Spoiled by musical choice?
Why bands are being spoiled by musical choice: "Owen Adams of the Guardian says:
The widespread availability of once-rare tracks is homogenising artists' reservoirs of inspiration. Now the music is suffering"
(Via Guardian Unlimited: Owen Adams Archive.)
Ok - his point goes like this -
. . . when we didn't have every conceivable recording from every era and every genre available in some endless eat-what-you-can buffet, when we faced musical starvation and had to really hunt things down to satisfy our hunger, it spurred on much farther-reaching revelations.
That is why the last genuine innovations came at the dawn of rave in the late 80s, early 90s, and why from the dull thud of Britpop onwards, Alexis Petridis's well-named "consensus rock" has remained the proverbial colossus.
Sure, there is a galaxy of different configurations of what's gone before dressed up as innovation available at our fingertips. For instance, while before we would have tuned into the precious few John Peel hours on offer, now Dandelion Radio is continuing his legacy on a 24/7 basis.
We aren't merely spoiled for choice: the incessant gorging has catastrophic effects on artistic creativity.
There was an interview with bassist/electronica dude Tom Jenkison - aka Squarepusher going around a few months ago. In it he talked about the value he found in musical seclusion. Not listening to the latest, hippest sounds. He found it was the best way for him to arrive at his unique musical statement.
I can totally appreciate this.
On the one hand, being inspired by others is often what gets us into the game to begin with. But at a certain point - most of us need to let go of those influences and find our own way. There are several very accomplished artists whose music I enjoy - but simply stopped listening to so it won't influence me any more.
On the other hand, there's a great case to be made for how total musical "seclusion" can be a sure fire way to let the times leap frog you.
Almost quite naturally, I find that I go through phases of intense listening and seeking of inspiration in the works of others, followed by phases of not wanting to hear anything so that I can sit and hear what's happening in my head. I think I might be in that phase right now. ,-)