The Man Of The Future: Chris Korda

Written on 17 June 2003, 17:59
Author: Jan Kedves

In the review of his last album ("Six Billion People Can't Be Wrong," 1999), Chris Korda was described in the introduction as a "disturbed American." Unfortunately, the source of this disturbance wasn't explored. Of course, it's easy to dismiss Korda as a lunatic: after all, the man presents himself as a woman, advocates through his "Church of Euthanasia" (www.churchofeuthanasia.org) for the prevention of humanity's further expansion (through suicide, abortion, cannibalism, and sodomy; why was sterilization never considered?), has photographed himself naked in the Dachau crematorium, and in a clever TV footage montage ("I Like To Watch"), portrayed the collapsing WTC towers being licked by porn actresses as gigantic penises. Clearly, the man has lost it. But if you don't take the easy way out, you might turn the tables—loosely following Praunheim's "It's not the homosexual who is perverse, but the society in which he lives"—and ask: 1) what kind of disturbed world do we live in, and 2) how is one supposed to know where the boundaries are if people like Korda don't push against them? The music of "The Man Of The Future," however, is a different story altogether: the album doesn't make any effort to sound like a possible "music of the future." The sounds and patterns Korda uses are at least ten years old, reminiscent of thin Happy House, like "Gypsy Woman." The melodies are simple and ingratiating. Korda himself knows: "This is cheese." This is his interpretation of a pop album—music for the masses, against whom he supposedly stands. Musically speaking, "Nothing" is really beautiful, an elegant folk song that completely stands out from the trashy dance context, where Korda plays the spinet and doubles the vocals until it sounds like Simon & Garfunkel. How does it all fit together? Good question. The advantage of this album lies in its contentiousness. What is indisputable, however, is that Gigolo as a label is much more multifaceted than its tiresome electroclash reputation.

The preceding is a translation. The original language is here.