masses of available digital music, now the marginal cost of listening to music has essentially hit zero. Transgalactica's music teases out what that looks like for both the listener and artist—while the masses are enjoying unprecedented freedom, talented artists must fend for themselves, relying on teaching, mixing, or wedding gigs rather than solely their art.

The group's newest release, Discounted Blessings, thematizes this tension in a fearlessly conceptual manner. The song is argumentative and contemplative in the introduction and verses, then descending into a catastrophic progressive metal bridge that addresses how much is on the line when the quality of music is neglected. It's thematically disapproving of corporate control of the industry, citing monopoly gaming of live performances by corporations such as Live Nation, and lightheartedly invites one to ponder the long-term ramifications of indulging in low-effort, commercially oriented music. Transgalactica even takes the step of suggesting a pseudo-scientific hypothesis: listening to "trashy" music during your lifetime dooms you to an eternity of hearing it, a tart comment on cultural value and aesthetics.

Texture and sound-wise, the work is a dense blend. The group takes material from Bizet's opera Carmen, overlaying classical with new electronica and metal material to create tension between old and new consumption. The sound that follows is cerebral and visceral, requiring attention space with room for thought. It's a testament to the means by which music may be at once personal, social, and abstract, calling to the fans of artists like Matmos, The Books, or early Bjork, where odd shapes and meta-reflection on culture are paired.

Transgalactica's interviews are as irreverent, humorous, and unapologetic as their sound. They talk of hypocrisy in enjoying free content but giving tips on how to sustain support via streaming instead of paying directly. They marvel at the limitations of choice under contemporary music, citing how corporate interests primarily determine who is seen and how the fans consume, echoing complaints under discussion of cultural gatekeeping such as 24 Hour Party People or films like Artifact.

Early responses boast both intellectual sophistication and playfully irreverent humor of Transgalactica. Both critics and admirers applaud the endeavor for straddling the thin line between criticism and amusement, maintaining a urbane equipoise that is neither alienating nor impenetrable. Marginal Music invites listeners to consider their own position in the world of culture as well as offering up an ample, genre-defying audio experience.

For listeners who'd love to hear more of these concepts explored, the song nestles into comfortable territory with experimental and socially conscious music projects. Imagine Jon Hopkins' complex textures, Laurie Anderson's narrative, or even The Flaming Lips' more abstract conceptual endeavors. On video, the systems' breakdown and culture that we witness in Her or Sorry to Bother You is matched by the same questions Transgalactica raises of music, value, and control. Marginal Music is a challenging work which repays close listening and attention with humor, wit, and solid musicianship articulated as an organic whole.

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