remembering the serious triviality of pop music
Something left unelaborated in my review of Echotone (from the last two posts: here and here) is a larger uneasiness with the instrumentalization of independent or underground music — the reduction of pop music culture from an end in itself to a means for other ends. Although this isn’t a new critique of post-punk music (i.e., music groups inspired...
creatively exploiting the Austin scene: a review of “Echotone” (pt. 2)
[This is the second part of my review of the documentary “Echotone” (2010, dir. Nathan Christ). For the first part, go here.] Technically, no one in Echotone ever says the phrase “creative class.” However, the filmmaker’s marketing materials invoke it regularly, starting with the DVD’s back-cover description: “Echotone is a cultural portrait of the modern American city examined through...
losing Austin’s weirdness: a review of “Echotone” (pt.1)
A 2010 documentary that just graduated from the film festival circuit to DVD,Echotone captures the Austin music scene at a moment of transition. The film is a pleasure to watch and listen to, with great photography, fantastic sound (plus great sound editing, not something I usually notice), and an effective yet easy-going narrative style mercifully free...
photodump of O+ Festival
O+ Festival, Kingston, NY, a set on Flickr. I caught a bit of the scene over the weekend at Kingston, NY’s second annual O+ Festival, a “festival of art, music and wellness… wherein artists barter their contributions directly for medical, dental, and other wellness services from art-loving health care providers.” Admittedly, I missed almost all...
punk-rock dads in suburbia: reflections on “The Other F Word”
I’m still thinking about “The Other F Word,” Andrea Nevins’ new documentary about punk rock musicians who became fathers, since I saw it a week and a half ago at the Woodstock Film Festival. Featuring the dads who play in Pennywise, NOFX, Blink 182, Rancid, Bad Religion, Black Flag, Rise Against, U.S. Bombs, and Fear (represented by...
utopia sound: Todd Rundgren’s Woodstock
Awhile back, I argued that Woodstock—at once a place, a culture/nostalgia industry, and a sensibility—exerts a tremendous hold on geographical self-imaginary of the surrounding Hudson River Valley in which it’s located (and where I live). To pry back the myth of Woodstock a bit, I’ll occasionally share some historical research on Woodstock’s musical geography. In this...
Pitchfork urbanism
The award for Fun Read of the Week goes to “On Pitchfork,” Richard Beck’s smart, caustic review of indie rock’s überblog Pitchfork. You can’t find this lengthy essay anywhere but the latest issue of n+1, an NYC-based journal of politics, literature and culture, and yeah it’s worth the $10 PDF download. (The issue also features a...
why I’m not listening to music to commemorate 9/11
Three days from now, many of us will spend some time remembering where we were and what we were doing on that day ten years earlier. I remember learning that two planes had crashed into New York City’s World Trade Center at a morning department meeting, then passing on the news to my 10:30 am...
what’s local? a review of “The Dears: Lost in the Plot” by Lorraine Carpenter
Does it diminish a musician’s accomplishments to view them through his or her place of origin? Does the prism of the “hometown” assign the stigma of parochialism or, worse, artistic failure, implying that the musician never got out of the minor leagues, or never wanted to? Consider how we don’t find it fundamentally necessary to...
institutionalizing utopia: the predicament of the music festival
These are fat days for music festivals, it seems. Festivals for alternative music, heavy metal, electronic and dance, classical and jazz, festivals featuring music and film, festivals featuring music and academic lectures, festivals featuring acts who reunite just to play festivals—a whole lot of music festivals! Not to mention the music festival’s baby brothers and...
under the shadow of Woodstock: listening to the Hudson Valley
Another problem with the “Brooklynization of Hudson River Valley” thesis that I discussed in my last post is that the music in these parts isn’t very hip. That’s not a judgment, just a statement of fact if by “hip” we mean the product or embrace of 20-something hipsters who disproportionately reside in Brooklyn. However, the Hudson Valley...
looking for the Hudson Valley hipster
In the town where I live, there’s been a lot of chatter over a recent NY Times article which reports how Brooklynites (an apparent synonym for NYC’s mobile, creative types) are descending upon the Hudson Valley area some 75 miles north of the city to live, visit, consume, and generally do their Brooklyn thing. Local businesses,...