Glastonbury

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Monday, December 12, 2011

Why I Love Underground Anything

I've been struggling with a long time with the idea that I might be what is collectively known as a "hipster". I don't dress the dress, walk the walk, or speak the jargon but I am definitely a triumphant trumpeter of the unknown and therefore "untainted". And I've been called a hipster for that. And I consider it an insult. Which results in me fighting and arguing and attempting to distinguish myself from a group of people that I consider so ultimately shallow that they are worst than their mainstream counterparts. Because they treat music and art as a commodity and a fashion statement they do more to undermine real musical and artistic statements because that is the most commercial statement that I could possibly imagine.

But I can't bring myself to not be a little disappointed when something I like becomes commercially successful.

And I'm slowly beginning to realize that I'm okay with that. Because it's not that I'm instantly repulsed by something that's popular, and I consider every other person on the planet some kind of knuckle dragging moron. The simple reason is that when something is underground and virtually unknown, it's intensely personal to me. I noticed this first when I thought about video games. For a long time video games weren't really a mainstream thing, at least not good video games that weren't subtitled with the year and had some random idiot jock's face on the cover. And because of that I felt some sort of intimate bond with it. I can recall playing games and listening to their soundtracks and feeling like nobody in the world had experienced it, that this was a direct conversation I was having with the game developer while simultaneously getting lost in the experience. I found myself immersed in a world where honor and chivalry are redeemable qualities and don't just get you bent over a table. I felt the same way about books, pictures, and music.

And then the tide changed. And underground music started to become popular, and video games started to break societal prejudices and gain mainstream standing. And I couldn't help but feel a little bit put out. It was as though my best friend had suddenly started spending a bunch of time with people I knew nothing about and couldn't relate with, because unlike small underground communities who had played all of the same games, or listened to all the same music, or read all the same books as you had, these people weren't rife with shared experiences. It hurt, a lot too. Because all of a sudden that conversation you'd had with the artist who'd created a piece that you'd love was being drowned out by a whole bunch of voices that were trying to have the same conversation and all of a sudden you were forced to face the undeniable evidence that you weren't the only person in the world having this experience, there were literally thousands (in some cases millions) of others who had just as profound an experience with it that you did and that you weren't special and you didn't understand whatever it was on some deep intimate level, that you were just another person who came across some art and consumed it like everyone else.

And it sucked.

Friday, December 9, 2011

I Don't Know, I'm Bad With Names

The lethargy of nights is a frequent if not constant companion throughout my life. Everything is coated in an ultra-cool sheen of the rabble rousers and general rebellious folk, and stinks of the youth. I don't understand why anyone wouldn't want to revel in it. If I were to be honest with myself I could fathom a few reasons among the level headed and too quickly grown among us but it makes me no less tow headed that all my favorite (and many necessary) services have a hard five o clock deadline. And there is a certain conceit about the darkness that allows the more playful facets of human nature manifest themselves in otherwise perfectly docile creatures in the daylight. It's a philosophical but subconscious reasoning that is too abstract for anyone to take too seriously when they're not sitting around joking with friends and trying a bit too hard not to appear a studied intellectual. "No I was graced with natural insight, I was a very advanced child." But it's almost too obvious to even begin to talk about because it takes into account such a weirdly grotesque side of the guy who sits next to you on the subway, that if it weren't for the eyes watching him oh the things he would do. I guess that's why things get so very social at night times too. People flock to their kind in concert halls and dimly lit bars and stop pretending to be who they "really" are and just be for a few hours at a time with a person they keep at an arm's length from their safe and future lifestyle and enjoy the company of someone as specifically fucked in the skull as they are. Naturally they enjoy themselves more. And when the morning comes I can shed my skin and stop indulging myself. Because it's not, an awakening, of the suppressed individual that shows up on Avenue A in punk combat boots at 2 in the morning. It's masturbation. I flaunt my self important individuality at the subculture, the downtrodden few and therefore must be righteous because I don't wear suits and ties and no one calls me sir or ma'am and I've never watched a morning talk show, so please EXPERIENCE ME. That's why they enjoy night time in the Big City.

So have a coke and a smile and shut the fuck up.  

Monday, February 14, 2011

Drugs: Great For Music; Bad For Music's Wallet

I know that this post is a long time coming but I really wanted to plan out what I was going to say here. Drugs are often inextricably linked to music, almost all of the greatest artists at one point or another did drugs, often time to great detriment. Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain, Bonzo, Keith Moon, and countless other artists lost their lives to drugs and music has mourned their losses. But despite the risks associated with drug use, drugs are essential to ensuring the purity of the medium.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Artist(s) You May Not Know: I Blame Coco and The Chapel Club


Firstly, let's get a bit of an apology out of the way. I left a lull in my posts and that was something that I promised I wouldn't do. So let me make that up to my followers. Here are two bands you may not know:

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

The SuperBowl Halftime Show: Preferable to Rape?

Pictured Above: The Black Eyed Peas
Not Pictured: Talent


 


Well boys and girls, I, like many of you tuned in to watch the Super Bowl. And like any similar minded people I dreaded the half time show. If only The Who could play again. But no, instead we got the Black Eyed Peas. And with that, allow me to review this "performance".

Monday, February 7, 2011

Collaboration of Genius Minds


If you don't know who the two men mentioned in the above video's title are then you are in the wrong place and the Beiber blogs are Pr0b@bly WhErEd Ud B M0r3 @ h0m3. But if you've got any musical acumen then please, read on past the jump.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Artist You May Not Know: Dr. Dog


First thing first, I have to make a quick edit to my last post "Band You May Not Know". I mistakenly named it "Band" instead of "Artist". That being said, let's jump right into it.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Electric Drum Kit: Effective Replacement?

(Image courtesy of drumza.com)


I recently purchased an Ion IED12 Pro Electronic drum kit. It seemed like a good choice, electronic drum kits have headphones so you can plug in and enjoy/practice enjoying your drumming without risking the wrath of the neighbor with the noise complaint. There is a huge range of prices that you can pay. I shot for the lower end because, as a musician, I'm about as broke as can be without being homeless, the kit only cost me $250. If you have more to offer than that you can buy kits for as much as $2,000. But should you?

Friday, February 4, 2011

Cigars and A Playlist

(image ironically provided by helpquitsmokingtoday.com)
            



I took the opportunity today to just sit back and enjoy a good cigar and a playlist. The cigar wasn't anything special, but the playlist had me in a great mood. Some really good indie stuff, some blues courtesy of The Black Keys and a bit of hip hop thrown in (found through Matt Helders', aka The Agile Beast of the Arctic Monkeys, Late Night Tales Compilation). It's still wicked cold in New York and I had to sit in my car the whole time but hell, it put me in such a good mood I didn't give a damn. The playlist was as follows:


Thursday, February 3, 2011

I Dislike All The Right Things: Artists to Avoid

As much as I'd like to keep this simply about great music that isn't as well known as it should be, I have to highlight artists to steer clear of. This will probably be fairly expected, and to be honest, I'll most likely just be raiding Billboards to bring you the worst that music has to offer. But as with everything else I'm gonna post here, I'll explain myself. So off the top of my head, here are the worst artists out today.


Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Artist You May Not Know: First Aid Kit

First Aid Kit is a Swedish folk duo, composed of sisters Johana and Klara Soderburg. They have been composing since 2007 and feature a very stripped down style focused around harmonies. The attached video is from a featurette where they preformed some songs in the woods behind their home. This song specifically is called "Our Own Pretty Ways" and features heavily folk influenced lyrics. Among their influences are the ever influential Fleet Foxes. The song is heavily focused around the vocals and the piano and guitar, while repetitious, subtly enhances the vocal performances rather than detracts from them. Personally, the song calls up warm imagery and features enough pitch changes to and vocal inflection to keep one interested while still being relaxing.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

First Posting

Hey Everybody,

I'm a 19 year old musician living in New York City. I dream of making it big like any good musician should and naturally I'm rather opinionated about the state of music, how music should be made, etc etc. I am a drummer, a novice guitarist, and learning vocals and to play the violin. This blog was created as an outlet for me to both reach prospective fans and comment on musical trends and the like as well as promote great bands that may not be as recognized as they should be. I apologize in advance if I veer from that fairly straightforward mission statement from time to time, I tend to think tangentially and like any blogger am eager for an audience with which to share my musings. So please, take some time to get to know me through this blog, find out about some great music you may not have heard of, and engage in discussions with me about music, life and the like.
Music
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