This Week in the Mercury
Monday, December 29, 2008
Let's Talk About... Sell Out?
Posted by Andrew R Tonry on Mon, Dec 29, 2008 at 1:36 PM
First things first: The Tallest Man On Earth show at Rontoms last night was phenomenal. Hopefully you made it in, before that horrible line started bending down the block. The Tallest Man was a sharp player, a gruff singer, and a intriguing performer. Opener Mimicking Birds are a group you'll surely hear more from in the future. They're a young Portland band who Isaac from Modest Mouse recently signed and recorded. Debut to drop in Spring... Reminds of Band Of Horses... just the begining...
Anyway, on to some required reading: a terrific update on the state of music + money by Jon Pareles.
The question is: What happens to the music itself when the way to build a career shifts from recording songs that ordinary listeners want to buy to making music that marketers can use? That creates pressure, subtle but genuine, for music to recede: to embrace the element of vacancy that makes a good soundtrack so unobtrusive, to edit a lyric to be less specific or private, to leave blanks for the image or message the music now serves. Perhaps the song will still make that essential, head-turning first impression, but it won’t be as memorable or independent.
Serious Shit. Read the Whole Thing.
Need Scooter Service?
We sell and repair scooters, and have a full service department specializing in Chinese brand scooters; we work on all brands of scooters, however.
Band of the Week
Bombs Into You
About Portland Mercury
RSSGoing to Seattle?
Comments (0)