Less is more: Thoughts on minimal Pt. II

“One cultural influence [on punk] that's been forgotten is Seventies minimalism. There was a concerted effort by bands like Suicide, Ramones and Talking Heads to follow the aesthetic that 'less is more' and to strip music down to its core… After all, most of the bands at CBGBs' had gone to art school or were aware of the art scene of the time.” John Holmstrom

“In minimalism, the object and the idea are one and the same. Minimalist artists, according to Kenneth Baker, strive to 'make us «see the whole idea without any confusion,» by seeing the object as the idea, that is, making meaning identical with the object's physical presence'. Of course, discovering punk for the first time, as a child, you never thought about wether it was minimalist or not. All you knew was that you loved it, and you wanted more. Why did you love it? Why did you want more? Because it said so much with so litte.” Nicholas Rombes

“Much has been said and written over the years about the amateurism of punk, but it wasn't a case of musicians deliberately trying to sing or play their instruments poorly, but rather, because so many of them were amateurs, they did not have to unlearn anything. In this respect, minimalism in punk was a condition of necessity, not choice.” Nicholas Rombes

As an example, here you have these two minimal-as-fuck songs. Drums and vocals only. Because you need nothing else, don't you?

Total Chaos – Revolution Part 10
You can get the original mp3 track here.

Noh Mercy – Caucasian Guilt
You can get the original mp3 track here.