Getting a Clear Idea

It’s easy for me (and perhaps many other nostalgic music critics) to look back on days when even mainstream music was at least somewhat decent, with flashes of brilliance as common as a summer storm. Now, it seems, mainstream and even “indie” (which, really, has formed its own mainstream and rebellious subculture) are heading in directions that bands like Pixies, Led Zeppelin, or even the Beatles could hardly lay any claim to. Until the 90s, artists generally placed themselves tidily in one or two musical genres, but artists this decade have treated musical genres like a spice cabinet–choose as many as you want (though never just one) and use them sparingly lest you overpower the listener’s palette. What’s the result? This kind of thing:

Polished, squeaky-clean catchy poppy piano hooks, subtle distortionless electric guitar, plain vanilla bean vocals, a drum beat that makes Ringo Starr sound overambitious, nostalgic in that it blends into the homogenous tapestry of its uninspired ancestry. It stands to reason that every new musical movement is in some way a departure or rebellion from its predecessor, and I think our most recent development has been no different. Music from the 90s has rough textures, dissonance, lead singers who can barely maintain their grasp with reality and in fact reject the ordered sobriety of the real world. This was back when cool was angular and harsh; nowadays cool is smooth, streamlined, pleasant, unassuming. And then there’s stuff like this:

This merits no further explanation. Although not without its standouts, hip hop has taken a long and steep dive to the recesses of banality when it comes to music that is meaningful and creative. Hip hop stages that once came alive with the glorious synthesis of talented musicians now groan under the weight of special effects and coordinated dance routines and synthesized, soulless machine drones, accompanied by someone whose spoken or sung words most authentically embody the aesthetic of an increasingly hedonistic audience.

Before you accuse me of being a rock “purist” who doesn’t consider the vast universe of sound that is music, consider this: Has the vast universe of sound been tapped? Or are we simply satisfied with the calculated efforts of marketing and computers to make the most pleasant-sounding music possible? You see, sound in and of itself can’t be the only criteria for music. You can’t just tell a computer to make noises and call that art, unless you want to broaden the definition of art to encompass all impressive human achievements, in which case both personal computers and gas chambers can be included. Efficiency, ergonomic design, superior timbre—all of these are good, but are they art? Are they music? Or just like any other mass-produced toy you pick up off the shelf, play with for a while, and eventually discard, are they simply carefully marketed products aimed at a specific audience?

The bottom line is this: we’re a consumeristic society, consumed by our consumerism, and therefore we can’t help but produce art that reflects our disposition to accumulate the best, purest things technology can provide. We want our products quickly and efficiently and consistently, and that’s what we get. We get it from the drive-through, the shopping mall, the porn website, the tweenie novel, and the record store. What have we produced? Should we be proud of it? Should we fear for the future of music? Mos Def’s ’99 debut “Black on Both Sides” waxes poetic and prophetic in its candid opening track:

Listen.. people be askin me all the time,
“Yo Mos, what’s gettin ready to happen with Hip-Hop?”
(Where do you think Hip-Hop is goin?)
I tell em, “You know what’s gonna happen with Hip-Hop?
Whatever’s happening with us”
If we smoked out, Hip-Hop is gonna be smoked out
If we doin alright, Hip-Hop is gonna be doin alright
People talk about Hip-Hop like it’s some giant livin in the hillside
comin down to visit the townspeople
We (are) Hip-Hop
Me, you, everybody, we are Hip-Hop
So Hip-Hop is goin where we goin
So the next time you ask yourself where Hip-Hop is goin
ask yourself.. where am I goin? How am I doin?
Til you get a clear idea

It makes a lot of sense. Our music embodies our values, and I’m not just talking about lyrics. What’s really valuable to you? Do you identify with the music you listen to, or merely objectify it? Do you connect with the artists in some way, or do you merely use them?

By the way, just because I like it doesn’t mean you should give a shit about it. That’s not what this post is about at all. It’s about YOU going on YOUR musical journey that will be entirely different from mine, perhaps to the extent that you disagree with most of my prior assessments about modern music. Be that as it may, I encourage you, stalwart listener, to continue your noble quest into the fantastically paradoxical world of human expression.