Punk is corporate, hip hop is disappearing into itself like a dog turning on its own tail, dance is dead, British Indie is a worse state than at the nadir of Britpop. Heavy metal is off the radar, except for greatest hits tours by very old men like the members of Motley Crue (who on their last tour, and on their last album (a Greatest Hits, naturally) covered 'Anarchy in the UK'- a moment of sublime horror that in itself signals the final end of 'punk' as a meaningful term when discussing music).
Even chart music, traditionally the last flicker of light in the search for surprising perfection, has miscarried. Where are the gulity delights even of Busted's 'Air Hostess' or Kylie's 'Slow' or Christina's 'Beautiful'? What do we have? The appropriately named James Blunt; The Kaiser Chiefs and Craig David and the Black Eyed Peas...Compare with these destitute lands a country which produces a new Death Cab for Cutie album this month, a Tilly and the Wall tour this summer, the Mountain Goats' 'Sunset Tree' (album of the year already) in the spring, Bright Eyes, The Shins, Say Hi To Your Mom, Explosions in the Sky.
American Indie is the only music currently being made that, after listening to it, doesn't make you a slightly worse person than you were before you started. Thucydides said it first: 'They have the numbers, we the heights'...
7 comments:
I know what you're saying- but my point is that it's NOT a matter of opinion- surely Shakespeare is better than Nick Hornby? As for Mastodon, what are they doing that's different to, say, Napalm Death fifteen years ago? Or Slipknot five years ago? It's not that it's bloody awful, it's just that the method of production (i.e. completely through its influences) weighs so heavily on it.
What I always look for in music or film or anything is a 'lightness' that results from someone absorbing their influences to such an extent that they've cast off the restrictions of the influence- if that makes any sense.
As for punk- the only worthwhile stuff I've heard recently is heavily politicised, which sort of turns me off from the outset- which again is not to say it should be totally dismissed. In a sense, punk was always corporate- if we take the Sex Pistols to be the archetype of what I mean by 'punk'. Mmmm, that defeats my whole argument...
Thanks Giggsy- no news on a Shins album, but the excellent Death Cab release their new album on August 30th.
I just checked the Shins website- they namecheck a band called the Brunettes- go here to hear just about all of their music streamed. Sounds really good...
Ok- I'm up for labouring any points you want to make! The Mountain Goats are a special case. I'll ignore the Jayhawks comparison for now, but in terms of the music, he has moved towards a more polished and 'standard' sounds. The 'real' Mountain Goats stuff exist in songs like Going To Georgia or (surely your favourite) 'The Best Ever Death Metal Band out of Denton'. I really think the distinguishing feature of MG music is the quality of the lyrics. (I don't think Darnielle would be too ditressed by the 'emo' tag by the way, and I think any self-respecting emo band would have the last five MG albums anyway- Darnielle's been doing it since the 80s).
Anyway- originality isn't maybe the point. It's what you do with what you receive, and generic music by its nature follows a formula- Death Metal:
Quiet minor chord melodic guitars;
Big riff ripped off from an early Metallica album;
Singer singing in a distorted/aural excited way about torture/hell/murder etc
Big guitar solo
Big guitar solo from other guitarist (optional)
Repeat first verse
Big guitar solo
Either- return to quiet bit and come back in really noisily or go straight to fade.
To go back to my new favourite concept of 'lightness'- I hold up the Postal Service's music as a perfect example of what I'm talking about. Also- Bright Eyes obviously owes a bit to Bob Dylan, but Digital Ash... isn't weighed down by that influence.
Coldplay- you said it. Dinner party music for 30 somethings who don't like music and despise their own lives.
But I never said that Metallica were Death Metal- I said that for their sound, they rely heavily on the type of riffs which reached its high point with the first two Metallica albums in (?) 1984 or so.
And my point is NOT that originality in itself is good, more that it's what you do with what you've received. Bob Dylan says that the tune for 'The Times They Are A-Changin'' is lifted straight from a Scottish folk melody.
Squeeze? Now you're talking. Your analysis of TMG? Stick it up your your junction.
In a gesture of unprecedented good will, I have downloaded Buried Dreams from Carcass's Heartwork and i think it's great. I've also put This Mortal Coil in my 'save for later' folder. I do agree with your assessment of 'the best of the best' of anything will crossover- Kind of Blue by Miles Davies is an example of that.
On another note- I got two (count 'em) emails from Jim Delahunt today!!! Details to follow...
Continuing my across-the-barricades gesture, I will listen to Heartwork again. It just sounded a wee bit indie for me on first listen...
Calum, check out this as a mad coincidence...!
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