Does Music Really All Sound The Same?

...a response to:
http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/content/why-records-do-all-sound-same


Its kind of funny that all this trouble goes into making mainstream music sound as "appealing" as possible when so many of the record sales i witness are that of underground or local bands who spent a few hundred dollars max on their record. I cant remember the last time i heard of anyone actually purchasing a lil' wayne record in cd format. Either way, im sure record sales dont move very much revenue anymore especially in comparison to advertising which would be a good reason for music to sound good on the radio for 7 seconds as opposed to vinly/cd/etc. for 45 minutes.

But in the end i think we can all just let go of this idea that quality music will ever really need to be put on billboards or mainstream radio stations again. The majority of actual music lovers are now finding music on their own and thru a great variety of mediums, no longer inclusive to mainstream radio. So lets forget about this music that gets polished too much. Because all of that is not really even music. Its machine made - made for a machine. Besides im sure the polishing couldnt have done THAT much damage, seeing as Maroon 5 is already shitty in human form (the article was about maroon 5).

There's still an abundant source of musicians and artists that make music on a much smaller level, and because of which, are willing to take chances with their music and release it in a raw and less processed form. And since the once elite powers of recording, mastering, and publishing of music have all become so easily attainable and put into the hands of the amatuer, we all have the chance now to put ourselves out there in a way that was once thought of as an unlikely event for any independant artist. Yes this leaves the field to become extremely cluttered with players, talented or not, scrambling for less and less compensation as the resource of music buyers drains out. And soon were all just fighting to get our music heard for free (look up Attention economics). But doesnt this also make many of us try harder, that we might stand out from the rest? Putting forth our best effort? Consider all the educated contestants on Jeopardy duking it out for a few thousand dollars vs. the typical contestant for Who Wants To Be A Millionare? using "ask the audience" on a 50,000 dollar question regarding a recent episode of "Lost". All you gotta do to get people to try harder is place an opponent next to them. After that, both contestants are willing to compete harder for less.

Maroon 5 along with many others dont need to try because their engineers and producers will do the work for them. Because of that, the quality of the music - unpolished - sucks. No wonder they have to produce it so much. All the people riding on the success of that "music" would never let anyone or anything get in the way of the next single becoming a hit - be it the band, themselves. So the end product comes out as homogenized as the 2% in your fridgerator.

The irrefutable diminishing quality of mainstream music - transparent, regardless of any big budget attempts to conceal it- and our noticing of this and taking action, is a good thing. Its a sign that the machine is about to break. Soon well be playing on a much more even ground. This is what we wanted. This is what weve been fighting for.

This can be originally found at http://www.harmonycentral.com/message/26597967#26597967

 

My Idol's Hands

Who wants to know what comes out from the party's mouth when it ony cuts corners off rooftops swinging, unnecessarily streaming just to pick out a part meant to reconnect and rethink the dialect they scream. Is it a primal vision you see? or a fixture of benefits and disorganizational skills with your name on it? Or did you find out the secret that you must die at the right moment to live forever? Because that is no secret anymore. This is a word from our endless glorification that leaves us stagnate.

Spoken like a true suburbian

The middle class and the low class are the same class. The low class are without. The middle classes have bought into an endless cycle of materialistic standards, that which knows no limits upon its acceleration. Money and possession alone do not justify barriers between classes. Struggle and numbers do. Yet the struggle justifiably makes sense. Numbers only do because we let them. In no way could numbers ever calculate or measure success, stress, actual wealth, quality of life, or freedom from overwhelming burden or obligation. However, numbers have defined the lines in these increments we use to, in a nutshell, classify us into groups according to our so-stated qualities of life. We have given numbers that power. We, by doing this contribute to the forfeiture of our ability to define ourselves as individuals, given to, unique characteristics.

We lump ourselves into mindset massives. We also let mass media effet EVERYTHING about us. All factors included. This ultimately affects our destinies. By this self classification, we only pin up ourselves against each other. One population jealous of the other. One in critique of the other. When, in reality, we all face struggles that equate to comparable levels of pressure and actual physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual resistance. We deal with challenges that push ourselves to know the limits as to how much we can take. This is a barrier defined by a set of non-metaphysical standards. Rather, the standards are, in fact, defined by worldly, physical, and material attributes. This is what gives people their self-assumed rights to downplay others' overcomings.

Dont tell me that i dont konw any struggle because i haven't walked the same streets as you have, or that i have't overcome the same obstacles as you have.

Others may have an innerconflict that they themselves struggle with, that which would have otherwise prevented them from overcoming your life's trials. All sorts of scenarios of stress can equal the same amount of give in their own personal stress level-threshold. This is all regardless of classes.

Yeah maybe youve made it out of the hood. Sometimes i feel like i cant make it out of my own head. Some people have a hard time making it out of their own house. Meanwhile others, without a home, have developed charateristics that can carry them beyond any set back.

We all have the ability for self fulfillment, just as we all have the same probability for total demise. We also all have the same possibility to reach the afterlife destinies that any one of us may or may not believe in. We must accept that, because eventually we all must adhere to the same regulations if there are any. Just as well as we must accept the lack thereof if there should be no such regulations. Dogmatic procedure will inevidably fail when reality kicks in that we are in the same boat and could just as easily sink to a spiritual abyss of misunderstanding and total loss. Dissappointment knows no numeral system.

I do believe, however, that the middle class and the low class are different than the upperclass elite. Yet, we can still not condemn or cast judgement on any elite solely by the basis of their position. They may very well have earned their right to live so comfortably, and may not participate in that which holds us back. They may very well just have been so fortunate to reach their full potentials, and we should praise that. However, those that do hold others back, or feed distraction, or create obstacles for those trying to realize their full potential- is another story. However i dont feel educated enough myself to speak on that matter with any sort of credibility.

We are not defined by our numbers, and neither are our goals. We only move foward in things relevant to the one true positive force in our universe, that is, understanding: Understanding of our surroundings by science. Understanding of ourselves through art and competitive sport. And Understanding of our roles in spirituality.

A Vandal Has Been Here

Are we looking into a body with no soul? A host with no leech? An earth with no future? Staring deeply into vacant eyes that see no sacrifice? Or are we squatting on a thickening timebomb's legion of multifilth cycle? Rid-NOT of detriment's trophy ghost killer of shapeless worms but non-uniform cylindricals?

Maybe.

Between Good and Evil

from african to african american today. here i am playin on vermont and 74th, los angeles. in front of the camera is jay. behind him is the craziest keyboardist i know, royzell hall. the first time this guy roy brought me in to this place, right before we started, and it was around 2, we walked to the nearby "Superbuy" grocery store so he could get a 35cl bottle of cheap vodka. It was there, that i heard the funniest thing a woman at a liquor counter could ever tell a church's barely 21 yr old worship leader asking to buy a 35cl bottle of cheap vodka at 2 in the afternoon right before a second service.... "Again?"



At some point during the service, one of the preachers was somehow tying our need for faith in with the real meaning of star wars. that is, that Star Wars held the underlying narrative of good versus evil and overcoming that evil within yourself. Gotta have faith.

herro

Michelle keeps me up to date in all the current trends such as the latest popular counter culture tendancies, as well as the best indie music-definately with a slight touch of the occasional something else. She's so cute. without her i wouldnt know how to use a blackberry telephone, a macintosh portable laptop, a facebook account, and definately this blogger page. I'd definatley be so lost, in an entirely different decade.