An interesting Internet tiff centering around Kyle Gann and David Byrne caught our eye. Often when we tell people who have more of a "pop music" background than a "classical music" background about what we do, they veer towards references to Laurie Anderson, the Talking Heads, and their clubbing/loft-y 80's downtown cohorts. And while no one is "hating on these people" just because they achieved fame and commercial success (!) there are some fundamental aesthetic/historic/attitudinal (etc.) differences between their "schools of thought" and the musical approach of, say, Santa Fe New Music.
Is it just a 21st century revival of the "culture wars" in music? Do we even care?
For the background, read this post and you want to delve further, the ones it links to. And weigh in with your thoughts here if you like.
1 comment:
Uh oh... I may be among the guilty in connecting the Brian and Roger Eno to "new music" discussions! But this common offering to what's perhaps a vague category of music for most is only natural, if regrettable. It's a way of continuing dialog, learning more about a subject not well understood, or just trying not to sound stupid—as stupid as the response sounds! I have to endure immediate references to the Titanic every time someone learns that I have a deep interest in the history of passenger liners. What? You've never heard of the Aquitania?
For most of us "new music" is just that: new. We are pulled toward it by other enthusiasts—recruiters for those in need (or seem to be in need) of cultural expansion and hypersophistication. What better purpose for a sophist, anyway? Denigrating the uninitiated? Even underground music culture has its dark basements and tunnels only the elite among them are aware of much to the delight of those in the know. Cocteau Twins? What about Soul Whirling Somewhere? (snicker and sneer!)
I'm grateful for SFNM as it's a brave and ambitious platform for breakaway musical expression and potential. Art (my definition of it) is presenting me with a version of the known that I've never experienced before—something producing an absolutely original perspective or sensation—a genuine expansion of awareness, emotion or perception. Something that produces real change, not a mere rehash of the known and accepted. Repetition leads to a kind of comforting dullness that is only shattered by an opening to new artistic concepts and possibilities. Eno did that for me so put up with it. But I'm sure the brothers would enjoy a Kennedy composition if you sent them one!
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