Doomscroll with Joshua Citarella Doomscroll 38.5: Liz Franzcak
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Jan 5, 2026 Liz Franzcak, a participant in music and internet subcultures, shares her journey from indie rock to minimal techno, revealing how early blogs shaped her musical tastes. She discusses the political edge of punk and its appeal to youth, linking it to transformative internet tools. Delving into the post-1989 crisis of counterculture, Liz reflects on Gen X activism's decline and her awakening during the Iraq War. The conversation also touches on the unsettling visions of Nick Land's accelerationist philosophy, providing a captivating blend of music and cultural critique.
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Punk's Political Magic Fades
- Punk's appeal rested on its implicit political threat to the establishment, giving it a sense of danger and magic.
- By the 2000s that oppositional energy felt exhausted after 1989's political shifts, leaving new cultural formations to fill the gap.
From Gilman To Minimal Techno
- Liz Franzcak describes her music subculture path from indie rock to punk scenes and later minimal techno and cold wave.
- She links discovering electronic music history to early blogosphere writing by Simon Reynolds and Mark Fisher.
Meeting Brace At Gilman
- Liz recounts meeting Brace at Berkeley's Gilman via mutual friends and seeing him as a 'little twerp' in the scene.
- She explains her early taste leaned toward nascent indie rock before shifting later to electronic genres.