PONDERED: Why your scene doesn’t matter
Posted by Mat | Filed under Music
It’s 1996. Nine Inch Nails is in constant rotation and take up half of the t-shirt wall at your local Warehouse Music. Down the isle is the the Escape from L.A. soundtrack, that featuring Stabbing Westward, Gravity Kills, and effin’ Ministry - talk about bang/smash/book for your buck.
Skinny Puppy and Front 242 were on MTV (midnight on a Sunday, but still they were on). The music you love has a pedigree dating back to Throbbing Gristle in the 70s. Your musical forefathers have mucho music cred, and the newest crop is rebellious and yet relevant.
Take in the sites and smells – this is the last time anyone else in the world will care about Industrial music.
We can file the numbers off and protect that names of the innocent in this scenario. It’s ‘97 and you like Ska. ‘04 and cardigan styled Emo. Two ill-spent months in ‘89 with baggy….
ad. infinitum
The truth of the matter is that while the music, your music, continues to spawn merch, tour, and inspire new bands, they don’t matter. They’re not the black sheep of the musical sub-genre family, they’re the fish head eating mutant that lives in the attic.
Why the pariah status?
Back in the early 90’s, a music critic referred to the London Shoegaze Scene as “the scene that celebrates itself,” and subsequently, the rest of the critics stopped caring. Despite birthing some musical landmarks, the Shoegaze scene got kneecapped, and went from being a sound to a scene.
The criticism was totally valid. When a sound is codified and becomes a sub-genre, the rules are set – attire, attitude, and others are standardized. With the rules set, the old fans become die-hards or drop out and the new fans come in already knowing the rules. Most importantly, with the look, the sound, and the crowd predefined, the artist stop creating and begin producing for the fan base.
Bands in the _________ scene make _________ music for _________ fans.
And this is why your scene doesn’t matter, at least outside of your scene.
Tags: baggy, emo, industrial, mainstream, pondered, scene, ska, Slowdive, sucks
LIKE/AS – Slowdive and The XX
Posted by Mat | Filed under Music
As noted in the review of White Hinterland’s Icarus along with the ‘09 Best ofs, it’s time to nut up on my assertion that there’s a clear similarity between The XX and Slowdive.
Let the genre nitpicking begin.
The XX are one of the notable bands du jour. They’re English, they’re young, and they make downtempo music. Specifically they’ve taken dub step beats, added organic instruments, and a male/female vocal dynamic.
Slowdive are one of the most well regarded of the original wave of shoegaze bands. They were English, they were young, and they make downtempo music. They took the peddle heavy wall of sound pioneered on Loveless and added intricacy, and a male/female vocal dynamic.
Yup, I smell some similarities.
Hell, let’s also note that neither band would have existed without the Cocteau Twins, who created the dream pop sound that would be the birthing place of shoegaze, trip hop (which lead to dub step), and a myriad of other, finically named micro-genres.
For the purpose of further comparison, here check the songs belong – you can click through and check out more.
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Tags: cocteau twins, dub step, like/as, shoegaze, Slowdive, the xx
