Issue date: 3/30/09 Section: Opinion

Media Credit: Evan Andrews [Click to enlarge]

Ages ago there was a man that, in defiance of the gods, brought down from the cosmos a sonorous symphony of mind-bending jams and face-melting solos. Few would know that this imposing figure lacked a 'formal musical education.' We saw, in those times, a creative force and raw talent, exemplified in particular by that man we remember as Jimi Hendrix, since fallen victim to the synthetic sounds of commercial mediocrity and musical masochism.

We'll get the disclaimer out of the way. I'm not old and that's not denial speaking. I can sometimes get down with the hipness and appreciate the tizite shizzle of today's packaged sounds. Still, to say that today's music is a paradigm shift of the same caliber of yester-century's rock revolution is absurd.

I can entertain the idea that I'm criticizing today's music in the same vein as the parochial critics of Elvis and The Beatles. I may just be shaking my fist at those darned kids and the mischief they spread, but, again, it's hard to draw parallels between yesterday's spontaneous masterpieces and today's calculated melodies. I think it's safe to say, with unwavering objectivity, that today's music is abysmal.

Pinpointing the problem is where the difficulty begins. Some may say that it's the divergence from sound music theory and classical education that is rearing its ugly head on our iPhones these days. The belief that today's artists spend too much time
hitting their girlfriends and not enough time listening to the music of dead Europeans may sound like a viable explanation.

That's simply not the case. Mentions of Dorian modes and rhythmic cadence can only dress up today's musically lacking pieces. No, sadly, that's not the case of today's tripe.

What is missing, and what has steadily been naturally selected out of the music scene, is raw talent. Hendrix, and a host of his contemporary revolutionaries, didn't have the classical music training some believe to be the soul of good music. He didn't think along the same lines as musical scholars and those who had aesthetics down to a science. He played, first and foremost, from his drugged-up heart. Can you imagine Hendrix putting his talents toward a brand of cognac or some asinine dance move.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools