I just read an intriguing article dealing with the history of popular music, including the differences and historical relevance of pop and rock.
Some quotes from the reading are below…
“…musicians could rarely read music but learned their craft through imitating the blues guitarists of the past, and by solitary practice…Rock culture was a way of making ’serious’ that was free from the institutional and stylistic demands of art music”
“…rock was at pains to distinguish itself from ‘low culture’; in this case, the mass-produced, commercial popular music…”
“Music was to have meaning…It was to be about ‘ultimate things’.”
The gendered carnival of pop : By Diane Railton
Check out it in our ‘About’ section or on any of our other websites.
p.s. A big thanks to our friend Katie for her time and skills
“…by a good record I mean one that carries surprise, pleasure, shock, ambiguity, contingency, or a hundred other things, each with a faraway sense of the absolute: the sense that either for the entire performance, or more often for a stray moment, someone wants what he or she wants, hates what he or she hates, fears what he or she fears, more than anything in the world.”
- Greil Marcus
In reading Marcus’ Corrupting the Absolute, a musical light has dawned from the pages and into my head. Good music can not be described in terms of notes, chords, or music theory. It is the sense that a song or record is honorable, organic, and filled with the artist’s entire soul. This is to say that the beauty, malice, and essence in music is not contrived or phony, but authentic and indisputable. “Bad” records come and go. They fall to the wayside after listeners call the music out on its dishonesty. Greil Marcus is right when he says, “A bad song is absorbed whole, in the moment, unconsciously”, yet over time, a bad song “reveals itself as a corrupt, faked, and dishonest tumor in the psyche.” In the end, you can’t fool those who seek true authenticity.
Hey everyone
I have been listening to the band sigur ros alot lately, some people may ask why? well I basically had a really spiritual moment listening to them. Anyway This is just one of many bands that i believe have a huge artistic quality that can only be conceived by the open mind. So many bands out in the world now i believe have no passion for the many forms of art. The singer from Sigur Ros i know has a picture book coming out with some photography check out some stuff at
http://www.riceboysleeps.com/
Folks, for interesting, insightful information on the music business check out the Revel Lever blog! It’s in our links column at the bottom of the page and also right below. Check it daily for new articles and insight.
www.revellever.com
Last night Nick and I finished up a demo for an acoustic song entitled “Weddingbells”. It is posted on our MySpace as of now, so go to www.myspace.com/chaplan and check it out, let us know what you think.
It has been everywhere lately. The presidential candidates, Bush, scandals, yadda, yadda… But in all reality, I enjoy keeping up this stuff. If you do too, check out the Civic Alert for some good reading.
You can find there blog at www.civicalert.wordpress.com
p.s. The pictures are wonderful as well.
For any As Tall As Lions fans out there check out there new song “into the flood” at www.stereogum.com!! It’s on there digital only EP The Flood which will be released on November 27th. The Cello’s sounds amazing!
Hey! Through researching for class I have come across some interesting sources on the web. So if any of you have interest in the music industry check out these two sites.
http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
http://www.artsjournal.com/
We’ve neglected the blog lately, but shit is getting back on track. These last weeks I’ve been stuck on Radiohead’s new album, In Rainbows.
It is so refreshing to hear some bands are still putting out quality music…I really feel like most bands are stuck in the musical mud, creating stagnate sound. Sometimes I wonder where the 60’s went, but I feel a change coming.
New sounds soon.
