An article in Woroni last year suggested that popular music in the 60s was better than today because the artists cared about the music. Modern artists—Britney, T-pain etc—care about the dollars. The article went on to suggest that people should tune their radios to triple J because it was non-profit and showcased those who were in it for love.
I never got round to saying how profoundly I disagreed with just about everything it said.
For starters, music was better in the 60’s because musicians had talent and put the hours in to master their skills. Jimmy page was a studio session guitarist for years before he formed Led Zeppelin. John Lennon attended the Liverpool school of Art. Luis Armstrong regularly played till his lips started bleeding.
Music on triple J features some dickhead playing two cords on a guitar while the drummer cycles the basics. The vocalists sings superficial lines out of tune and all of sudden everyone’s saying: ‘oh it’s just so deep, yeah, like, so spiritual.’ How many of the vocalists on Triple J can even hit a note!
No doubt popular music is fuelled by dollars, but I find it laughable to suggest that ‘indie’ artists are in it for the music. They care about being cool. They care about being famous. And they care about making money. If they were in it for the music they would take some lessons.
Not all, but the vast majority of groups coming through on Triple J are glorified garage bands. They’re popular because they allow people to imagine themselves as musicians; to imagine themselves as one day being famous. It’s a superficial scene and its adherents are superficial individuals. Getting a nose ring and wearing flannel does not make you deep or interesting or ‘alternative’—you’re still a materialist! I ask you, how can triple J be ‘alternative’ when every uni student is listening to it?
It’s no surprise that DJ’s are proliferating. It’s a genre where someone can invest in a set of decks and book a gig at Hippo six months later. Music today is average because we prefer average people as performers rather than the dedicated ‘artists’ of old.
If we genuinely care about the music we must abstain from worshipping mediocre performers. We’ll lose the ability to imagine ourselves on stage and music will become another area of ultra-specialisation, like athletics or science, but at least we’ll get some quality beats. The Janis Joplins of this world won’t get shut out because we have standards.
And in defence of pop-music, Lady Gaga is a Julliard graduate. Futuresex/Lovesounds was an off the chain dance album, and when I want to get large KE$HA inspires me far more than Mumford and Sons. Pop music doesn’t take itself seriously. Maybe the Triple J fanatics out there should follow its example.
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