Influence

One of the worst interview questions that can be asked is "What are your influences?" It's a bad question because it draws attention away from the interview subject, it's unnatural, and it forces the interview into a formal exercise, instead of a conversation. In other words, it actually makes it harder to understand the interview's subject. Yet, what could be more important for understanding an artist than knowing where they draw inspiration? So, is it more important to understand the artist, or is it more important to know them?
Well, you'll note I'm not doing interviews on this blog, and with a little digging, you'll find that I have done my share of music journalism, so I'd like to take enough credit to say that I have made a choice- I think it's more important for me as a fan to understand the Artist than to know the people. I mean, consider this- I cannot talk with Joe Strummer. He's dead. I cannot know John Mellor, the man who created Joe Strummer. But, I can understand the Artist known as Joe Strummer, and one way to do that is to know where he drew inspiration from.
Sometimes, influences are crucial. One of my favorite bands from the old Los Angeles punk scene would be TSOL. One listen to them, and you can hear a similarity to the Damned . So, why don't I just listen to the Damned? Because on the one hand, Jack, TSOL's singer, clearly is just as influenced by lounge/Easy listening music as he is by rock music. He sings like he's been on a Burt Bacharach bender as much as Dave Vanian (the Damned's singer) sings like Jim Morrison. But, on the other hand, Ron, TSOL's guitarist, clearly has listened to Johnny Thunders, a lot. Easily as much as Captain Sensible listened to Daevid Allen in the Soft Machine. It's the difference in those influences that makes TSOL sound like a more relevant musical entity to me. No knock on the Damned, who I like as well, but I prefer Bacharach to the Doors, and I prefer Johnny Thunders to the Soft Machine. Plus, the musical thought of the connections between Easy listening and Glam rock is far more compelling than simple psychedelic music, played at Punk tempo (Again, no knock on the Damned, but Hawkwind was doing that, already).
Music is Art, to me. I realize that it can be many other things, and it has been many other things to me. As Art, however, music is part of a conversation of ideas that has been going on as long as civilization. So, as part of that conversation it's important to know where the quotes come from.

As long as I mentioned it

I dislike what's happening with things like Coachella and Lollapalooza- turning it into an entrance-only "event". The NY Times might like it. But, I think it's not only antiquated, it's detrimental. If they want to find a high-profit way to bring people together- why not take advantage of technology and bring the mountain to Mohammed? By that, I mean, why don't they stream Coachella live on a dedicated video channel online, then charge it like a Pay-per-View? Maybe stream two hour blocks to movie theaters, worldwide? That way, control is given to the audience. Don't want to have to sit through Jay Z, in order to see Die Antwoord? Just stream their set, and skip his. They'd make yet more cash, and it could be a world-event, instead of an over-priced gated community where you are force-fed mass culture? Seriously, the way it is now, if I wanted to go see Lollapalooza, I'd be paying over 2 grand to be forced to see Lady Gaga?! I cannot think of anything more wrong-headed culturally. Truly awful. World-wide culture is getting more democratic, and more interactive, but here in America, our Pop culture is getting orwellian and fascist. Screw that! I hope that someone finds a way to bootleg every major festival, and makes a mint selling DVDs of individual acts, and streaming 'em like Netflix.....

DIY Culture

Well, it's an interesting turn of phrase anyway. It's a pity that Kimmelman doesn't seem to fully understand what he is talking about. Still, not a bad article . I wonder what he'd think if it came to his attention that you can do experiments in bricolage from any location by use of the internet, and that it's not necessarily in conflict with tribalism. I wonder if it would blow his mind that all sides can now speak to each other? It's not just the Black Eyed Peas speaking to the third world, it's Die Antwoord playing at Coachella, and it's not just the Beastie Boys inviting Tibetian monks onstage, it's South by Southwest trying to re-locate to Monterey, Mexico. I wonder if he'd be enlightened or frightened by a band like After Many Days? What the print media world needs to understand is that the tribes are still there, they just look different.

Another way to view the Long Tail: the infinite Tent

Yes, the concept of the long tail is pretty crucial to understanding my Aesthetics, here. However, I don't see it two dimensionally. I see it more three dimensionally. Picture, instead of a long tail, something more like an endless plateau of fabric. Now, imagine tent poles erected at various spots underneath this endless fabric. At the apex of each spike, you have your "hits"- those things that are enormously popular. The more flat areas unaffected by the tent poles? That's the "long tail" area, and if you're picturing it the same as I am, there's a lot more fabric that's flat, like that, than there is elevated by the tent poles.
There's several important bits involved with why I prefer this model. First, because the fabric itself is just one endless thing unto itself, and the tent poles are something else- related, but not intrinsic to the fabric. That, to me, more accurately represents the relationship between Art, and culture, and finance and popularity. The "art", the fabric, exists just as it is whether it's "elevated" by commerce, or not, eventually, it is effected, just as fabric stretches if you put a tent pole under it, but it still is more the same thing as Art that is not "elevated" by commerce. Second, because in three dimensions different areas can exist to represent different forces. An example- Japanese Anime is enormously popular in japan for Japanese reasons. It appeals to the Japanese person for reasons that have to do with Japan. But, it's also very popular with some Americans, for very different reasons. So, in our tent pole, one slope can represent the Japanese popularity of Anime, while another side of that same tent pole slope represents the American interest in Anime. Those things elevated the highest by the tent pole are Animes that are popular on both sides of the Atlantic, while, as the slope descends, you have things that are more popular in either places, but not necessarily both. Third, because with multiple tent poles under endless fabric, we can represent other factors, like time, and fashion. For example, picture two tent poles spaced just far enough apart that the fabric between then just about touches the ground for some of the space between them. That would more accurately represent , to me, anyway, Swing music in the 20th century. First, it was obscure, close to the ground. Then, in the 1930's and 1940's, it peaked up in interest, but then, as other stuff gained popularity (other parts of the fabric were explored) the fabric got closer and closer to the ground. Then, in the 1990's, another tent pole goes up, and the interest climbs with it. The fabric (swing music) never got as low as it did before the two tent poles (the interest never hit zero) but it did decline.
Now, why is this metaphor important for reading this blog? Because I'm more interested in things that, for this time, in this place are lower to the ground, thus, further out on the long tail, but that doesn't mean it was ever thus, everywhere. For example, right now, my interest in Thrash would be fairly long tail, fairly "niche". But, if this were Finland, and it was 1987? It wouldn't be nearly as long tail. Get it? It's important because it is this much more broad, more "three dimensional" view that I think is more sustainable, and more inclusive, and better able to describe the realities of the relationship between culture of all types, and the whole of the "mass".
Yes, this is fairly self-referential and esoteric- but I think you can adopt my framework, here, fairly easily for whatever your own niche thinking may be....

Not exactly Easter

OK, so it's Easter, today. I'll be out of the house to do holiday-themed stuff, soon. But, for right now, let's ignore the calendar, ok?
I've stumbled across a new favorite Punk Rock band- Barcelona's The Capaces. They've been around for 10 years, so I don't know where I've been, but it should have been Barcelona!
Sound? OK, take the punk-y rocknroll drive of bands like Motorhead, Zeke, Reo Speedealer, or the Bronx. Got it? Now, take the aggression and speed, and crank it up to the intensity of Discharge and sometimes all the way up to first-album Die Kreuzen. Have Kat Arthur from Legal Weapon sing for this juggernaut. Are you there? No? Let me guess, you haven't heard of most of the references I just made. OK, well, go look them up. If you like most of them, you'll want to hear the Capaces. If not, you probably don't really like thrashy hardcore like I do, and that's OK. At least you know where I'm coming from. Alternately, you could just listen to the Capaces, because this is exactly the kind of music I've been listening to since I was a pre-teen. When it's good, like the Capaces are, nothing connects more with me. Where's the pit?

Riding out the long tail

I wouldn't say I agree with everything Anderson has to say, but the initial article that led to The Long Tail by Chris Anderson was a key inspiration for this here blog. That nugget was a bit of the same thing as the climactic speech in Revenge of the Nerds, when he says that there are more of us nerds, spazzes geeks and so on than beautiful people. The idea of the long tail is that while loads of people like the mainstream stuff, nearly everyone has at least one "niche" thing they like, and so, for a seller, it can be an equally viable business model to sell lots of niche things, instead of a few mainstream things. I'm not trying to sell you anything, but I am a life-long inhabitant of that long tail, in that almost everything I've ever liked has been "niche". So, while I don't expect too many people to ever see my blog, I would encourage everyone who does to go as far out on whatever long tail they occupy as possible. We are very lucky, in these early days of the 21st century. We have more access to more obscure stuff than ever before, with better access, and easier access than ever thought possible. With a little luck, and a little research, if you thought some unknown actor in some "b" movie from 20 years ago was pretty special, you can find out what they're up to, these days. Likewise, if you liked hardcore punk rock, and you liked the sloppy, dark psychedelia of the Butthole Surfers, and wanted them put together, you could find Facepuller . If you like the odd time signatures of math metal, but the melancholy keyboards of gothic metal, you could find Returning we hear the larks . That's how far out the long tail you can ride!
I'll be the first to admit that I'm not so very far out, and obviously, I still like fairly mainstream stuff. The Clash, The Ramones, Queens of the Stone Age, etc ; I can swim in the mainstream. Heck, I even have a Lost theory (the island is host to a Genie-like entity that most folks are calling the "man in black", who is locked in a struggle with another powerful being {Jacob} who's like an Angel {think Jacob's ladder} which means that the story in Lost is about the trials and temptations of people seeking enlightenment). That's pretty mainstream! But, that's the beauty of doing away with the concept of mass culture- popularity doesn't matter either way! you can like completely mainstream stuff, and completely obscure stuff equally, and at the same time. You don't have to play either of those two old adolescent pastimes- trying to fit in, or trying to be an individual. You can simply just be. That's what I'm suggesting, and I hope you can see the potential, and already are riding your own long tail...

Not Everything is a total Winner

I try to keep what I write about, here, on the positive end. After all, I'm a bit misanthropic, and I've got a fairly narrow taste, even if it doesn't conform to music magazine labels, so I could talk endlessly about the pop culture stuff I don't like. What would be the point of deconstructing Gossip Girl? Even more, why would I want to force myself to watch an entire episode just to complete said deconstruction? As a friend once wrote- I should listen to music just to hear how vacuous and inane it is?
Still, not everything I lend my time to has as much merit as other things. I like a lot of stuff that might not be "A grade" quality, but appeals, nonetheless. I also listen to stuff that has a lot of quality, but only fits a niche of limited utility to me. Actually, the majority of what I consume, media-wise fits into those two categories. On TV, that'd be shows like Burn Notice (the former category) and Lost ( the latter category). In reading- well, I read too many magazines, and no, not all are even up to the quality of a mass market rag like Time or Newsweek (though, not quite tabloids. Ever since the weekly world news folded, I'm done with tabloids).
In music? There's a lot. I probably listen to more music than any other kind of pop culture. So, I'd include known bands like Jimmy Eat World, and Nine Inch Nails, but also more unknown bands, like Hell, Flawless and Mandate of Heaven.
On top of that, I know my tastes are narrow, so I don't expect even you, my few readers, to agree.
So, it's pretty rare for me to hear a new band, of very young musicians and think "These guys will be Big". But, this is one of those rare moments. The band is Victori4. The new CD 21st Century Samurais? Wow. It's got enough pop hooks, and easily heard harmonies that I could see them cracking the top 20. It's got teenage angst, it's got some musicianship, and I can see teenage girls thinking these boys are cute. Seriously, not everything wins, but I can see these guys winning. Yes, I like them, and no, I don't think all my friends will. Musically, they're somewhere between an "Emo" band and an Anthemic middle of the road band like U2, Coldplay, or yes, Jimmy Eat World (who they sound closest to) but with a serving of Americana, mostly courtesy of some pretty tasteful slide work. So, I know some of it is that I'm a sucker for a good pop hook with plaintive vocals, and I live and die by a good guitar. But, still, they are of a higher quality than a band like My Chemical Romance, or latter-day AFI, and blow away some of the third-tier bands of similar ilk in the UK - Snow Patrol, I mean you, but not only you. The main reason why they might not be huge would be location- they're from Geneva, Switzerland, and Lyon, France- quite a long way from Los Angeles or London. Heck, that's even a bit far away from a city like Baltimore.
But, I've heard them, so their music is spreading. Maybe someday they'll be on Top of the Pops, eh? Then, of course, we'll have to hate them, won't we? But, if you have an open mind for commercial pop rock, I think there are some rewards to be had, here, and, no, I won't apologize for liking what makes me smile. There's enough that I hate, and there's enough that I feel guilty for liking, but a good pop rock band? That's got value, even if it flirts with Mass culture...

Stone Soup After Many Days

People talk about mixing things, about a remix culture, and about "world music", and usually it's pairing two things that are fairly similar at the outset. At the most ridiculous, you get a band like Extreme (Remember them? yeah, the name was because they had the temerity to mix Pop metal with accoustic ballads! how... extreme) but at the most sublime, you get a band like Rage Against the Machine, which recasts music for the listener (sincerely, how many people thought of Led Zep as a funk band, or Erik B and Rakim as a rock band before hearing Rage?)
Spain's After Many Days are closer to the Rage end of things than the Extreme. But, After Many Days are mixing a lot of things. Like a Stone Soup, we start with music- they're mixing prog rock, metal, hip hop, jazz and traditional gallic folksong, then add in some electronics, and then, have the lyrics in three languages (Spanish, French, and English). But, the trick, as always, is to get the mix right so that musically, it works, and sounds good. After Many Days get the mix right, and on either of their EPS, the sound is polished and professional (a feat by itself for a self-producing band) and always organically flowing. It doesn't sound like seperate things, but, rather, as a cohesive band. What is that sound? Like Primus meets Deftones on the Red Hot Chili Peppers yacht, to play some Jacques Brel and Gang Starr songs. I don't expect them to become a big commercial hit, but I bet other musicians are intrigued already. Look for bands to be referencing them as an influence, much like the band they most remind me of, Faith No More.
Now I just hope they can tour, because their stage show looks impressive.

Joining the Crowd on Lost

Commenting on Lost is a subgenre of blog, so don't expect a link, nor a complete and long post. I just have a few quick things to write about that show.
First, it had a great idea in limiting itself. I just think 100 episodes is closer to how long I want the story to go on. At this point, the show has "jumped the shark" and overstayed. I think 50 episodes would've made for taut, quality TV storytelling, but 100 and above? Name the show that was as compelling after the 100 mark as it was before. I prefer the model where you tell the story, and then stop.
Second, While Terry O'Quin and Michael Emerson (especially Emerson) are clearly the best actors on the show, I have a different take on "favorites" than most. I like Jack Shephard. I like Sayid Jarrah, Hugo "Hurley" Reyes and Jin-Soo Kwon. Other than them, I don't really like the characters. Why those? Ever been an older brother? Ever been a father? Ever been a Manager? There is a role men have to take- a combination of selfless gaurdian, and hate-magnet Sheriff. These characters understand that role, and abide to it. I can relate to that, and sympathize with that more than I can people living as if they are islands, themselves. People who don't make the hard choices against themselves like Ben Linus, and like John Locke are the kind of jerks I curse every day. Why would I cheer them, or even be interested in them on my TV?
Really though, if you haven't seen Lost, I wouldn't bother, at this point. The first 3 Seasons were good, and it's crawled up into itself since then. Considering we're talking a six season show, that means it's only half good.

Signal to Noise

It's not surprising to me that The Rise doesn't get much mention. They didn't exactly play commercial sounding hard rock. They were somewhat innovative in the use of heavily processed vocals (auto tune, and more) in a hardcore/thrash/metal setting, but that would be counter-balanced by how big a debt they owed to The Refused. It's precisely that balance that makes me want to mention them, now, however. I think the thing that makes their second release "Reclamation Process" valuable, and worth your time is that they completed an equation that The Refused started.
See, The Refused were a barely passable metalcore band until they started exploring a relationship between thrash and Techno. They were doing so primarily in service to their leftist/Anarchist/Socialist/Situationist politics, and so even on their bast expression, the "Shape of Punk to Come" CD, they still sounded like a hardcore band playing around with synths. That alone was revelatory, but it wasn't complete. They didn't get into the relationship between the sounds, and they didn't use the music as a means of expressing anything deeper than the lyrics (which were plenty intellectual, but overwhelming to any input from the music). The Rise start out aping the Refused, but on Reclamation Process, the lyrics take a back seat to the sonics which blend screeching "screamo" vocals, and metallic thrashy guitars with auto tune, glitchy synth noise, samples and atonal over-processed laptop sequences. The result isn't exactly pretty, but it does make a sonic point as the electronics slowly overtake the songs. The human elements, one by one fall away- from vocals and live playing over to samples and sequences- without ever losing the abrasiveness of a hardcore punk background. In the end, not only does it presage what a band like Attack! Attack! is doing, but it completes the sonic equation presented by the Refused- what place does the human element have in music, and can the machines express anything beyond simple replication. This isn't like Gary Numan positing human-like androids emotionally lost in the electronic void. It's more like the electronic void having a conversation with a lost soul, and perhaps winning the debate. By the time the CD ends in washes of White and pink noise, you can almost understand what it's communicating. It's definitely worth pondering.