Seeing as (a) Tattoo will be more expensive than past products because it's an instrument and (b) you're releasing it in December, seems to make sense.

OK, dunno if this is essentially an open thread (if it's not, delete) but my friend Jessica Hopper shared this link a couple of days ago and I thought you guys might enjoy contemplating it.

Check it out y'all:

As if synchronized, Branca & Eno present their opposing takes (the former depressed/freaking out/presenting no solutions, the latter blithely amused and optimistic) on The State Of Modern Music.

link [opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com]

link [www.prospectmagazine.co.uk]

Discuss.

- c

[To be clear: The articles are unrelated in every respect, except they just appeared within days of each other. There is no "dialogue" happening, necessarily.]

posted November 29, 2009 by beauty pill

That said, it's funny you bring this up, because I was going to make this an open thread based upon a conversation I had earlier today with a friend, wherein I brought up my oft-stated hypothesis that the onus is on the consumer to sort out the good from the bad in today's music industry, and the artist can essentially put up everything he makes. This creates a culture of what I call "microtaste," a thought I may expound upon in the future, where you don't just like an artist; you only like particular parts of that artist's oeuvre.

This goes against the 80s/90s mentality of heavy-handed A&R on the part of the labels, where the artist is informed not only what kind of songs to write, but how to arrange them and what instrumentation to use. This is the culture I was raised in, and where many musicians my age and older are; they expect someone up above to essentially tell them what to do.

Anyhow, I don't think either point is very sound, if you want my own opinion on the matter.

-CR

posted November 29, 2009 by Chris Randall

:)

- c

p.s. I like the word "microtaste."

posted November 29, 2009 by beauty pill

First, on microtaste: artists with prolific catalogs often go through phases that portions of their audience do and don't like. Just thinking of two artists I love, I can't stand anything Lou Reed did after Transformer, and Christian Bob Dylan is just horrid. But entire albums have always been easy to avoid, so perhaps that doesn't count.

But, every one of us had individual songs on albums we didn't like, even when we liked the artists. This is just the first time since the album became "the" format for music, that consumers can easily avoid paying for music they don't like. It's also remarkable how blogs, iTunes, and the like are making the landscape of the music industry look remarkably like the singles fueled industry of the 50s. Artists come and go quicker than ever, and people are far more inclined to listen to a song or two than an entire album.

I'm convinced that labels will eventually adapt. I can envision a scenario where the labels stop signing artists, and start signing exclusive deals for individual songs and recordings. They'll then turn around and [acting as middlemen] license those to movies, TV, and advertising and make their money back that way. The artist will a) have gotten a cash payout and b) be free to do whatever they want with their next song.

posted November 29, 2009 by Funkybot

:)

- c

posted November 29, 2009 by beauty pill

That aside, it's interesting inasmuch as when one is of high-school age, one generally uses a genre of music to define oneself. Or at least, that's the way it was when I was in high school, and I still see vestiges of it today in the Indie Rock Hipster scene that envelopes my neighborhood here in Portland. In 1984, you were New Wave (which meant you liked Duran Duran and Flock Of Seagulls), or you were a stoner (which meant you listened to Iron Maiden and the like), or you were a punk (and listened to Black Flag and DK, et al) and so on. Find an episode of Square Pegs on the internet somewhere if you're in your 20s now, and you'll have a fairly good idea of what going to high school in the early 80s was like. Or watch Breakfast Club or Pretty In Pink, I guess.

I would say that kids of a certain age today are _much_ more aware of classic rock than I was at their age, relatively speaking. My 16-year-old cousin has a fairly thorough knowledge of 70s and 80s arena rock via playing Guitar Hero and its offspring. He knows far more about the music of my generation than I did about the music of my parents generation when I was his age.

-CR

posted November 29, 2009 by Chris Randall

- c

posted November 29, 2009 by beauty pill

I'd liken that to air travel these days. If you get on a plane in, say, Columbus, Ohio, keep your shade drawn, and get off in, e.g., Sacramento, CA, is there anything to even tell you that you went somewhere else other than minor differences in weather and flora? Everyone speaks the same accent-free English, there's a Barnes & Noble, Starbucks, Cheesecake Factory, and Whole Foods right in front of you... The sensation of traveling is lost. That is why I prefer to drive, as the in-between places are the interesting bit.

It's the joy of finding something you're unfamiliar with, and sharing that with others that may be unfamiliar with it as well, that Eno is talking about. YouTube and Guitar Hero and their ilk, for better or worse, are a big, heavy 2x4 getting drug across the wet concrete that will eventually form our cultural patio, making it all uniformly flat and unimaginative.

-CR

posted November 29, 2009 by Chris Randall

Both macro- and microtastes have their place. Too much of the former and you have a stultifying monoculture. Too much of the other and you have no common cultural references.

We're currently living in a time where the heady rush from the sudden wealth of microculture makes it easy to dismiss the macroculture's values.

When everyone is plugged into their own iPods listening to their own tiny little favorites, it becomes very difficult to get them to try whatever it is you're suggesting, no matter how cool.

Microtastes (or the microgenres that feed them) tend to be like any other highly specialized organism - prone to dying out when the world changes even slightly.

Some of these tiny genres are nearly indistinguishable from each other, and few are actually innovating in any way (don't mistake new permutations or combinations for innovation).

Glenn Branca's a cranky old man still upset about not being recognized for his "genius".

posted November 29, 2009 by Jinsai