Mark,
While I agree with the spirit of your post..why you got ta diss Moby? Jay
from Jamiroquai has always been a spotlight hunting egoist. Only now his
lack of originality has finally caught up with him. He doesn't seem like a
terribly cool dude, though I did love LOVE early Jamiroquai records. Moby
ain't like that. He's a down to earth, heck of a nice guy and has tried MOST
of the time to do interesting work. There was a period where he seemed to be
caught in a circle, repeating himself, but I think the last record is quite
good DESPITE it being a huge success.
Anyway I think we can pick worst artists to pick on than Moby and far bigger
labels than V2. In fact that's the new secret for the majors: get yourself a
trendy imprint and run it like an indie...just with lots of money and
marketing support. And lo and behold you get: V2 (the new Virgin with
distribution by BMG), Astralwerks (Virgin), Jive Electro, F-111, 1500,
Kinetic, etc etc. (Mind you some of those labels have their moments). And
when push comes to shove I think the indies are just as guilty as the majors
when it comes to flooding the market with mediocre product..go check the
compilation (or trance) section of any big record store for some obvious
proof.
Rereading your post (again) I wanted to point out something else..dance
music isn't unique when it comes to pushing "marketable" bands over musical
merits. Check the sales figures of Destiny Child versus Kelly Price, or Lit
over (insert your favorite ugly indie rockers), Faith Hill vs (insert
overweight country singer here), etc. That's just the way of the world I
guess. In the trenches everyone slugs it out over quality, performance,
innovation, etc but when you get to the big acts in almost any genre (even
jazz--check Kenny G, the Marsalis brothers, etc vs "the good shit") you get
into looks, marketability, and the like.
A little story: Years ago (in my underground techno days) I saw Njoi at
Limelight. It was one of the best shows I ever saw. Up until then I had only
heard their records, never saw pictures of them or anything. Back then most
techno artists were nameless and faceless anyway (I still don't know the
names of the 2 guys in Njoi by the way). Anyhow they had a big keyboard
setup with the two guys standing almost back to back facing the audience. On
the other end of the stage dancing in skintight bodysuits was Saffron (later
frontwoman for Republica) and some tall (7'+) man. Well with the lasers and
the non-stop music (they never stopped and they never spoke-as far as I
remember) it was quite a show. In fact it was my favorite techno show (and
still is). And for awhile they were my favorite band. What had catapulted
them to the top of my personal hit parade? That show. A similar thing
happened when I saw James Taylor Quartet live. And just a couple years back
when I saw Kojak (Rinocerose, Daft Punk, Demon-ha! Give me Kojak). What made
all these groups seem better than some of their competition? Seeing them
live and having them kick ass in performace and being able to put a face
with a name (and let's be honest an attractive face helps). I used to get a
lot of crap from some of my techno friends about loving that Njoi show. The
guys from Plus 8 were at that show. They owned those keyboards, and they,
unlike me, knew how they worked. They told me the whole thing was faked:
Triggered samples and DAT tapes. It was a fraud. But to me it didn't matter.
I loved that show, fake or no fake. As long as it SEEMED live, and as long
as I was entertained (and I was) it did what it needed to do. And that I
think is the most important thing to remember. Njoi entertained me. Speedy J
(who I saw a couple years later) did not. Speedy J is a much more innovative
musician, perhaps even a better musician, but he's a mediocre performer. For
all his "playing live" he bored the hell out of me. I'd rather be
entertained and lied to than sit there bored with reality. Milli Vanilli's
biggest crime was getting caught. Up until then everyone thought they were
getting their money's worth. And maybe, just maybe, they were.
Maybe what makes a "great entertainer" is different from what makes a "great
musician" and the problem is sometimes we confuse the two? Maybe in some
sick, twisted way Britney Spears is "better" than DJ Shadow--not as a
musician, but as an entertainer....hhhmmmmmm
Dirk van den Heuvel (dirkv@groovedis.com)
Groove Distribution
http://www.groovedis.com
Your Guide To The Underground
-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Turner [mailto:nugroove@pacbell.net]
Sent: Monday, May 29, 2000 3:51 PM
To: acid-jazz@ucsd.edu
Subject: RE: FUTURE STATE OF ACID-JAZZ
Joni said:
> It is evident by all of the commercial trk id posts that AJ, dnb,
> ect is out
> there all around us. It's in the intro's and outros's of tv/radio shows,
> but the same radio/tv stations never put anything of AJ, underground, dnb
> substance on as the feature. So I guess the question is: Why hasen't the
> rest of the world caught on? Or better yet do we even want them
> to? Do the
> big labels look for junk to push on the masses or do they turn what might
> have had potential to be good in to junk? And furthermore would
> the masses
> REALLY be interested and appreciative of all the artists that keep us
> moovin' ? I'm not sure how much credit to give or not to give to the
> people.
For what it's worth, here's my somewhat cynical perspective. When any
musical style becomes popular enough that major record labels think they can
make some money off of it, that is the beginning of the end. Major labels
simply can't keep up with new musical trends, and are often left behind,
pushing "copycat" artists who really don't have a creative bone in their
bodies. Meanwhile, they're glutting the market with their major-label
product, so that curious listeners who might be willing to invest in a (fill
in the genre) album can't tell the good from the bad. And if they buy the
bad, or simply mediocre product, they're not apt to come back for more.
But the "average" music listener is equally to blame. Time and again, we
have seen that people are more interested in "personality" artists than
musical quality. Just look at the popularity of artists like Moby or
Jamiroquai, who are on NOBODY'S list for musical innovation. Yet they have
a marketable image, and major-label dollars behind them, so they become
successful above and beyond what any musical merit could justify. Meanwhile
the image-less artists remain invisible to the masses.
This weekend I went to see the new film "Better Living Through Circuitry," a
documentary on the rave generation. The film is entertaining and very
well-made, though it's pretty disheartening from a musical perspective.
It's clear that most of the ravers interviewed aren't really interested in
music at all, but are simply there to take drugs and behave like children.
Don't get me wrong; I have nothing against ravers, OR taking drugs! As a
"scene," it's certainly more positive than many scenes that have gone
before. But the film did put things in perspective for me with regard to
music vs. lifestyle. Most people are simply not as passionate about music
as those of us on this list; they use music as a soundtrack to their lives
and nothing more. And for that purpose, it's not really relevant to them
how "innovative" the music is. For ravers, flashing lights and repetitive
beats are all they really need at a party.
Please forgive my sweeping generalizations and realise this is just ONE
perspective. :-)
______________________________________________
Mark Turner nugroove@pacbell.net
Hear "Jazzadelica" with Rocky Rococo on KFJC
Sundays 10pm-2am, 89.7 FM, Los Altos Hills, CA
Web: http://home.pacbell.net/nugroove/
______________________________________________
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