By Will McGuirk

One should not take the writings nor the speakings of Marshall McLuhan literally. He speaks metaphorically for the most part. However on one level it is fine to take the phrases he says at face value in order to be able to understand the signposts rather than destination. One of McLuhan’s thoughts was on how electronic media would flip our predominantly visual space into a predominantly acoustic space. This does not mean podcasts and places for listening to sounds but it does mean that the prevalence of such podcasts and places for listening to sounds indicates that the environment which can best be described by the words “acoustic space” is getting closer. We can look to the artists to see what the future holds, as T Bone Burnett also says in his 2019 SXSW keynote address (his most recent album is titled “Invisible Light: Acoustic Space”) and at present a band such as Close Talker and this project they are calling “IMMERSION” is something which is indicative of the world we will be experiencing. So yes jump in on this, and gather the tools from it which you will be using in the future. So yes listen to the music but also be aware of the place you go when you listen in so closely, it will be one you will visit often.