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There's a very big problem with today's music. It's utterly forgettable. No one will remember the club anthems of today or several years past. When the info-mercials of 2050 is hocking the classic rock of Y2K, not one person will buy the music, simply because no one can differentiate one song from another.

How many electronic songs can you name by heart? I honestly don't know any, partly because I'm not into the whole dance scene, but more importantly, I cannot associate the music with the artist. Unlike heavy metal or hard rock, which I never really liked, at least I can name a handful of groups and a bunch of songs. I may even know the lyrics, if you played a few bars for me. But when it comes to underground dance music, I'm drawing a blank.

How do you shop for electronic anway if you don't know the title of the song? I mean, with contemporary music of yesteryears, you could at least sing a few verses, and hope someone will recognize it. However, how do you sing the title song of the movie Blade? "Dum duh, do da da da da da. Dum duh, do da da da da da." You can't even really hum it.

The problem is that dance music today doesn't contain any meaningful words. Now that I think about it, I do know one dance song, "RBA - There's No Alternative". The only reason I remember it is because the only lyrics in the song, is "There's no alternative!". I don't believe there are another other words spoken throughout.

To the astute listener, you will instantly point out that classical music, like Mozart or Bach, didn't have lyrics in a lot of their "songs" either. The pieces were limited to one instrument, the piano, which was restricted by only 88 keys. So how can they be called classics, with the stamina to sustain hundreds of decades of play? They had no words to associate the song with the artist either....

I don't know. I'm not a music major. But a Bach or Mozart piece could be interpreted by the pianist, and from what I understand, may sound slightly different, depending on the individual playing. It is true that you can feel both electronic and classical music, but that's pretty much where all the similarities end. Classical pieces were made to convey certain feelings, dance music is primarily made to keep you moving. Techno is not written to impress upon you the idea of love or sorrow, but a well written classical piece can subject the listener to a rollercoaster of emotions. There's nothing to change or re-arrange when all you do is put the latest club anthem and pressing play on your CD Player.

Maybe that's not totally true. What about DJs that can "spin tight grooves"? Well in my opinion, that's not really making music, is it? At best, they're seen as an arranger, and at worst, nothing but the guy that keeps the music playinging from one song to another, ensuring there's no embarassing pause or silence in between. You're not really creating music per se, but rather, showcasing different artists and songs, all without break or specific order.

But what good is that when you have no idea who created the songs in the first place? If a DJ takes 20 seconds of one song, and mix it in with 2 or 3 other tunes, how does one recognize each individual part? If I took a bunch of Beethoven pieces which had the same bps (beats per second), and mixed them into one continuous but not necessarily linear sequence, you may not know just what you're hearing. So the argument that DJs can make good music is bunk. Rather, the DJ can use his creativity to cleverly present you a plethora of other people's work. Just different enough to be unique, but that in itself is not a music piece. They're not creating it on their own.

This all ties in with popular culture today, the "McD's generation". Just like McCombos, as long as it's fast and instantly gratifying, it's good enough. I don't need it to have a lasting effect on me, I just want to be satisfied right now. A PC is great for that. You can throw in a bunch of different elements together, and arrange it enough that it sounds like a unique tune. It might sound slamming, but it's totally devoid of real emotions. It's just notes haphazzardly thrown together to create a music. If you ask me, it sounds like computers farting.

So how can you associate a period of your life with music that doesn't have any meaning? Drum beats and cool sounding noises created by synthesizers or PCs are neat while dancing, but its popularity and longevity is severly limited. Even disco music, the scourge of decent taste, is back in the clubs, albeit with a stronger, faster beat. So in 20-30 years time, will electronic music be mated to lyrics of tomorrow? Funny thought, that.

....What about scratching on the "wheels of steel", isn't that an artform?





posted by losir at 3:34 AM