Maybe Billy Joel is actually more pertinent to this post than I originally thought. You see, I didn't sign on today with any premeditated thoughts to share. I simply signed on and decided that, were I to write for long enough, something of note would come to me. I also found it justifiable that, given this blog's short life span, if there were a couple of ill-advised self-indulgent ramblings at the beginning, they would be forgiven for their naivety and instead esteemed as pieces of uninhibited youthful fervor (on sale now in both red and black). Maybe I'm giving myself a lot of unearned credit.
There are two musical topics that've kind of caught my attention lately. Well, less topics and more just art ephemera, theory, terminology. Anyway, first, I'll tackle the one discussed in yesterday's Poptimist column on Pitchfork. You can check it out here. > Poptimist #11
Tom Ewing, among many other things, suggests that when we make the distinction that a specific piece of music "stands the test of time" that we're donning a "hero story" and presuming that we have "the expertise to discern great music from merely good," that we haven't been "fooled by transitory acclaim." Now, Tom goes on to reason with different aspects of this terminology that are of equal interest but I'm primarily concerned with the above right now. I'm particularly guilty of this shortcoming. This vigilant pursuit of "timeless" music has been a chip on my shoulder. Disclosing that is slightly humiliating but, all in the interest of self-awareness, right? So there you have it, and I think I've gone on long enough about it.
Secondly, and this topic is getting shamefully shortened because of above blathering, if you think there's such thing as a "guilty pleasure," you're wrong. That statement is an ideology in progress. I'm not saying I'm there yet but I think by the time I'm 50, maybe I'll be open-minded enough to understand music's appeal to a fractured and disparate society of listeners.
So that's it for this week. To try and keep this interactive, I've posted a track below by Phosphorescent. Phosphorescent AKA Mathew Houck will be playing at Schuba's on March 4 with Bowerbirds. If any of you cats care to join me, I'll most certainly be there. Thanks for humoring my ranting.
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2 comments:
i forgot to mention, bill callahan will definitely stand the test of time because no one ever listens to his records. they will remain in pristine physical condition for millenia.
dave, need i remind you why you don't have admin privileges? this is why.
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