A little something to read about idie music

[junkyard bennie]

interesting article to read

 

http://www.brokenpencil.com/view.php?id=5420

[daddymack]

meet the new boss, same as the old boss...

[uitar9]

 

meet the new boss, same as the old boss...

 

 

 

Yup, either someone else is the boss, or you are the boss. I'd rather be the boss.

[daddymack]

you gotta pay the cost, to be the boss...

[PermaNoobie]

I read the article, but a lot of it...well...

 

OK here's a problem I have with it

 

the author says "... indie, whose definition is rooted in animosity toward any corporate attitude (independent from the mainstream)..."

 

that's not independence, that's contrarianism .

 

and that's one of the problems - contrarian things depend on something else (the things one is being contrary to) - it's dependent and reactionary. It confuses rebellion with freedom.

 

 

So I guess the lament, to me, rings hollow.

[Next Direct]

 

I read the article, but a lot of it...well... OK here's a problem I have with it the author says "... indie, whose definition is rooted in animosity toward any corporate attitude (independent from the mainstream)..." that's not independence, that's contrarianism . and that's one of the problems - contrarian things depend on something else (the things one is being contrary to) - it's dependent and reactionary. It confuses rebellion with freedom. So I guess the lament, to me, rings hollow.

 

 

I’ve read The Authenticity Hoax and The Rebel Sell, and they’re both excellent accounts on consumer culture. I recommend Geoffrey Miller’s ‘Spent’, if you want to know the real reason behind consumer culture, from an evolutionary perspective.

 

But yeah, the whole “sticking it to the Man” ideology is so old. It became the siren song of bands trying to set themselves apart from everyone else as being more “true” and “authentic” not realising that it can be just another form of marketing to entice people to check out their band based on their noble ideals. It's been going on since the 60's. Get a new angle already. Have all this anti-establishment warriors changed anything? It’s as lame as goths thinking they’re cool because they don’t dress like punks and vice versa. That’s humans for ya.

 

These two guys have some valid points on the whole rebel movement.

 

[Dancebass]

For {censored}s sake! I'm not even going down that road. Who the hell are these people? Who is this obsessed with dissecting everything? If a women is lying naked in front of me, I'm not going to study her! I'm going to {censored} her brains out!

 

Jesus, I like bourbon and volume! Someone please save me from these sackless drones!

[richardmac]

LOL!

[Next Direct]

For {censored}s sake! I'm not even going down that road. Who the hell are these people? Who is this obsessed with dissecting everything? If a women is lying naked in front of me, I'm not going to study her! I'm going to {censored} her brains out! Jesus, I like bourbon and volume! Someone please save me from these sackless drones!

 

hehe that reminds me of what Bill Hicks said about the folks in Waffle House. "What you reading for?"

 

You're right, why examine anything? We should all just live for the moment, don't bother asking any questions. Live fast, die young and never understand a damn thing.

 

You can always screw the lady and study her afterwards, you know.

[Dancebass]

 

You're right, why examine anything?

 

 

I think it's about balance. I'm not being anti-intellect or anything. I just think once someone starts digging through their own poo things have gone a little too far!

[Scafeets]

Interesting; but the writer misses the point.

There has always been an indie side to the recorded music business.

When mainstream producers wouldn't touch blues, jazz and gospel artists, there were "race records." Black-owned labels like Black Swan started in the 20s because there was no mainstream outlet. Once the market was established and proven, "Race Labels" were created by the majors -distancing the brands from their other recordings for fear of repercussion.

In the 40s, there were indie labels like Blue Note, Decca and Atlantic. In the 50s, it was Chess, Specialty, Imperial, Sun...In the 60s, Motown, Vee-Jay, etc. 70s: Stiff, IRS; then metal labels in the 80s, etc.

THAN the "indie" labels we have today, which were mis-categorized as a musical genre.

Other than changing the spelling from "indy" to "indie" they served the same purpose. It's just that the press and punditry surrounding the current music business has become so unprofessional that it only looks for things it can categorize and mark as a trend.

Instead of forecasting what might be, it would be beneficial for those who want to have an intelligent discussion about the business to at least gain an historical perspective before bloviating.

[Cobain.David]

I enjoyed the pictures thoroughly.

 

 

But I agree with the idea. I actually end up avoiding "Indy" music because the idea of it is confusing.

 

My logic works like this. If I want to like a band because they're independent of mainstream record labels and media, then I should find the most obscure band I can.

 

But I'm not all that good at finding obscure bands. So... if I can find them, how obscure or indy could they really be?

 

Then, can I even hear indy music? Can I differentiate an indy band with Arcade Fire?

 

Probably not.

 

 

 

I stopped reading the article at "authenticity". It's an ethnomusicology term, and once you get into that you might as well give up. You're not allowed to dislike anything anymore in ethnomusicology because it all represents some culture or some view that you don't understand because well, you're you. It's the idea that I can't hate jazz because I'm white. If I hate jazz then I'm clearly I'm missing part of black culture, it makes me racist. I have to like jazz. But I also can't LIKE jazz because I can't tell what's AUTHENTIC and what's Dave Brubeck, because I'm white.

 

The white/black jazz problem is an old one and is pretty clear in the US, but you can substitute lots of cultures and musics into that equation. I also don't understand Japanese No Theater, so how can I tell if it's authentic or not? I can't, so I guess I can't like or dislike it for authenticity.