Will youth be fooled again?

stelfox said:

MIA has been hailed as the greatest album in a decade and even on one forum (by a very prominent critic, no less) as having totally clowned everything jamaica has produced since the sleng teng riddim (which is, of course, grounds to cu sounds of locks turning, keys being thrown), but if that aint hyperbole, what is?

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not to restart the MIA debate, and not to suggest that it's the greatest album in a decade (can't say as i haven't bought a copy, though i've heard all kinds of tracks off it), but i think she's much better received in the USA and outside of grime circles than in the UK and w/in grime circles = djs in ny play a lot of mia and the crowd response is usually very enthusiastic

stelfox said:

but is that really all there is to aspire to - constant reinvention, continual change etc?

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it's a very fine line

i'd rather have a committed scene, love, vibe, etc, than a club filled w/ trendies who are there merely because they feel compelled to check out the latest sounds -- i.e., the latest sounds that they read about somewhere -- even though i'm precisely such a person on the occasions that i am so motivated

stelfox said:

even in a fairly settled musical environment such as we are enjoying now (well, i'm enjoying it anyway, dunno about the rest of yers), there's still plenty to get excited about - subtle shifts, virtuoso performances, new artists slowly breaking into established areas, small scenes maturing and really getting ready to blow up huge.

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i agree in part -- just so long as we don't forget the difference b/w the peak times and the times we have now

stelfox said:

so, maybe we should be looking at the ways we're thinking about music and discourse as much as what's "wrong" with the contemporary landscape.

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any suggestions for a new table of values?

I just came across this journal entry from david byrne and was reminded of this thread. particularly when reading the following extract:

david byrne said:

Record collectors and consumers often view music as something that is inseparable from the object on which it resides. But if the digital world has taught us anything, it is that the musical information on CDs is anything but inseparable. The two things come apart quite easily, making the value of the delivery object fairly questionable.

So when music as a product, as a consumable object, is subverted and undermined by technology and by its own success, then maybe we have come full circle. Maybe if music is no longer seen as an object, but as pure information, data, sound waves, then the object becomes at best a mere delivery device, and we’re back to viewing music as an experience, albeit still one that other people produce.

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his journal entry is in fact a response to this article, which is also well worth reading I think.

david bryne thru hint said:

Maybe if music is no longer seen as an object, but as pure information, data, sound waves, then the object becomes at best a mere delivery device, and we’re back to viewing music as an experience, albeit still one that other people produce.

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Music as an experience. Now there's an idea. Exactly what artists like the Bays are trying to acheive. They are a completely improvisational dance band. They never practice together, never write their music before their show, never have and never will release any of their music.

As their website states: 'Performance is the product'.

Yet an unsigned, unreleased band can still get top spots at festivals like Sonar, T in the Park and Montreaux. Fandiddlytastic.