Summer update...
Its hot, Star Trek TNG is good, music flows easily, time is well spent with new friends and old, pointless games and diversions seem like so much more, friends are tying the knot in droves, Blog updates now too pedestrian.
Verisimilitude
Fighting elitism in music and philosophy since 1979.
About Me
- Name: Taint Montgomery
- Location: Goleta, California, United States
I tried to write something here about the transistion from a static to dynamic cosmological model, but I failed. I thought I could get away with not refering to myself on this blog. I was wrong.
Posts (in case you don't want to look to the right)
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- Greetings from Lorg
- Headlines: Bush elected new Pope, humans furious
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- Wake up, wake up, wake up....(I'm sick of waiting...)
- Free-$tyle about 'Blog Mulch...'
11 Comments:
Blog comments few and far between, Coldplay and Fighters release new material, ex-ladyfriends bring burn, sentence fragments abound.
Ah, Coldplay -- Urban Outfitters' newest tool inspired a timely and incisive ny times op-ed:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/05/arts/music/05pare.html?ex=1275624000&en=2fe5cbda6333a58d&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
May I recommend Stephen Malkmus' and Spoon's latest -- respectively, Face the Truth and Gimme Fiction.
May I recommend evaluating music based upon its inherent value rather than its place in pop-culture? But then, for many people music is all about access to something obscure and unique, something that might serve as a cornerstone on which to build an equally unique identity. And when that identity becomes despised in time the musical tastes emmigrate. The biggest tool is the one who roll's her eyes at the Cold Play fan because its not cool to like cold play anymore.
if only our culture's evaluative efforts were equally distributed in order to assess inherent value. the unfortunate fact is, disproportionate spending power and promotional opps contributue to the overshadowing of often, though not always, more worthy art.
it's not as if the inherent value of coldplay's musicianship has remained constant while their deemed status has fluctuated based purely on their label or increased popularity. surely some people's tastes and identities are as spineless as to be determined by these things but a critical stance towards music in light of its decreased value is a legitimate one.
Yes! I've started a shit storm of an argument. For fear of spraying more feces onto the fire I'll say only a few words on this.
I'm in agreement that it's bad to allow your judgment of music to be influenced by any external, non-musical factors. It should always be about whether the individual listener likes the music.
Now, one can say that one doesn't tend to like pop music because the music that tends to be popular is simply not the kind of music that person likes. By that argument, a band that's growing in popularity could be simultaneously shifting in musical style toward something more poppy which causes said pop-hater to hate.
Coldplay is kind of poppy. They also tend to be kind of simple and a lot of their songs sound similar. I still like them though. They seem to have that intangible nugget that makes music work for me.
I like Malkmus too.
I dont believe Coldplay's musicianship has declined or even remained the same. Was Parachutes really that great? I don't think so, and 'Rush of Blood' was a modest improvement. Its not like they have descended from some pinnacle of excellence. At this point its obvious that I need to listen to the new album to make a judgement about their current state of musicianship, but its seems at first blush that they are refining a unique sound that has been a long time in development. Never mind thats its outrageously accessible.
Just remember that sheer musical skill is not the only ingredient in quality audio. Raw chops are key, but sometimes well-orchestrated simplicity really knocks me in the cock... and I mean that in a good way.
I have a simple answer for this. Coldplay sucks because they are unable to write a song (possibly excepting Politik) that sounds like anything but Coldplay. There is no experimentation or any push to change musical direction.
This is why Radiohead is superior in every way. Coldplay keeps writing the same song over and over and over...
Still, I like them and get their songs stuck in my head. But I agree with Thom's assessment of them as "lifestyle" music. Basically, a soundtrack for modern consumer culture.
-Nodar
Oh yes, and Mars Volta's new CD owns all.
The comment about Coldplay's lack of ambition as regards their songwriting style is well taken, but there are plenty of great bands that have (had) this same problem (aka Smashing Pumpkins). I could see Muse falling into this same trap but I would still think they rocked. The bottom line is that although Coldplay's songs may sound recycled, they come out cleaner and more cohesive the second (third etc.) time. And of course they're not Radiohead; Coldplay and Muse appropriately give us something of what we want from Radiohead, but they are not identical with it. It does not matter that a song(s) are popular or accessible as long as they are 'good'. John Lennon's 'Imagine' is popular and accessible, but does that detract from its value one iota? Would 'Karma Police' be a better song if the hordes of non-radiohead fans who like it didn't?
I agree, it's ridiculous to deride a band/song based on the popularity of said entity.
Nor is it even disrespectable for a band to seek commerical success as Coldplay has done agressively.
"I want to be the biggest band in the world" Chris Martin
They want to be big, and they write accessible tunes, and there's nothing wrong with that.
Nodar
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