The music I listen to is never going to be popular. If the music scene was a high school - my scene would be the marching band kids.
Which is why this article has ruined my week. The article, and subsequent comments, argue whether the alt.country scene is dying and shifting away into new scenes, or becoming played out as western shirts and snappy buttons pop up at American Eagle and Abercrombie. Only this scene could be dying out and exploding at the same time.
So in my musical misery I've come up with five songs. Not Top Five. Just five songs I think you should hear. Enjoy.
Whiskeytown - Everything I Do
Rachael Yamagata - Reason Why
Tift Merritt - Good Hearted Man
The Hold Steady - First Night
(Taken from Spinner.com)
Jason Isbell - Hurricanes and Hand Grenades
In the end I don't know why I get worked up at these articles. The last two years have seen countless incredible albums, and if there is anything to take away from rock and roll it is that it will never die - no matter how hard Nickleback tries. It's been said before, but bears repeating - you could drop an atomic bomb to wipe out all living creatures on earth...and the only thing that would survive is cockroaches and Keith Richards.
5 comments:
1) Um, watch it. You'd be lucky to hang out with the marching band kids from WHS.
2) There is no such thing as too many snappy-button shirts. Ever.
3) Love, love Rachael Yamagata, and also that song.
4) I will now check out the rest of these songs. :) It's a shame I haven't met Tift's music before, and I know it.
I like Rachel, too.
I saw Rachael open for Ryan Adams a few years back and was very impressed. Wanted to see her last time she came to town but she was opening for Mandy Moore...yikes.
Dry your eyes and put away that box of tissue, Nom. Just because some snobs are upset over people crashing their favorite dive bar of music doesn't mean anything is dead. As long as you still like the music being put out, what other people have to say really doesn't fucking matter. Here's an analogy: the music scene is like surfing. Critics and scenesters are pouting on the beach because it's too crowded or the waves aren't right. People that just enjoy music are out there, riding whichever wave they catch, just happy to be in the water. The sun is bright; the day looks good. So grab your board and paddle out.
p.s.-In astronomy, a star exploding and collapsing is a supernova. And it's beautiful.
p.p.s-No, I'm not drunk yet.
BloggingJason - best comment ever. Wish my blog had as good of analogies / references. And I agree the scene is not dead - but I think an argument could be made that nothing SIGNIFICANT has come out for awhile. Great albums - but nothing that is changing the way we look at the scene.
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