So I thought I should explain why I did not post last week
about hipster/alternative philosophy. In short, I watched a really good
documentary, got freaked out by The Walking Dead, and forgot about my blog
until pretty late. Therefore, I had to whip something together fairly quickly—for
me, that meant almost 50 minutes. I put a lot of time/effort into each blog
post, fyi. So, no, I’m not an amnesiac and I’m not like Dory; I don’t have
short term memory loss (P. Sherman 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney) Tonight, a night
early, I’m aware of that-I’m going to my grandparents’ house and don’t want to
feel tied to a computer—I’m making up for what I meant to write last week: why
I like alternative music.
I’m deeper than just “Oh, I hate mainstream music ‘cuz it’s
popular.” That’s a pathetic disgrace to music and logic. My disgust with music
stems from my musical roots. I have two parents who prefer to listen to music
from yesteryear as opposed to today. My mom listens to country—not my favorite,
but at least back in the 70’s and before they were talented and knew how to
write good quality music. My dad listens to 1980’s music, primarily, with a
little 1970’s tossed in there for good measure. The 80’s were great. The
artists were talented, they knew how to play instruments—a band is not a band
unless they are playing instruments when you see them in concert—and they were
much less concerned about their backup dancers or celebrity gossip or how much
humping can one fit into a 3 minute music video. It was just about the music.
That’s what we are missing today.
The 1980’s boasted bands like Men At Work, Duran Duran, the
B-52’s, The Buggles, Devo, Blondie, and Soft Cell. Now, correct me if I’m
wrong, but did Devo ever autotune their vocals because they did not possess the
talent to sing? I don’t think so.
Today, artists don’t even need talent. They need money,
powerful parents, an agent, and a willing producer who will make them sound
like WALL-E. Maybe it’s just me but I thought robots were supposed to do chores
and stuff, not sing. A robot chorus, now that could be interesting. I would
like that. I would like that very much.
Back to the point, the 1980’s and previous generations had
what this and the last decade or two have missed: an emphasis on talent, not
how well an album will sell or who’s sexy. That doesn’t matter, but yet, today,
it does. Rihanna, for example, is pretty much talentless, save for her
constantly wagging butt and boobs busting beyond her bikini. That will sell.
All the blame cannot be dumped on the artists and the
producers. Anyone one who buys this crap is supporting it, which encourages
them to make more of it. Don’t encourage them. Ever. Even if you’re someone—and
I do this occasionally—who buys or
listens to just one song on Sportify, where they earn money, you’re also in the
wrong.
As well, it’s never “funny” to buy or listen to a song as a
joke, because it earns them money and makes them feel important. Take Rebecca
Black, for example. That frightening excuse for a singer appeared out of
nowhere and got a billion gazillion views on YouTube. She, and those two scary
guys, are rolling in the dough right now, laughing all the way to the bank. Congratulations,
idiots, you just made a ton of money for some talentless fools. That is something we need to avoid, as a
whole.
Well, what can we do?
What we need to do is
stand up to these talentless zombies and remind them what music is supposed to
sound like. It is up to us to boycott their music, videos, TV specials, movies,
what have you, because there are thousands of struggling artists right now who
want so badly to show they world that they possess real talent, not this fake stuff we’ve been digesting for the last
twenty-two years or so. We should support these alternative/indie artists. That
is why I started this blog, so these musicians can hopefully reach a greater
audience. That’s my goal, at least.
Next week, I will define some hipster terms/ explain their
logic. Then, I’ll get back to music reviews and different things like that.
