> What I see is a lot poesurs who won't be caught dead playing anything that
> the mainstream might actually "like" because that would insinuate that you
> too are part of the great unwashed mainstream. But I can name alot of
> artists who got too big for the underground, and in some cases, that was the
> underground's fault, not the artists.
Steve, you might want to take a look at the altitude of your nose for a moment.
Like Marv stated, there are plenty of djs playing mainstream stuff. Why would a
dj who wants to do something different, do the same? It's one thing if you need
to make a living and feel that there's a certain amount of catering that's
necessary to do that. A lot of us are lucky we don't have to do that if we
don't want.
Second, honestly, I couldn't even name a Jay Z song, and if I heard one and
liked it, I might play it if it fit in my set, because seriously, I am so
utterly out of touch with the mainstream, I don't even know who's in it. I only
listen to radio stations I like, which all happen to be all the way to the left
of the dial.
This is taste, not snobbery. I can tell mainstream songs from the first measure
with an astounding degree of accuracy because the sound of the production, the
way the instruments are mixed, and the way the song is constructed, all grate on
my ear. Again, taste, not snobbery. Once you've tasted brie, you may not want
to go back to cheez whiz, ya know? If I, personally, in my humble (HA!) way,
hate 99% of what I hear on commercial radio and I love 95% of what I hear from
other outlets, where do you think I'm going to spend my listening time? Life is
too short to cull through piles of what you know to be 99% crap to find that one
exception to the rule. This applies to all life experiences, from books to
travel to conversation. It's a Pavlov's dog thing.
So, why is 99% of what people listen to, crappy (according to the acid jazz list
consensus)? Because crap is cheap and easy to mass produce. That sounds like a
money thing, not a music thing. It sure would be nice if the music people had a
little more room to do what they do best, if the pursuit of art were given its
proper importance (what's the point of life without beauty?), and if business
were played more or less fairly. It would be nice if music production were
treated differently from aluminum widget production. The way things are now is
not necessarily the way things should be, from a particular perspective, though
some think the system is fine the way it is, and you seem to be one of those
people. Some people who want to make a change, choose to do so from the inside.
Some prefer not to, and it works for them. I find it childish, short-sighted,
and insulting to dismiss the second method with an exasperated flourish, and
misconstrue the motivation as snobbery rather than strategy, situation, or
simply taste. One of the smartest, most opinionated peeple I know gave me this
elegant corollary that's so simple you forget it all the time: People do things
for their own reasons, not yours.
Also, turn up the sensitivity on your sarcasm meter when you get a chance.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Thu May 30 2002 - 17:38:36 CEST