revolution number nine

Live Earth is probably the epitome of the state of music today. It is basically this bloated overrated parade of overrated artists for a cause that is, without a doubt, noble, but in the end, who cares about the reason this juggernaut of a political, ecological and economical menage a trois was being held in the first place? The concept itself is, of course, familiar. In 1969 Woodstock basically became the blueprint of all bloated music festivals to come, in the sense that it's probably the first music festival to be bestowed with media attention of ridiculous proportion, and that it purports to having an ulterior motive. The artists who performed there were without question better than those performing on Live Earth. I suppose it's a matter of taste, but for fuck's sake, why James Blunt? The thing with Live Earth is, that they had this theory that to get people's attention, they needed the world's best SELLING acts, as opposed to BEST acts. Which is admittedly logical. Because your average Joe can't differentiate good music from bad anyway. Which brings me to the state of music today.

True there are many who complain that today's music is very influenced by corporate machineries. After all, they want to make money, which in turn will boost the spectrum in which artists can express themselves. In my opinion this is a never ending cycle, that started a long long time ago. I mean, even classical composers are oft sponsored by some rich aristocrats who wants to hear good music. They pay money to get music made, music which they enjoy, so they are to an extent, blueprinting the method with which the music industry operate today. Every artist or even musical movement started out small, until someone takes notice, at which point the said artist starts getting the attention and his music reaches a wider audience. And in the end what the majority wants, the majority gets (note : not always the case, but almost always). Another oft heard complaint, is that artist today tend to be lifeless robots, carrying out biddings from record companies. Well Motown, was a ruthless hit-making machine, who had a team of songwriters, who write music for the artists to interpret. Much like today actually. Again, nothing new. They just need someone with enough charisma to bring the music alive.

Ditto musical trends. A pretty good example is of course the state of indie music of today. Much like it's father, punk, they're being milked out for what it's worth. Seeing pathetic "indie" bands like Snow Patrol or The Killers dominating the charts is like seeing 2nd rate britpop bands like Dodgy ruling the charts in the mid 90s. They have a few good songs, that I won't deny, but not much musical substance. When britpop fizzled out after 1 year (or maybe more, depending on your personal taste), indie music was for 5 years or so indie again. And then out of nowhere, here they are again. I think this current fad for all thing "indie" will pass in the next 6 months. But I won't be surprised if in 5 or 6 years, " indie" is hot again.

In the end, there's no good or bad music taste. It's a matter of interest. It's like drugs I suppose. I mean, you start out little, then, if you like it you want more or eventually something harder. If you don't, you just don't do it. I mean, it is possible to start out with say, Coldplay, at which point you wonder why people keep mentioning this Radiohead band they were always compared to. And in no time, you'll find out that they took their name from a Talking Heads song. "What's Talking Heads?", you start to wonder. And in no time you'll find the joys of the post punk movement. Which, in no time, leads you into a journey, from which you might never come back.

(Footnote: I actually wanted to bitch about a)Live Earth and b)indie music nowadays. But Guardian Unlimited beat me to it, so I'll just link the article here)