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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | <jim@groovedisques.com> |
| Subject | Re: Burying Hooks |
| Date | Mon, 9 Jan 2006 15:34:49 -0500 |
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Jaimie wrote:
>
> I just don't see the point in producing work that only
> YOU, as the creator, an stand listening to. Why insulate > yourself in a musical form that few people appreciate?
> I'm sure I could have turned a lot of people on to the
> Jesus And Mary Chain had they, y'know, released a song
> that didn't make you want to stick a pitchfork in your
> eye or decapitate your next store neighbour after the
> first 45 seconds.
I'm not a fan of any of the bands who've come up in this discussion, but every band you listed but the Cynics managed to attain much larger audiences than the 172 of us power pop fans who typically gavitate toward bands these days that place their strong hooks front and center. Surely reports and sightings of Husker Du being but a self-indulgent trio were accurate:) (I saw them myself, and there were not an addtional 199,997 people hiding on stage.)
I think others have spoken to many of perspectives that should be considered here, but I will say that one of my biggest musical surprises of the past year was falling in love with most of Stephen Malkmus' latest album, Face the Truth. I could never tune into much of Pavement's output for the same reasons as you, Jaimie, but toward the end of Pavement's time together, and certainly during his solo career, Malkmus has managed to put his music across in a much more coherent, deliberate, and let's face the truth ourselves, polished manner. The result, for my ears on this Face the Truth album, was a collection of mostly strong stoner/cerebral rock 'n roll songs. The album contains humor, self-awareness, longing, assuredness, and so much more of what I love to hear in music. Call these characteristics whatever genre you want, but as a whole, such stuff makes plenty of sense to these old ears, even if they're not in lockstep with the Beatles template of a particular era. It's rare!
I hear new albums that make me miss my pot-smoking youth - and I mean that in a good way - but this is one of them.
Anyhow, what did all these seemingly "sound" signs of maturity add up to for Malkmus? According to what you've laid out, should we expect that more than the hipsters who supported this guy's rougher take on his music when he was in his 20s would come running to, likewise, look back fondly on their own pot-smoking youths? Yeah, right! I don't see this album reaching out to any more than 172 new oldtimers like myself, and meanwhile his grown-up hipster fans are probably moving onto newer bands who refuse to cow-tow to your outdated notions, maaaannnnnn!
Beleive me, I know where you're coming from, but despite the high failure rate incurred by artists who try to turn conventions on their head, a lot of good comes through those efforts every now and then. I don't think many artists try NOT to appeal to people, but the best of any genre or approach probably do succeed in convincing people that their own fresh vision/sound is worth a listen.
Jim
http://overlookedgems.blogspot.com/
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