Inaugural Post

This is the beginning of my music blog. I hope it will grow into a group blog and I welcome contributions.

I don't have a specific aesthetic viewpoint or genre to spotlight. If I have an agenda, it is to situate today's music in its historical context. But mostly, I have a bunch of questions that I'd like to explore:

1. What is the parallel development of undergroundish rock and mainstream pop? Honestly, they seemed to have diverged in perhaps 1972, occasionally coming into closer contact since then (with new wave and the alternative rock's brief moment in the early 90's).

2. What is the American songbook? When I watched American Idol, I was surprised by how few songs I knew. There's an American musical canon that is unknown to many music fans. What distinguishes it?

3. What is popular about popular music? There's always something compelling about a hit song even if it you find it infantile or trite or annoying. What's compelling about today's pop music? What does it say about today's culture? Is indie-rock taking place entirely outside of that discussion?

4. What is the legacy of 80's and 90's indie rock? Can you listen to pitchforky bands and hear any trace of any the bands featured in This Band Could Be Your Life? What does this say that today's indie-rock has a lot of the culture baggage of that music but not many stylistic similarities?

5. Why don't I like a lot of today's indie rock? There are a number of current bands that remind me of music that I like but do not grab me enough to really explore them and figure out if there's something new there. Why is it that I find Amy Winehouse not only more fun to listen to but also more interesting?

6. What is the role of earnestness and irony. Many of today's genres are informed by irony but are taken at face-value. For example, it's possible to read the lyrics of the Black Eyed Peas' "I Got a Feeling" as a condemnation of vacuous nightlife. But no one hears the song that way. In this discussion, expect liberal quotations from David Foster Wallace's TV essay.

7. What is the influence of the web on music? At first approximation, a lot of kids who would have listened to Modern Rock Alternative stations fifteen years ago are reading pitchfork. In that sense, the kids may be alright. But I'd like to think that they aren't...

I'll also discuss some music I like to keep this discussion from getting too theoretical.

Also, somehow, I feel that a lot of music criticism is stuck. I want to find another direction for it. At this point, I'll link to a couple of music blogs I like:

AND YOU MAY FIND YOURSELF... is my main inspiration. And he has provided compelling reasons why bands like Deerhunter are disappointing.

Indie Rock Sycophants is a necessary corrective to pitchfork. I often disagree with him, but he's worth reading.

I also dig Carl Wilson and Simon Reynolds in the rare case that I can understand him.