We are in the midst of recession and I’m excited.
I'm hoping this will be a promising time for musical creativity. Some of the greatest pop music breakthroughs of the twentieth century were fuelled by strife and hardship. Society’s morale was uplifted during the Great Depression of the 1930’s by creative evolution of ragtime and other genres into the first variations of modern jazz. Thatcherism, Reaganism, and – I suppose - the social implications New Zealands own experimentations with New Right politics saw an enormous reaction in the musical world; we can thank socio-economic conditions and political reaction for practically all of the punk and post-punk acts that we today idolise .
In my opinion, the evolution of pop and rock has stalled. The guitar has done almost everything a guitar can do, and many indie acts have tried to carry rock’s baton along this leg of musical evolution by re-evaluating trends that may - in these days - be put to better use. I, at first found the use of synthesisers and keytars warped through electronic engineering a stroke of genius in the right hands (Shy Child and Animal Collective to name but two). But the influence of bands like these on a new generation of up-and-comers has seemed to slow creativities gene pool, and act as an excuse to create dreamy unsubstantial music in the name of experimentation more than anything.
Today’s evol-indie trends seem to involve any sound that is hard to grasp and (dare I say it) enjoy. The cynic in me sometimes thinks that this is solely for the purpose of certain people to claim an understanding and connection to the music that simpler beings are incapable of (a tool for pretentiousness, in other words). But this is countered when I think of Radiohead’s turn to the abstract during the Kid A sessions which was done from purely musical and artistic motivation. Who am I to suggest that latest hot-shit Grizzly Bear and the Dirty Projectors wafting, unappealing sounds are to be thought of any differently?
None-the-less, I am utterly sick of alternative music’s latest fascination with the conceptual and fume-thin sound, injected with the odd pretty melody in the middle (as if justifying its definition as ‘music’), which I find Fleet Foxes in particular guilty of. Either attempt the ambient, reflective sound with your entire heart (Riceboy Sleeps) or don’t do it at all. Because the half-hearted effort sounds entirely lacking of balls.
We are in a recession. People are already out of jobs. Students are already enduring even more hardship. Please, please, please, can this be the beginning of an era where musicians tell us directly about their (and our) experiences. Please can this be a time of music where we can actually feel the anger, frustration, and angst that motivated it. Because I am tired of trying to clutch at this ‘new sound’ like it is smoke circling around my head, and ending up a disappointed, empty handed, and gullible victim of hype.
Please, may the recession deliver.
I'm hoping this will be a promising time for musical creativity. Some of the greatest pop music breakthroughs of the twentieth century were fuelled by strife and hardship. Society’s morale was uplifted during the Great Depression of the 1930’s by creative evolution of ragtime and other genres into the first variations of modern jazz. Thatcherism, Reaganism, and – I suppose - the social implications New Zealands own experimentations with New Right politics saw an enormous reaction in the musical world; we can thank socio-economic conditions and political reaction for practically all of the punk and post-punk acts that we today idolise .
In my opinion, the evolution of pop and rock has stalled. The guitar has done almost everything a guitar can do, and many indie acts have tried to carry rock’s baton along this leg of musical evolution by re-evaluating trends that may - in these days - be put to better use. I, at first found the use of synthesisers and keytars warped through electronic engineering a stroke of genius in the right hands (Shy Child and Animal Collective to name but two). But the influence of bands like these on a new generation of up-and-comers has seemed to slow creativities gene pool, and act as an excuse to create dreamy unsubstantial music in the name of experimentation more than anything.
Today’s evol-indie trends seem to involve any sound that is hard to grasp and (dare I say it) enjoy. The cynic in me sometimes thinks that this is solely for the purpose of certain people to claim an understanding and connection to the music that simpler beings are incapable of (a tool for pretentiousness, in other words). But this is countered when I think of Radiohead’s turn to the abstract during the Kid A sessions which was done from purely musical and artistic motivation. Who am I to suggest that latest hot-shit Grizzly Bear and the Dirty Projectors wafting, unappealing sounds are to be thought of any differently?
None-the-less, I am utterly sick of alternative music’s latest fascination with the conceptual and fume-thin sound, injected with the odd pretty melody in the middle (as if justifying its definition as ‘music’), which I find Fleet Foxes in particular guilty of. Either attempt the ambient, reflective sound with your entire heart (Riceboy Sleeps) or don’t do it at all. Because the half-hearted effort sounds entirely lacking of balls.
We are in a recession. People are already out of jobs. Students are already enduring even more hardship. Please, please, please, can this be the beginning of an era where musicians tell us directly about their (and our) experiences. Please can this be a time of music where we can actually feel the anger, frustration, and angst that motivated it. Because I am tired of trying to clutch at this ‘new sound’ like it is smoke circling around my head, and ending up a disappointed, empty handed, and gullible victim of hype.
Please, may the recession deliver.
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