Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Taste

My Brother claims I have the muscial taste of an Old Gay Man. Now I'm not sure what the means, I do know that it partly means My muscial taste (in his mind and others I love) ends in 1990. Now like an Old man I have bee heard to say things akin to "they don't make 'em like they used to." Which is kind of true and tired and also an exaggeration. And It's true I like Cole Porter, the Gershwins, Fats Waller, Irvin Berlin (ie Show tunes) but I stop short of "Rent" or almost anything by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Not cuse it's new but because it's crap.

Pop was better back in the day. Better in 1967, better in 1957, 1947, 1847, 1747, 1647 even in 1987. I'm on thin ice I know. But I'm ok with cold and wet.

The only interesting thing going on now it's actually quite amazing. The independant music arena. People doing it themselves. It's cheap and easy to record and mix music. A home computer and some cheap software and you can get started. With the Popularization of the MP3 and the easy internet access it's cheap or free to distribute. Suddenly the little guy has the means of production and access to the world market. Better still these guys have no rules or limits. No Label to interfere. No implict or explict censorship. Nice. These guys are the Vangard, watch and listen for them.

Here's the Queen of them all, with a 10-year old song on this very issue.


Today's Song of the Day is "Napoleon" by Ani DiFranco off her 1996 album "Dilate."

Crazy Fact: She never went to a label, instead started her own. Her label, Righteous Babe, produces commerically unviable outsiders. She started by selling tapes out of her car after concerts. On her CDs it reads "While copying msuci is often necessary it's never as good as the real thing." Nice. I couldn't agree more.

njoy

2 comments:

rootwood said...

So Ani DiFranco somehow boosts you out of the "Old Gay Man" file? I think not.

And for the record, I never used the expression "Old Gay Man" - it may be the mot juste, but it's not my style. I would have said something like "you are so C-100", or "don't be such a Ben Mulroney".

Anonymous said...

I remember sitting on the patio at Stage Nine with Wong and you proudly showing me two new DVDs you had just bought. "Some like it Hot" and "Westside Story". Old Gay man taste? Just maybe.

James