First off, I'd like to start off by saying that my brother's father in law (well..basically) played back up with Steely Dan...so when I say that old people hate the music we listen to today...I'm speaking on behalf of him and his band (which I consider epitomizes the generation were speaking of)....since I've went to their studio a couple of times before.
Concerning artist's need to experiment and progress their music (jazz, rock n roll, etc.), I can see why one would make the comparison of 'noise' or 'screamo' to the risk that people like Les Paul, Miles Davis or Johnny Cash did; however, I would say the biggest difference is that there was an aesthetic to everything they did. Developing new diminished/minor chords and the art of improvisation, all held a certain artistic quality toward it...while progressing their musical style. It was creativity, it was unconventional, but it still followed a very simple formula: melody, harmony, chords, etc. So yes, it was a very rebellious thing to do. For musicians to crack out of the mainstream and do something new took a lot of guts, and thank god they did it, or we'd still be listening to Vaudeville acts.
When it comes to music today, the mainstream overshadows everything. The new rockstars of today are people liek Jay-Z or Usher, rather than the Plant's or Hendrix's. Music has been succumbed by the "industry of cool," and everything is a commercial product now. As Lester Hayes once said, rock n roll is dying and were all just in time for its death rattle. In fact, rock n roll has been dead for quite a while, so has punk rock...or any other musical new wave explosion that defined a certain era. Now it's up for us to build the our own representation for our era..and yes, we have failed at that; Fall Out Boy just ain't gonna cut it as inspiring rock gods.
So what do we do next? Music is in its downward spiral as we constantly search for something to grab onto and inspire us...just because we feel that, much like our parents, we deserve to belong to something as well. It is ironic to see that there is so little out there when there's a huge abundance of musical acts. Almost everyday, I hear about a new band and how they're going to be the "next big thing." So is the next big thing going to be The Mae Shi? Maybe...it seriously might. Who would have known that Nirvana was going to be grunge on the map? Or Blink 182 with pop punk....or My Chemical Romance with goth punk....or Fall Out Boy with...whatever the hell theyre singing about? Maybe the music industry is entitled to a kick in the face? I think the Mae Shi can do that; blow everyones ears off and throw a big "fuck you" to the man...or management. But I digress; all this speak about mainstream and "inspirational" acts is moot, since the idea of musical progression is flawed.
A band like the Mae Shi might be unconventional; it could break the mainstream and shock our minds by playing unlitigated pieces of noise symphonies. They can break barriers, open a door for other experimental artist to enter, and even change a life or two. But when it comes to the humanties (and art is called the humanities because it is what makes us humane), it has very little influence. I am now convinced that music is no longer part of the arts, where young people (like the Mae Shi) can attempt on trying to invent their own genre, but fail miserably trying. There is nothing new to say when it comes to music. As one poster previously said, they are only trying to do something new to avoid everything else that has been done already. So what is the solution? Making unconventional noise with a screeching vocal over a 3 note motif? Yes, there is a place for "music" like this, just like how there is a place for the Ashlee Simpsons and the Fall out Boys of the world, but to argue that a band like The Mae Shi is much like our predecessors of the rock'n' roll/jazz revolution is not only ludacrous, but insulting.
So what is the solution? I know many would say that musicians "copy" our predecessor's sound, which leads to lack of quality and creativity, but I see it differently. I love that Ozma can reinvent the pop/power punk sound...and create an album that was dubbed "the real green album." I love how Ryan Adam, Bright Eyes, Sufjan Stevens and other singer/songwriters can be our Dylan's, Cash's, or Young's. I love how bands like Gorillaz are taking different kinds of music and coalescing them into one. I believe that progression now is improving the music that is already here, and making it their own. Why are people like Sufjan Stevens, Wilco, My Morning Jacket, Cat Power, Bright Eyes, getting so much attention from the media...even the cool pretentious types like Pitchfork? Well maybe it's cause theyre saying something new with something we've already heard? Maybe it's because they realize that just because they use the same paintbrushes, doesnt mean it's the same portrait.
In contrast, why is it that a band like The Mae Shi getting D reviews? Like this one:
"This seems to be The Mae Shi's modus operandi on Terrorbird: Brief exercises from Noise Rock 101 surround the band's more carefully composed numbers, providing a harsh contrast for the album's otherwise immediately accessible moments. That said, when these straightforward songs aren't up to "Power to the Power" snuff, all the guitar gymnastics comes off as
talentless bullshit, drenched in noise to mask an inability to play. It happens on "Jubilee", whose forced recombination of plucked guitar, Casio beats, and vocal harmonies are so
unintentionally out-of-tune that it makes Liars' Angus Andrews sound like a barbershop quartet.
. It happens again on "Takoma the Dolphin Is Awol", which sports a solid narrative lyrically, but musically falls back on some seriously obnoxious Rage Against the Machine white-boy funk trills. Perhaps the biggest offender is the one-two guffaw of "Surf's Up" and "Testify": After the band prove they're "down" with Garage Band's hip-hop loops on the first one, The Mae Shi try their best to emote and come out sounding like The Starting Line unplugged."
In conclusion, I'd like to say that this board and the show inspired me to take a deeper listen to the Mae Shi, and I'd have to say, they weren't as bad as I thought their live show was. It's definately not something I will listen to often, or even again most likely...but I guess I can appreciate the band's willingness to break new ground, even though I think most of it is contrived, and out of touch.
