In Allan Moore‘s classic comic book series, Watchmen, written in 1986-87 and recently adopted into a film, directed by Zack Snyder, we come upon the story’s main antagonist, named Adrian Veidt. Going by the name Ozymandias, Veidt retires from the superhero work, devoting his attention to running his own enterprises… At the end of the eleventh issue, we read a fictional interview between Dough Roth of Nova Express and Adrian Veidt, and stumble upon the following:
NOVA: Changing the subject entirely, do you listen to much music? I wondered what your taste might be, as a superhero…
VEIDT: I like electronic music…
OK… Do I have your attention now? Yes… A super hero villain likes electronic music. But that’s not all… Read the rest of the interview, and keep in mind that this was written in 1986:
VEIDT: I like eletronic music. That’s a very superhero-ey thing to like, I suppose, isn’t it? I like avant-garde music in general. Cage, Stockhausen, Penderecki, Andrew Lang, Pierre Henry. Terry Riley is very good. Oh, and I’ve heard some interesting new music from Jamaica… a sort of hybrid between electronic music and reggae […]
What what what??? Could it be that Allan Moore is looking into the music of the future, and is describing dubstep??? Seriously???
VEIDT: […] It’s a fascinating study in musical forms generated when a largely pre-technological culture is given access to modern recording techniques without the technological preconceptions that we’ve allowed to accumulate, limiting our vision. It’s called dub music. You’d like it, I’m sure…
I leave you there… Send me your thoughts…
