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R/E/P => R/E/P Archives => j. hall => Topic started by: mogwailoveyou on July 29, 2004, 05:16:08 PM

Title: the human condition
Post by: mogwailoveyou on July 29, 2004, 05:16:08 PM
this thread was started as a response to the mm vs. ff and what great taste us americans have... threads but turned into a long, tired, and hurried rant that i just had to get out so please excuse my scatterbrained notions...

(on the topic of the fallout of the indie culture/music)--this is an extremely typical argument... how can a scene that thrives on anti-conformity deal with the fact that it is... in fact a scene based on conformity (especially as mtv and the rest of the "other world" tries harder and harder to embrace it.) as far as the quality of music as a whole degrading that's absolutely not true. i mean of course that'd be the view if a main model was the new mm (haha can't you just imagine isaac sitting around playing pixies cover songs on a banjo as a 70s jamboree funk session comes crashing from percussion and that ever so "lovely" harmonic-whammybar-reverb ping floats off in the vague and smoky air)
welcome to the era of the nyc revival!
just shows that life is a sine wave and all of us "indie" kids can't wait to get back out on the dance floors to shake our groove thangs in a sick and depraved attempt at irony as the postal service, rapture, and interpol git' down and durrrty.

not counting the dying emo scene (there are a few good bands from each of the emo generations however) the indie pop scene is the most likely canidate to implode upon itself. case and point: urban outfitters... it's hot topic for people that make fun of hot topic. the only place i know in dallas where you can pay $25 for "vintage thrift store tshirts" while surrounded by a barrage of 16 year old psuedowhores wearing jesus is my homeboy trucker hats discussing the genius that is donnie darko set to the delightful sounds of whatever ben gibbard last crapped out.

music is still pure though, i think the new wave of good music is found a few reinventions (in a good way) of old sounds... and as long as these reinventions occur and occur well then music will stay alive.

here's two that stick out the most for me at least:

classical - bands like sigur ros, mum, godspeed you! black emperor, mogwai, explosions in the sky, mono, rachel's, a silver mt. zion, the album leaf, set fire to flames, pan am, labradford, max richter, dirty three, etc. etc. have taken classical styles and perfectly fused them (more or less depending on the band) and fused them with modern ambiental avant gard (ie. eno) and a dose of hard rock. this is what beethoven would have made if he had an electric guitar and a screwdriver. this combination forms some of the most impacting and dramatic music that creates a world within itself. it's like a soundtrack that needs no movie, music that makes every aspect of that moment significant and pure.

americana - i'm not talking about the white stripes blues rock resurrection. bands like centro-matic, bonnie prince billy (or whatever will oldham is calling himself that day), songs: ohia, crooked fingers, south san gabriel, wilco (as overhyped as they are), damien jurado, magnolia electric co., pleasant grove, the baptist generals, iron & wine, and so on and so forth have taken all kinds of different forms of roots/bluegrass/country, infused it with some modern day technique and style and made beautiful and powerful music out there

as long as there are people there will be art, culture, and music, and for every scene and culture there is a counter-culture. in many ways the postmodern views that once embraced most of the indie culture have now transferred onto the mainstream causing the usual backlash against that style and way of thought, so instead of going foward we have gone back (with better and worse results as talked about earlier) but nonetheless music is alive and thriving.
Title: Re: the human condition
Post by: j.hall on July 30, 2004, 12:54:49 PM
great post man

i got a good laugh at some of that

Title: Re: the human condition
Post by: Fibes on July 30, 2004, 01:52:51 PM
j.hall wrote on Fri, 30 July 2004 12:54

great post man

i got a good laugh at some of that





It was about as funny as playing with a sharp knife. Kidding. Or not. or whatever you think, the opposite.

Who wants to buy Debbie gibson's first two albums? I gottem on virgin vinyl.