Maybe it's the passing of Margaret
Thatcher, or maybe it's the constant repetition throwback earworms
(like Budweiser using “Second Chance” by Peter, Bjorn and John)
in advertising, but I've been in the mood for some 80's pop.
In my search, I happened upon
yourmusicisawful.com and the site's accompanying podcast, DangerRadio. I gotta say, I love it. And I hate it. No, I'm confused. But
it makes me happy. And sad.
The writing on the site is funny, and
transcends tiresome hipster irony because it is obviously the work of
real lovers of 80's brit altpop and the current crop of revivalists.
I like listening to the podcasts. I haven't heard some of these bands
in years. The new bands are great- by which I mean that they are
virtually indistinguishable from 4AD or Factory bands of the late
80's and early 90's. That's the bit that I find a little sad.
Yes, I guess in the early punk days
there was some nostalgia for the music of our parents- Link Wray,
Gene Vincent and all– but there was still a strong vein of
originality in pop music at the same time. Has rock simply reached
the end? Is it like jazz, where new players are primarily engaged in
an academic exercise, covering old ground and reinterpreting it?
Yourmusicisawful.com is aware of this,
it seems, but they don't really know what to do about it. In the
article Hey Kids, Grow a Pair: How Music Blogs Neutered Indie Rock,
author Kitty Vincent dives into the issue, with complete awareness of
the irony of attacking music blogs from a music blog. Is there any
way of escaping the digital ghetto? Are music blogs to blame, or is
it a broader culture where all music is reduced to disposable
“content”?
I'll lay awake at night pondering that
issue, but in the mean time, I'll choke back my pride and enjoy a
slice of free digital content from so-called "Dangerous Music" Podcast. And by
the way kids- ease up on bashing the “middle-aged new wavers”
okay? We were the ones who made it dangerous...
