Message 7/71
Date: 01-Oct-04 @ 06:52 PM -
RE: The Arrogance of Originality???
hmmm, yeah xoxos I'm pretty much in agreement with you but I got there after deciding to make music. I had no lofty principals when i started, just access to gear and time on my hands...
But I did at some point start to recognize the power of music, and how ego-tripped it usualy is... I got to thinking, in relation to popular music, how little the "fan" must think of themselves to desire to spend time and energy on something that ammounted to self absorbed fluff (ala boy bands, brittney, etc) or emotional regurgitation (Nine Inch Nails was sort of a pivotal point in this for me at the time)... Dance music was anonymous, powerful and there for the listener, for the party, not the performer, who always looks like an asshat when he tries to be a rock star form behind a synth panel lit by laptop glow...
But isn't there a profound pretension in sitting back there being Oz, and displaying a false modesty and aloofness as well? since, even a DJ can push emotional buttons and force a contrived experience onto an unwiiting deck of sweat soaked kids. I mean, by it's nature performance requires a passive audience...
except in cases of freeform or participatory sound design... like a gig I did for a bit where we had all of these decorated and oversized controllers rigged to various preset samples and left it up to the audience... like an electronic drum circle... but then there were moments of brilliance from that where I and my cohort patted each other's backs about how cool we were for having such a decentralized idea... and, the participants thanked us and waggled at us about how smart and inventive and decent we were... and it just felt like more of the same.
I mean, ok... the mental blow job is fine enough when "they" appreciate your effort. But does it do anything beyond a kind of senseless congratulation and a passive good time for the kids?
And really, is there anything wrong with that if it doesn't?
e