Commentary: Stuck In Your Musical Ways
By Matt Anderson, Art Director
So here you are again, listening to that SAME Metric album over and over. Why do you do it to yourself? Maybe you’re completely content with where you are in your music viability, just taking it day by day, reading Pitchfork, Rolling Stone or even your favorite band’s Web site every now and then to get your fix.
Everyone has hit this point sometime in his or her life. If not, it is not a matter of if, but rather a matter of when. Maybe it happened back in fifth grade when you started listening to Savage Garden, or even now when you find that “Fireflies” by Owl City is STILL your favorite song (on the DL, of course). I mean, why do you think your dad still listens to Bread? It’s because he’s stuck.
That’s not to say that listening to the classics now and then, or even every day, is a bad thing. It is important to keep in touch with what you grew up on, what you truly love. The time when music lovers begin to see it as a personal issue is when they become their own Rush Limbaugh of college indie rock.
A strange phenomenon has recently taken over me. I don’t know when it began or how long it will last, but I’ve become oddly content with my music selection. It has gotten to the point where I am unsatisfied and dare I say, uninterested, with the music world around me. When music is as much a part of your life as wearing clothes or going to the bathroom, this lack of satisfaction starts to become a problem. Who wants to live on stale bread anyway?
Let’s break this down into a hypothetical situation: I’ll use this one kid (not me!) I know as an example. His three all-time favorite bands over the past decade have reigned as follows:
1. Fiona Apple (Shut up, she rules).
2. Zero 7 (Okay, I can feel a little down-tempo, electro lounge now and then).
3. Moby (...)
Now, what we have above is an eclectic group of music by most standards. Sure, there is not any direct honky-tonk or Riot Grrrl influences, but you shouldn’t judge his entire iTunes library just by what’s on his top three (S Club 7 just barely missed the list). All that bothers him is that, while the aforementioned have remained staples in his listening experience, he cannot remember the last time he found a new band that he really liked.
Now when I say “new,” I don’t include that song from 2003 you just heard on an iPod commercial. I am talking about the stuff you have to dig for. It doesn’t matter how big or small the band may be, how many albums they’ve sold or who listens to them. It is about the personal discovery experience and that you have individually found a new favorite artist, song or album to listen to.
My friend has lost this part of himself. He loves everything in his music library to death, but after a while he wonders if he’s not missing more out there in the music world; whether it be a high school band from Little Rock, Arkansas or the new Ke$ha single.
There is so much stirring music out there in the world. Like my friend, I wish that there were more time in the day to search out new talent that deserves our ears. While there are definitely good “mainstream” artists out there today, our culture seems to forget its garage bands in lieu of slutty 16 year-olds out to be the next Madonna.
Many in music journalism, including myself, feel the constant pressure to be on top of the wave of new music at all levels. Our love and appreciation for music wanders onto a slippery slope of what the distinction between work and play really is.
Maybe I am just approaching this idea all wrong. Music is not supposed to be a research paper or a job (well, for most). It is supposed to be moving, rousing and inspiring. You can’t think about it too much, because when you do you’re only working against it, trying to beat it at a game that should never be played.
I hope that one day, when I don’t have to spend my time learning about libel and slander (I hate you, Media Law), I can focus more energy on broadening my musical horizons and learning more about this beautiful, fascinating thing that this planet has to offer. My friend and I will get out of this sticky situation, one way or another.
