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Re: The Dark Age
Kim wrote:
>Maybe that's a point I'm arriving at here. You need the context to
>both understand and find what is good. We obviously miss a lot. It
>leaves me wondering about what we may be missing about the present.
>If the life experiences of someone born circa-1950 can be so
>different from those of someone born circa-1970 as to result in such
>different music, what about those born circa-1990? The context of
>their formative years produces... what? Are we missing it?
Yes, we're missing it. People tend to stick with the music that
comes from or grows from the music they listened to at high school
and college age. I don't which comes first, the cultural referent or
the age that you listen to the music. There's certainly a correlation
between culture and music but I don't know if it's a causal effect.
Back to missing stuff. Today's music has exploded in its diversity
and availability. There is more music out there that you would like
than you will ever hear.. The question is finding it. There are
friends (especially young friends), collaborative filtering sites
like MusicStrands.com and social network sites like MySpace.com where
you can find lots of good music.
But that isn't all of it. I would put it to you that, unless you
live in the Arctic or something, there is very good music being
played close to where you live. It may not be your favorite, but it
could become it. But sitting in your living room or in front of
your PC you're going to miss it.
Live music is declining. The reason is so many musicians, so few
venues, so few club-goers. Most of us stay home and listen to music
there. Most musicians can't get paid decently. It isn't the
club-owner's fault--he needs bodies buying drinks to make money so he
can pay money.
So I'd like to offer a New Year's resolution. Listen to a live
musician once a week or once a month. If you're already doing this,
thank you. If the clubs are no good in your town then check the
other venues, the ones posted on telephone poles and bulletin
boards. Check out house concerts. Have a music party and jam with a
bunch of other folks, especially folks who play really different
music from what you listen to. Music isn't a commodity it's a community.
Who was it iwho said, "I don't want to smash the state, I want my own
f*ing state."? Looper's Delight is one such state whose citizens are
grounded in looping music. Make another, different state based in
your neighborhood. If you're doing this already, thank you.
Respectfully,
Kevin
www.TheNettles.com