Neofolk - Decadent and nihilistic subculture or a new Avant-garde?

Neofolk;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neofolk

The full-time anti-fascists have a new enemy, sociologists and the media speculate about the background and anything but homogeneous music scene. Comparisons to the avant-garde movements in the beginning of the last century come to mind.

Leading protagonists of the Neofolk present their projects and answer the question about their spiritual and philosophical backgrounds.

Is the phenomenon Neofolk just another form of decadent subculture or a new European avant-garde? What do you think about it? Do you like Neofolk music? Some band in special?

I think it's a beautiful concept, but the actual sound is awful, generally speaking of course.

You ask whether it is "decadent and nihilistic" or "avant-garde". In my own opinion, there is no distinction or separation between those two descriptions. The avant garde movements have always been self-obsessed, nihilistic, narcissistic, and profoundly meaningless in their "art". I hope this new fad dies away and Classicism becomes resurgent.

Originally Posted by Monarchist

You ask whether it is "decadent and nihilistic" or "avant-garde". In my own opinion, there is no distinction or separation between those two descriptions. The avant garde movements have always been self-obsessed, nihilistic, narcissistic, and profoundly meaningless in their "art". I hope this new fad dies away and Classicism becomes resurgent.

It's the other way around friend, classicism is a warping of reality to fit pre-concieveed notions of beauty and aesthetics. It is narcissistic, self-centered, egotistic, self-satisfying and masterbatory, luckily it died a hundred years ago and lives on as a figure of fun and ridicule, an absurd remnant of the decadent past of imperial europe. It has been weighed and measured and has been found wanting.

This Neofolk movement is a bizarre mix of pushing the boundaries of how we hear and appreciate music while paying lip-service to a past of musical poverty. The lip-service to the past is a mere gimmick, a parlour trick to grab the attention of the unthinking masses. It fails, regardless.