Response/clarifications

So, I also posted the previous post on how music is dead on my myspace profile. It raised a comment almost instantaneously from my friend Ben. Ben's a smart boy.

"Bah. I don't want to address all of this - just certain aspects.

Be careful when you say things like "music is dead" because that is a pretty rough statement. Some genres of music are sucking, sure, but not everything. I'm happy to find that jazz is surging: not only are people preserving the classics, but nu-jazz is going everywhere and merging with all kinds of music like techno, lounge, and hip-hop. Rap pretty much sucks ass, but you can still find some underground labels that know how to withhold "nigga this" and "nigga that" to make a point. Country - as always - is awful. Most rock music - eh, it could use some help. But otherwise, I'm pretty happy with modern music.
That doesn't mean I'm happy with the radio. I don't even listen to the radio because the only shit worth listening to is more than 20 years old. However, that just means they're keeping the good music off the radio. Sometimes you've got to dig a little.

Now -

You're not complaining about PUNK kids, you're complaining about SCENE kids. Most of the kids at shows these days identify themselves as emo, scene, hardcore, everything but punk. This makes a difference - remember, punk isn't a style, it's an attitude? Yeah, these kids' attitude isn't music, it's trying to look cool. That's also why I gave up going to shows.
Punk isn't really my thing, so I won't comment beyond that. It doesn't really bug me whether or not people try to put political messages into their music because - honestly - not many people give a shit. Music is supposed to be an art form, not a newpaper or a talk show. Nobody wakes up and thinks "I wonder what Green Day has to say about Bush? Let me go pick up their latest CD so I can be up-to-date on political issues." Or, as some comedian put it, when Hurricane Katrina hit, nobody wanted to hear what Ja Rule had to say. What the fuck does ja Rule know about politics?

Back to music... if you haven't already, look at Anti-Flag. They're one of the only punk bands I follow, but they've always stated true to making their voices heard. Plus, it's just fucking awesome music.

On a side-note: if you've into techno, go to www.di.fm
Digitally imported radio - about 15 commercial free streaming radio stations, all of different electronica genres."

Now, when I say something like "music is dead," I have to have a good amount of booze in my system to not know what I'm saying. Unfortunately, when I wrote that I was perfectly sober. So, let me clarify: music is, IN THE MOST PART, dead. That better for all of you people who proved my point of elitists? Jazz is dead. I know jazz artists that have been playing for nearly 30 years now who will testify for me. Dead. It can only expand so far. And when you add "nu-" to "jazz" just because you make it more hip with techno and hip-hop doesn't make it jazz. It makes it something else.

Music IS an art form, but an art form that requires you to express yourself, not regurgitate. What is the heart of punk about? Expressing your frustration and what you see wrong with everything around you. What is hip-hop about? Making something of yourself because you're tired of looking around and seeing crime and gang wars. What is jazz about? Feeling the soul of the person performing. What is techno about? Well... it's really never been about anything really but a giant acid trip.

What is music about now? None of the above. When even most "underground" bands sound the same, music isn't expanding, it's having a massive bowel movement through its mouth, and then eating its own shit. When I even think that indie and folk is starting to suck, and a good number of people I don't even know can easily agree with me, there's something wrong. If music is about expressing itself, then why is it expressing the same damned thing? If you even coverse with someone ever, you should know that people have different views. All the damned time. If you haven't figured this out, it's time to get some new friends.

Punk is a lifestyle and a way of thinking. It's about being yourself, but so is music. Music is about being yourself, not someone you wish you were or someone everyone else wants you to be. I'm not naive enough to go around meaning that ALL MUSIC AND ABSOLUTELY ALL MUSIC is dead... beause that would be stupid. I wouldn't be listening to msuic that has been produced in the past 25-30 years, and that would get old quick. I wouldn't be going to shows. Also, if you are going to tell me that most of the music you enjoy has been made in the past 20 years, you're basically saying you think music is dead too. Because, seriously, when was the last time you met a good number of people who actively go out all the time to findn new and innovative and decent music than turn on the local college station and see what's going on?

I appreciate other peoples' taste and commentary, but when they give me some stupidass response like that, I just want to hit them. When you throw a band like Anti-Flag in my face, you need to have a plan B. And when you stop going out to see shows live and try to issue me a statement about the thrive of music, you can kiss my ass because if you're "into" music as much as you think you sound like, dearest Ben, then you would know that there is a huge difference between what a band sounds like live and what a band sounds like on a recording. You would also know that music IS scene and "scene" kids are part of the scene whether or not we like it. Because when it comes down to it, we're all "scene" kids some are just more idiotic than others.

Punk in the ICU

PUNK

3. music with no boundaries. music with no rules. music from the heart. (urban dictionary)


I'm a firm believer in the fact that in order to save the world, people have to first save not only themselves, but others. The planet will work itself out in the end--it always does. I'm not old enough to really have lived through truely great bands, but I'm not young enough to be stupid, either. That is why I want to say this: music is dead. Let me explain why.

Now, those of you who have even been semi-concious in the past decade should know by now: music, in general, has been failing the masses. From blues to new-wave, hip-hop to country and from funk to punk, music is in the shithole. It's been completely failing humanity for the past ten years or more. It all started when people became (if at all possible) more shallow and thus more idiotic. The only music worth recognizing these days is music made by a computer. That's right, I said it.

Every time the event comes around, I go to live shows. Why? Because I've found that with enough searching (or very little at all), any live performance is probably better than what is on the radio. Last night was the all-coveted "Punk Rock Party" in Nashville. Some of my friends were playing. They're more west-coast punk and I enjoy them. Now, let me first state that this was an all-time shitty show. There were maybe 50 people there in total, most of which were 13-15 and thuroughly deserved to have their asses kicked. There were also some older people there who were obviously looking for the same shit I was and came up disappointed. However, these older people I am speaking of were musical elitists and sat there and bitched and moaned the entire time. I'm willing to put my money on the fact they loaned most of their tastes from "underground" magazines and radio.

This show is the reason for my blog title today. Punk has been in the ICU for over a decade. I say this because occasionally you come across a good band or even a person that still knows what it's all about: no rules, just what you believe in. It used to be that you could turn on the radio or--heaven forbid--MTV and come across some sort of decent music. You could hear or see bands that were out there to not just make a name for themselves (albeit there were many like that), but they mainly were out there to get their voices heard. They weren't trying to rep their shit or sing about how sad and whiney their girlfriend makes them. Instead, their goal was to bring about a change in the nation, a change in the way people thought and saw themselves, to bring about a revolution if not in politics, then in an individual. How can you screw that up? All it takes is one person who is not satisfied with the way shit is going down and then makes it hit the fan. People bitch and moan about so-called punk bands bringing politics into their music. What have I been saying? It's about getting your ideas heard and not giving a rat's ass who likes it or not. It was originally about dissatisfication in the system. It was about anarchy and making a change. Groups like the Sex Pistols and The Vandals were screaming about anti-establishment, politically-based what would now be considered "nonsense" since the 70's and 80's. And you idiots want to tell me that punk has no place saying fuck you to the State? You idiots are getting mad because NoFx, Rancid and even Green Day want to educate the mindless drones that wear the Misfits and Ramones shirts and have only heard two or three songs if any at all? That have never actually been to a show where you aren't terrified of getting your ass kicked because you know at some point you will out of a sense of unity with the music? Back when "Oi!" meant 'listen to me motherfucker' and not "Well, I say, chap."

I get mad now because when I google "Long Hair Queer" or "The Damned," I can get shit like Thursday and Nelly and Korn. I get mad now because at Punk Rock Party, there were ska bands. Not just one ska bands, either: two or three. One was AKA:Rudie (who I like) who headlined. They're nowhere near punk rock--they just want to chill and be happy. The idea of punk rock has become a fad. When I see idiots prancing around in their denim loincloths and big boots with their girlfriends who are more into sex than I am it makes me sick. It's not just the image that makes it. When I try to have a conversation with you between sets and all you have to say is "I like the Misfits" and nothing else, you're a fucking dumbass. When I go to a show and have to sit through mindless conversations about how someone's shirt is sooooo punk and not pay a lick of attention to what the half-way-decent bands are screaming, I want to cut a bitch.

...and I just burned the back of my throat on tomato soup.