I’m writing this from a cramped airplane seat, so I’m not in my
usual perky headspace. Instead of wasting my vitriol, I’m channeling it
into a rare Rooneyesque moment to discuss some things that need to
die.
“OMFGBESTALBUMEVER”
There’s nothing more eye-rollingly annoying than hyperbolic writing.
Something—an album, a band, a song—is either the best or
the worst with no middle ground. By the time I heard the Field album, I
was convinced rose petals would fall at my feet and my credit rating
would improve; it inspired nothing more than the desire to listen to
anything else. (People have the same response to the new Burial record,
but in that case, they’re wrong, because that’s one of the best albums
of 2007.)
Differences of opinion are great, but along with the ever-growing
mounds of praise that end up meaning less and less, a consensus imposes
a collective will. I have a hard time believing that so many writers’
preferences line up so tidily with Pitchfork’s best-of list.
Independent music and independent writing is perfectly suited for
independent thinking.
“That Genre Is So Over”
It’s happening to dubstep and it’ll happen (again) to Italo disco
soon enough—the inevitable backlash from months of incessant,
effusive praise. Fads are unavoidable, but it’s starting to feel like
dominoes, with genres set up only to be knocked down.
“Check Out My Remix”
No, I don’t want to go to your MySpace to hear your “Crunktalo Juke
Reedit” of “D.A.N.C.E.” Remixes can be great, completely altering the
mood of the source, but rather than smartly curated affairs (check the
Hot Chip or Four Tet remixes of Matthew Dear), unofficial reedits are
flooding the world with miniscule variations on “the hits,” propped up
by an ecosystem of MP3 blogs. It’s the corollary to the ring-tone
rapper: the MySpace remix. You’ve already killed any joy in listening
to Justice. How many more albums have to be desecrated?
“The End of the Record Industry”
Any year now the music industry is going to keel over and die. All
of those invested billions are going to be lost, and the world will be
left with… with what exactly? Pundits love to talk about the
impending death of the record industry, but for every Radiohead, there
are scads of acts that long for nothing more than to be part of the
industry machine. Not every group wants to be the Big Indie Hope. Some
people want to be a pop star, and pop stardom all but requires the
gears of the monolith that the vocal minority despises. And don’t
forget that the luxury of deep pockets means that even with the years
of missteps, the “evil” major labels have enough money to burn to hire
incredibly intelligent people to find the next way to exploit their
position. Don’t believe the hype—the majors are going to squeeze
every bit of juice from the current model while they transition to the
next.
The New Year will surely bring its own set of complaints. Hopefully
they’ll remain subservient to what matters most—the music.
