UBU REVIEW 1

From the penny press to the emergence of digital, computerized, or networked information and communication technologies in the later part of the 20th century, the media have evolved. But some people have been lost in the translation. In this rapid growing digital culture we live in, older generations are having a hard time adjusting to the “new media.” Others refuse to believe that these manifestations of art are part the new trends of media. The way some people reacted to the Gantz Graf, a three-track EP released by Autechre in 2002, proves my hypothesis.
Sarah Dempster, writing for the NME, gave the EP a strongly negative review, claiming “It bleeps. It skronks. It krrraaaanks. But mainly, it blows like a ruddy awful hurricane.” She also called it a “festering hillock of tune-shy bum-wank.”
This type of music is not as bad as Ms. Dempster desicribed, maybe it was just different to what people were used to and, every time something new happens, people take some time to embrace. This kind of music is very popular in many parts of the world, especially in Asia. Through “new media”, different people from all over the world find something in common, they communicate to one another and this exemplifies how the media have played a key role in the globalization phenomenon. This electronic and highly computerized style of music has been used in many Hollywood movies. Also, music similar to the Gantz Graf is being played at the hottest and most exclusive night clubs of South Beach.
The video of Grantz Graf displays computer-generated imagery art articles. But the objects are “synchronized to the sounds in the music as it morphs, pulsates, shakes, and finally dissolves”. Some people would argue that the video is pointless.
But the arguments around Grantz Graf show how the social factors such as age, race, and gender influence the way we think. The controversy also is an example of how “new media” has revolutionized the old concept of media. The latest manifestations of the way we communicate ideas reflect a globalized world. New media also encourages interactivity disregarding time and physical location.
New media is highly associated with software programs, video games, television, radio, movies ads, and more. At the end of the day, new media has succeeded because it turned out be a very lucrative industry. New media has changed the way we do things, and have served as different outlets for the new trends in life.