so, in my previous post, i believe i illustrated the fact that i'm a pompous ass about the music that i like...when i like it.
it seems that at one time i did like jam bands. at one time, i may have thought that the music that i like 'now' sucks. and everybody that wasn't following the grateful dead is a dumbass.
it seems that i have a graduate degree in the school of "my music is better than yours".
remember when rock and rollers burned beegee albums and wore shirts that stated 'disco sucks'
apparently, now that i think of it, that was the beginning of my 'music bigotry'.
not that i thought that 'disco sucks', shoot i even had my parents mail order for me the album 'disco duck'...ahem...i know, shut up. at the time i was torn. i liked dressing up in polyester slacks and silk shirts. going down to the nearest 'Quinceañera' and showing off my long rehearsed john travolta moves. i also at the time discovered rock and roll like kiss, foghat, queen, styx.
i was really torn.
why did i have to choose a side.
well, i did. i chose to rock out. 1977. corpus christi texas.
i cant remember exactly who i was trying to fit in with. but, they rocked. so i should too.
what is this phenomenon. this music bigotry. this 'us vs. them' thing.
in the early 80's it was country music sucks. rock still prevailed for me, but, it was that rush and yes ruled and all other rock was for pussys.
in the late 80's it was art rock like talking heads and brian eno were so cool that they eclipsed the entire rest of the history of music.
in the 90's pyschedelic music. or at least music on pyschedelics.
except for grunge. grunge sucks.
then the later 90's alt country.
then classic country.
then... i hated all music.
except the stuff that i had liked from the past.
no new music was tolerable. none.
i was always a closet jazzer. and classical was an academic hobby for me.
and i could never get enough of whatever music i happened to be playing/producing.
then i discovered the flaming lips were doing things i had tried to do at one point.
then i discovered the super furry animals were doing things i always dreamed of doing but was incapable of doing.
then the impossibilities of hella!
now. here i am not liking music that i dont love!
preposterous. how stupid to say that i hate anything.
how stupid for anyone to say that this sucks and that dont.
but it happens. what is this music bigotry.
its as though its a natural state of human beings to bigot against something.
maybe its not so much bigoting against something, as it is rallying for something.
its what i hate about sports enthusiest. which i'm not one at all, sports fans suck!
i digress.
but, why does hate happen. is it for the same reason that love happens. for every action theres a reaction. in order to have a world of love, is it that we have to have equal amounts of hate?~!
there is a point here. i'm just not clear on it yet.
next blog. maybe about music likings connected to positive associations.
the "hunny, their playing our song" theory.
vs.
the "this song is about me" theory.
4/19/08
why i hate jambands. or why i think music sux!
gretchen asked me why i hate new monsoon so much.
the wheels started turning to what they reprehensibly represent in my minds association of facts and figures, line and form, word and intent, body and soul, status quo and the brilliance of human spirit.
whew! this one will be a doozy. make some room. step back now, i'm on a soap box.
note: these words are unnecessary. all musical efforts are beautiful. the efforts are. not necessarily the content.
that being my disclaimer, here now is my nutshell. or nuts hell.
jambands suck because they dont have a creative bone in their body. its all rehashed thisandthat. they cant write a song. because they dont know how to sculpt a sound or turn a lyrical phrase. its masturbation. its the difference between a musician (oh, i could do that) and an artist (oh, how do they do that?!).
these jamband "musicians" see a gravy train. i call them jam sheep. these are the audience of jambands. unable to think for themselves, like musical lemmings careening over a booty shaking precipice. its even a rehash of the cultural element of the disco fad. "it looks like they are having fun, so i'm having fun" theory.
what kenny g did to jazz. so goes the jamband to rock and roll. ouch! that was offensive!
i was a fan of the grateful dead. i saw over 10 show. dance'd, smile'd, hugged, and cry'd on the way, during, and reminiscing about shows. they were a jamband. they rehashed. they noodled aimlessly. they broke free of cultural atrocities. i ask myself, what was different about them? continue that thought forward. what was different about me.
i was a lemming.why was i a lemming? oh! its the good ole', "they're playing our song" theory. positive associations with even a brief encounter with not just the music, but also the culture. the scene was groovy. so much so, it didn't matter if jerry forgot the lyrics. or if he fell asleep (heroin induced) while playing a guitar solo. or if they cant sing for mud. or. or...
it was fun. thats why i liked them. and thats why people like what they do. i shouldn't have a problem with people enjoying themselves. and ultimately i dont.
but, i do remember being at grateful dead shows and thinking to myself that 'deadheads' are stupid for caring so much about every setlist, and every show, and every tape traded for maximum quality (its a cassette! jeez) and everything collected in jambase. i'm a fan of music, but, these people seemed ridiculous to me. they were just trying to one up each other to be the best deadhead.
there's other music people. come on. what i enjoyed about the dead was the music education that it took to become the dead. those musicians had to study MUSIC in order to do what they did. and lots of it. many different genres. many different bands. their music was an amalgam of what they had learned.
well, these new so called jambands. are only an amalgam of what they studied, it seems. the dead. or the other jamband with a huge audience. ie: dave mathews or phish. yuk! why cover that crap!!!!! oh, because there are millions of jamsheep with lots of money. thats why.
well, it looks like i fell off my soap box onto a high horse.
well, of course, i never really believe what i say. but!
maybe i'm jealous of these bands. playing music that seems very easy to me. they are getting paid beaucoup cash for playing music i would be embarrased to play.
i've always had a problem with what non-musicians like. eric clapton. sux. allman brothers. boring. steve vai. dumb. string cheese incident. psh.
my musical gods are people who do divinely guided and tasteful musical or composition techniques: jimi hendrix, brian wilson, chick corea, paco delucia, super furry animals, neil young, rush, yes, classical indian music, j.s. bach, conjunto accordian players, herbie hancock, gypsy violinist, kate bush, adrian belew, frank zappa, john coltrane, bernie worrell, hella, syd barrett, art tatum, stevie wonder, dj qbert, john cage, etc.... music that pushes the boundary. or music that pushes the listeners ear forward. well, my ear anyway. i dont know whats wrong with your ears!
i'm noticing that there isnt much dance music in that list. maybe i dont like dance music. thats not true. i loved the beegees saturday night fever era. and wait, conjunto and gypsy music is magically danceable. why exactly dont i like jambands?
jambands suck for me maybe because they rehashed once too many times. they are not the source of their musical inspiration. they are not breaking new ground in the history of music. they are keeping alive a 'tradition' of a particular era of music. maybe thats what i hate. tradition. tradition rehashed. like religion.
i know for a fact that i love hearing things for the first time. no matter what it is. and that is what i base my opinion on. "it's been done before. it sux." i do find myself saying that. "wow! what was that!? i've never heard that before!" i do find myself saying that too. but, the super furry animals, who happen to be my new fav's along with the flaming lips. they are rehashers. all be it, rehashing obscure musical stylings of the past. whats different about their rehashing?.... a creative way of reference. not a re-do. a refering to, to get a point across. thats why i dont think of them as rehashers.
sorry, folks.
have i made a point here? do i even understand what my problem is?!!!
it seems i'm a conceded musician. yes. it's a personal problem.
a couple of blurbs of what i hate about jambands.
its been done before.
jam sheep dont like music. they like what their friends like.
audience is too high on drugs to know any better.
jambands "hump the corpse of the grateful dead" (not my words, but, i loved the quote).
if your not a classical indian tabla player. dont perform tabla. that goes to say with any traditional instruments.
try doing something musically that your unfamiliar with. stop using your bag of licks.
let a poet write your lyrics.
masturbate musically by yourself. its called woodshedding.
play something good.
impress me.
ps. it bugs me that medeski martin and wood are lumped into the jamband catagories. those guys are very capable of stretching the limits. a real fusion of true jazz and groove.
the wheels started turning to what they reprehensibly represent in my minds association of facts and figures, line and form, word and intent, body and soul, status quo and the brilliance of human spirit.
whew! this one will be a doozy. make some room. step back now, i'm on a soap box.
note: these words are unnecessary. all musical efforts are beautiful. the efforts are. not necessarily the content.
that being my disclaimer, here now is my nutshell. or nuts hell.
jambands suck because they dont have a creative bone in their body. its all rehashed thisandthat. they cant write a song. because they dont know how to sculpt a sound or turn a lyrical phrase. its masturbation. its the difference between a musician (oh, i could do that) and an artist (oh, how do they do that?!).
these jamband "musicians" see a gravy train. i call them jam sheep. these are the audience of jambands. unable to think for themselves, like musical lemmings careening over a booty shaking precipice. its even a rehash of the cultural element of the disco fad. "it looks like they are having fun, so i'm having fun" theory.
what kenny g did to jazz. so goes the jamband to rock and roll. ouch! that was offensive!
i was a fan of the grateful dead. i saw over 10 show. dance'd, smile'd, hugged, and cry'd on the way, during, and reminiscing about shows. they were a jamband. they rehashed. they noodled aimlessly. they broke free of cultural atrocities. i ask myself, what was different about them? continue that thought forward. what was different about me.
i was a lemming.why was i a lemming? oh! its the good ole', "they're playing our song" theory. positive associations with even a brief encounter with not just the music, but also the culture. the scene was groovy. so much so, it didn't matter if jerry forgot the lyrics. or if he fell asleep (heroin induced) while playing a guitar solo. or if they cant sing for mud. or. or...
it was fun. thats why i liked them. and thats why people like what they do. i shouldn't have a problem with people enjoying themselves. and ultimately i dont.
but, i do remember being at grateful dead shows and thinking to myself that 'deadheads' are stupid for caring so much about every setlist, and every show, and every tape traded for maximum quality (its a cassette! jeez) and everything collected in jambase. i'm a fan of music, but, these people seemed ridiculous to me. they were just trying to one up each other to be the best deadhead.
there's other music people. come on. what i enjoyed about the dead was the music education that it took to become the dead. those musicians had to study MUSIC in order to do what they did. and lots of it. many different genres. many different bands. their music was an amalgam of what they had learned.
well, these new so called jambands. are only an amalgam of what they studied, it seems. the dead. or the other jamband with a huge audience. ie: dave mathews or phish. yuk! why cover that crap!!!!! oh, because there are millions of jamsheep with lots of money. thats why.
well, it looks like i fell off my soap box onto a high horse.
well, of course, i never really believe what i say. but!
maybe i'm jealous of these bands. playing music that seems very easy to me. they are getting paid beaucoup cash for playing music i would be embarrased to play.
i've always had a problem with what non-musicians like. eric clapton. sux. allman brothers. boring. steve vai. dumb. string cheese incident. psh.
my musical gods are people who do divinely guided and tasteful musical or composition techniques: jimi hendrix, brian wilson, chick corea, paco delucia, super furry animals, neil young, rush, yes, classical indian music, j.s. bach, conjunto accordian players, herbie hancock, gypsy violinist, kate bush, adrian belew, frank zappa, john coltrane, bernie worrell, hella, syd barrett, art tatum, stevie wonder, dj qbert, john cage, etc.... music that pushes the boundary. or music that pushes the listeners ear forward. well, my ear anyway. i dont know whats wrong with your ears!
i'm noticing that there isnt much dance music in that list. maybe i dont like dance music. thats not true. i loved the beegees saturday night fever era. and wait, conjunto and gypsy music is magically danceable. why exactly dont i like jambands?
jambands suck for me maybe because they rehashed once too many times. they are not the source of their musical inspiration. they are not breaking new ground in the history of music. they are keeping alive a 'tradition' of a particular era of music. maybe thats what i hate. tradition. tradition rehashed. like religion.
i know for a fact that i love hearing things for the first time. no matter what it is. and that is what i base my opinion on. "it's been done before. it sux." i do find myself saying that. "wow! what was that!? i've never heard that before!" i do find myself saying that too. but, the super furry animals, who happen to be my new fav's along with the flaming lips. they are rehashers. all be it, rehashing obscure musical stylings of the past. whats different about their rehashing?.... a creative way of reference. not a re-do. a refering to, to get a point across. thats why i dont think of them as rehashers.
sorry, folks.
have i made a point here? do i even understand what my problem is?!!!
it seems i'm a conceded musician. yes. it's a personal problem.
a couple of blurbs of what i hate about jambands.
its been done before.
jam sheep dont like music. they like what their friends like.
audience is too high on drugs to know any better.
jambands "hump the corpse of the grateful dead" (not my words, but, i loved the quote).
if your not a classical indian tabla player. dont perform tabla. that goes to say with any traditional instruments.
try doing something musically that your unfamiliar with. stop using your bag of licks.
let a poet write your lyrics.
masturbate musically by yourself. its called woodshedding.
play something good.
impress me.
ps. it bugs me that medeski martin and wood are lumped into the jamband catagories. those guys are very capable of stretching the limits. a real fusion of true jazz and groove.
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