Music In the 21st Century

I heard someone say they're tired of hearing musicians say "There's nothing good being produced anymore."

I'm guilty of this to a degree. Albeit, I've usually loved about one album per year, historically. I don't mind that, as long as I LOVE at least one (and of course not that I heard them all)

What I've found increasing since 2007 is the feeling coming through new songs. As I give them a-go I've found myself thinking "This is written as if they know it's not going to last." There's a feeling of half-assery, that they know it's ephemeral (especially when it comes to lyrics). And I don't blame them if that's the case, because personally I find it harder to excellently craft a song that listeners are going to chew, love, and spit out within a week. However... I've found a bright side to this. My music is getting further away from pop-music standards. Since, after listening to Melanie De Biasio's Blackened Cities it dawned on me that the limitations of radio and manufacturing no longer exist. (Side note: The three minute song format didn't arise because it's inherently appealing, it happened because that's about what would fit on a 45 record.) And, the internet is the busiest street corner ever, people who like what I'm doing are bound to walk by.

Comments

School and Home School

Oh my. I don't have time to write this. So it will be as follows: 1. What is school for? I think that Seth has a good grasp on this at the bottom, see [1] 2. There's an ongoing debate about homeschooling vs. public schooling. 3. I agree with most things about home schooling. Which is why I take the view that my kids are home schooled 5 days a week, from 3pm to 9pm, on the weekends, and all of their vacation time. 4. Home schooling should feel like art, it's enjoyable (largely), so don't worry about overloading the tone of "school" in it. 5. Everyone's situation is different: (a) Some of us have checks coming to us from the government that give us all day to do as we please. (b) Some of us have to work long hours every day to survive. (c) Some of us have a spouse that gives us all day to do with as we please. (d) Some of us are the spouse that gives the other all day to do as they please. etc. 6. Thus, our ideals aren't applicable to everyone. 7. Th...

Open Eyes

It's difficult to manage contradictions It's distressing to see data that contradicts your beliefs It takes courage to challenge your assumptions It takes humility to acknowledge your human fallibility, and change your mind. I argue that you've not opened your eyes to the fullest without this. I've found that people run from ambiguity, and that the desire to escape ambiguity is a strong and hidden source for addiction, dogma, and procrastination.

Closed Open Minds

To be open minded means that you entertain all arguments. ALL of them. That's when you realize that many people who told you that they're open minded are actually not, because they'll judge you for listening to an opposing political argument, or for lending an ear to someone from another religion. I think that it's a mistake to think that we can all like each other sometime in the future. That would require a considerable amount of hegemony, and that's the opposite of freedom, that's the opposite of open mindedness. Freedom isn't rainbows and unicorns, freedom is complex and can be dangerous, and scary. In the woods, an armadillo wanders off into the road, and someone else's freedom paved a road, and ran right over it while freely traveling from one city to another. Perhaps, the root of many of our social issues has to do with the inability to sit with discomfort. The way that tribesmen had to sleep, with bears, and lions, or giant ants, and snakes ...

Creative Deconstruction

Search This Blog