Surface & Depth on Midnight Express – Thursday, June 2

This Thursday, June 2 @ 11:59 pm, tune into Midnight Express (this time with DJ Sharkey) for a unique musical program. In the 1980s, the desire and/or perceived need to showcase cutting-edge technology unsubtly influenced virtually every aspect of popular music. Most of the time, this influence took the form of “treatment” or “treated replicas” of already-existing musical sounds — in other words, an entirely new surface layer, now applied to numerous familiar musical traditions. Many artists were accused of engaging in this new, near-ubiquitous practice, whether intentionally or not, as a distraction from a lack of worthwhile content. Others used it playfully, engaging in subversive subtlety underneath the new surface. Yet still others just wrote good music. Featuring your favorite brainy ’80s chart-toppers, this program promises a lot more than a buncha silly noise — or does it?