http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/arts/music/21kanye.html
In Jon Caramanica's recent article preceding Kanye's upcoming album (his fifth) I can't help but see how complacent and thoughtless music criticism and appreciation have become - and thus popular music, which is beholden only to the consumer dollar.
Mr. Caramanica's quotations range from laughable to offensive. His praise of Kanye's output on the upcoming album reaches for descriptors like "great" and "better." There is not much description of what makes Kanye's music stand out. Indeed, "[Kanye]'s committed to pop, and savvy and talented enough to make it great, every time. What's more, for him to make something other than a universally accepted smash would be a thing that his ego couldn't bear. Every Kanye West album, until the cancer of the world around him begins to encroach on the parts of his cerebral cortex that control his musical ear, will be excellent and huge."
What?
Making it great, every time? I don't think that can be done. Greatness isn't consistency. If it were, we'd all say fast food is great - maybe we do too much already.
His ego couldn't bear to be without smash hits? Tough [noogies]. His ego doesn't sound like it's invested in the music. Nor does it seem like most other "artists" are truly musical talent. Why else would the disclaimer (as praise, no less) need to appear: "Mr. West controls all of the major elements of his songs, unlike the other artists who have to rely on their taste (or their record label's taste) in outside producers or songwriters." Is this merely to say that Kanye does his work and records his own material? Is that special? I am stymied to think that extra credit is now being given for the most basic of functions as an "artist." Maybe artist isn't the right word anymore. Maybe puppet-with-or-without-some-strings is better, no?
Finally, the most artistically offensive advance of the whole article is this:
"Music that is ornate, ostentatious, curious and vivacious. But risky? No. All of the fiddling is within recognized formulas."
How is this a triumph? Of course new doesn't equal better. Different doesn't equal better. But I am wondering how music can be curious and vivacious without at least hinting at innovation.
That Kanye can be mired in the work of others and lauded for a basic commitment to creating and producing his own music might very well be what is wrong with the world today. And, as Mr. Caramanica's ending paragraph states, "his effort is valueless without response." Maybe it's time to start ignoring this loudmouth - he's got enough bling.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Can't stop watching:
More ad campagins should be centered around the dichotomy of a cute animal and its tough behavior. Thank you, Panda cheese.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Acadia!
So, we went to Acadia National Park. No Obama, no moose, but it was beautiful anyway.
Josh, Elizabeth and I hike all around and eventually reached the top of one of the peaks in the park (where the video above was filmed). The views were spectacular as was the weather.
And, we got to pick wild blueberries (and eat them!):
Simply AWESOME. Too bad my camera died 3 pictures in, otherwise there would be more fun photos.
----
Back in the world of music (why I'm here, right?) the quartet assigned to my piece has been rehearsing and played for me for the first time on Friday. They were awesome! Flexible, excited and very skilled. My piece, a movment for string quartet called "The Nascent Past," is being played Tuesday, I believe. Recordings, videos and whatever else I can post here will be available.
Josh, Elizabeth and I hike all around and eventually reached the top of one of the peaks in the park (where the video above was filmed). The views were spectacular as was the weather.
And, we got to pick wild blueberries (and eat them!):
Simply AWESOME. Too bad my camera died 3 pictures in, otherwise there would be more fun photos.
----
Back in the world of music (why I'm here, right?) the quartet assigned to my piece has been rehearsing and played for me for the first time on Friday. They were awesome! Flexible, excited and very skilled. My piece, a movment for string quartet called "The Nascent Past," is being played Tuesday, I believe. Recordings, videos and whatever else I can post here will be available.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Beethoven: Ying style.
This past Friday held the most recent installment for the "Festival Fridays" concert series, which is most usually the venue for orchestral pieces and concerti. Ray Chen played the Brahms violin concerto, and very well at that. He is quite a showman, and an excellent violinist. Though I doubt his full potential was on display due to a lack of orchestra rehearsal time (2 rehearsals just isn't enough for an orchestra that meets bi-weekly), his ensemble and attention to the group as well as himself was remarkable, and it came across in the music.
The most interesting portion of the evening for me, however, was the first half of the program. The Ying Quartet, in residence here at Bowdoin for the first three weeks, played the Beethoven "Rasoumovsky" quartet. Simply awesome.
Their performances of the fourth movement and encore of it after a 5-minute standing ovation were spectacular, but not because they were necessarily supremely accurate. Many of my colleagues here remarked that the playing in their ultra-fast rendition lacked clarity and accuracy of sound. Of course they didn't sound like they were putting their bows or fingers down willy-nilly, but not every passage was pinpoint accurate. And, I think that might have been part of what was so incredible.
Given the blistering pace at which they took the movement it was astonishing to hear how cleanly and evenly matched the transitions, thematic trades dynamics were. Despite the number of notes that were sounding there was a constant sensibility of long lines and big, beautiful phrases that were built from the twittering beneath. The energy was palpable while they were playing and the way that each performer was able to communicate with the others was magical. That magic, that unspoken, inarticulable connection, is what made the music come alive. By "talking" to eachother on stage they brought the whole audience with them.
As a composer I am one step removed from that. I can't make sure of any performer constantly reaching that place, and to expect it would be unrealistic. But, there may be a way to do that on the page - to push things along in a way. Making that discourse happen on my manuscript paper is now explicitly and precisely part of what I am working towards with my music.
I'll let you know when I figure it out...
-----
Off to Acadia National Park (and maybe a little Bar Harbor). Pictures forthcoming!
The most interesting portion of the evening for me, however, was the first half of the program. The Ying Quartet, in residence here at Bowdoin for the first three weeks, played the Beethoven "Rasoumovsky" quartet. Simply awesome.
Their performances of the fourth movement and encore of it after a 5-minute standing ovation were spectacular, but not because they were necessarily supremely accurate. Many of my colleagues here remarked that the playing in their ultra-fast rendition lacked clarity and accuracy of sound. Of course they didn't sound like they were putting their bows or fingers down willy-nilly, but not every passage was pinpoint accurate. And, I think that might have been part of what was so incredible.
Given the blistering pace at which they took the movement it was astonishing to hear how cleanly and evenly matched the transitions, thematic trades dynamics were. Despite the number of notes that were sounding there was a constant sensibility of long lines and big, beautiful phrases that were built from the twittering beneath. The energy was palpable while they were playing and the way that each performer was able to communicate with the others was magical. That magic, that unspoken, inarticulable connection, is what made the music come alive. By "talking" to eachother on stage they brought the whole audience with them.
As a composer I am one step removed from that. I can't make sure of any performer constantly reaching that place, and to expect it would be unrealistic. But, there may be a way to do that on the page - to push things along in a way. Making that discourse happen on my manuscript paper is now explicitly and precisely part of what I am working towards with my music.
I'll let you know when I figure it out...
-----
Off to Acadia National Park (and maybe a little Bar Harbor). Pictures forthcoming!
Friday, July 16, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Take me out
Last Saturday we took a trip down to Portland to see the minor-league team, The Portland Sea Dogs. They're the minor league affiliate of the Boston RedSox. It was fun, mostly because my group decided to (aggressively) support the away team (we're all New Yorkers...).
After some children gave us the stink-eye and Linnea was called, "potty-mouth" we slumped into a hot-dog and beer-induced coma, eventually leaving at the 7th inning stretch. (The away team won, by the way. I'm saying it was in no small part thanks to us.)
This week has been busy - hence my lack of updates. I've been working away at the song cycle, getting mired in some text that moves more quickly than I'm used to (from image to image). It's fun, but I don't think I have these next two songs down yet. I've handed the first two over to the singer for the next session of the festival, which begins Monday. Hopefully at least some of the songs will make their way into performance.
Tonight there is going to be a bit of a sight-reading party. Players here are great and I think my quartet might even get a read-through. Also, if we do the reading somewhere with a piano I might fake through the Schubert's "Trout Quintet", which would be great.
More soon...
After some children gave us the stink-eye and Linnea was called, "potty-mouth" we slumped into a hot-dog and beer-induced coma, eventually leaving at the 7th inning stretch. (The away team won, by the way. I'm saying it was in no small part thanks to us.)
This week has been busy - hence my lack of updates. I've been working away at the song cycle, getting mired in some text that moves more quickly than I'm used to (from image to image). It's fun, but I don't think I have these next two songs down yet. I've handed the first two over to the singer for the next session of the festival, which begins Monday. Hopefully at least some of the songs will make their way into performance.
Tonight there is going to be a bit of a sight-reading party. Players here are great and I think my quartet might even get a read-through. Also, if we do the reading somewhere with a piano I might fake through the Schubert's "Trout Quintet", which would be great.
More soon...
Monday, July 05, 2010
4th-y weekend.
A bit of a hiatus from blogging, yes. But, July 4th weekend was lots of fun!
Friday 'started' with a lesson (really, it was at 4pm). Claude Baker seemed to like my song by the end of it. Although, I should probably be working more towards more meaningful tonal strides. In time, I suppose.
After that, I left composition behind for a couple days (oops). Friday evening held a concert that was impressive for its firepower. Glenn Dicterow, Liang Wang, Ray Chen, and a host of other fantastic players in an all-Schumann program. Liang Wang played the "Three Romances," which he saved from being the schmaltz that they are through his fantastic playing and lovely performance - very rarely have I seen an instrumental soloist spend so much time away from sheet music when it was available. His perhaps overly-conspicuous sojourns from the page actually drew greater attention to some of his superbly expressive detail. Next was the Schumann piano quintet in E-flat, Op. 44. Always an amazing piece, but with Glen Dicterow at the helm there were certainly more wonderful moments than usual. His economy of movment is always astounding, as is the sound he produces from his Guarneri. It was also interesting to watch how he lead the much younger Ray Chen. Ray is a masterful player and his youthful styling provided an interesting foil for the other more seasoned players in the group - all of which were at least 10 years his senior. The final piece on the concert was the Piano Concerto in a-minor - one of my favorites. This was, however, the first outing for the festival orchestra, with a new soloist and only two rehearsals. The tempi were impeccable and, at last, the performance struck me as one not of precision but heart and energy - wonderfully enjoyable and very exciting.
That night there was a party. A great party. A party that I was still recovering from Saturday morning when I embarked on a trip down to Kennebunk.
I spent much of Saturday and Sunday at my friend Kelly's (well, her family's) in Kennebunk. I lived with Kelly when I was at Vassar in my senior year. A couple of her tennis teammates were there as well - Jamie and Courtney - with whom I was also friendly. It was great to have a miniature Vassar reunion and to see Kelly's parents, who were the most gracious and generous of hosts. Lobster at the boat club, tennis in the morning across the way, and some sun at the beach - need I say more?
After returning to Brunswick on Sunday morning, the 4th, I spent a bit of time having some beer with my housemate Josh and some other string players from the festival - Laura, Laurel and Linnea. After making a bit of dinner we took off in my car for Portland, where there were going to be fireworks. After a lot of searching for parking and eventually finding space in what looked like the local projects (dubious), we walked over to the hill where the fireworks were to be. The Portland played some "American Favorites" (with a bit of Tchaikovsky for good measure...) to about a 45-minute fireworks show, which was very impressive.
After we returned, there was a bit more beer and the following portrait of Laurel, Josh and Linnea (L to R) which, though ambiguous, remains iconic in my mind:
Epic, to say the least.
In any event, I'm back to writing. It feels good, almost comfortable in a relaxing sort of way. Hopefully I'll have another song (mostly) done by tomorrow... fingers crossed.
Friday 'started' with a lesson (really, it was at 4pm). Claude Baker seemed to like my song by the end of it. Although, I should probably be working more towards more meaningful tonal strides. In time, I suppose.
After that, I left composition behind for a couple days (oops). Friday evening held a concert that was impressive for its firepower. Glenn Dicterow, Liang Wang, Ray Chen, and a host of other fantastic players in an all-Schumann program. Liang Wang played the "Three Romances," which he saved from being the schmaltz that they are through his fantastic playing and lovely performance - very rarely have I seen an instrumental soloist spend so much time away from sheet music when it was available. His perhaps overly-conspicuous sojourns from the page actually drew greater attention to some of his superbly expressive detail. Next was the Schumann piano quintet in E-flat, Op. 44. Always an amazing piece, but with Glen Dicterow at the helm there were certainly more wonderful moments than usual. His economy of movment is always astounding, as is the sound he produces from his Guarneri. It was also interesting to watch how he lead the much younger Ray Chen. Ray is a masterful player and his youthful styling provided an interesting foil for the other more seasoned players in the group - all of which were at least 10 years his senior. The final piece on the concert was the Piano Concerto in a-minor - one of my favorites. This was, however, the first outing for the festival orchestra, with a new soloist and only two rehearsals. The tempi were impeccable and, at last, the performance struck me as one not of precision but heart and energy - wonderfully enjoyable and very exciting.
That night there was a party. A great party. A party that I was still recovering from Saturday morning when I embarked on a trip down to Kennebunk.
I spent much of Saturday and Sunday at my friend Kelly's (well, her family's) in Kennebunk. I lived with Kelly when I was at Vassar in my senior year. A couple of her tennis teammates were there as well - Jamie and Courtney - with whom I was also friendly. It was great to have a miniature Vassar reunion and to see Kelly's parents, who were the most gracious and generous of hosts. Lobster at the boat club, tennis in the morning across the way, and some sun at the beach - need I say more?
After returning to Brunswick on Sunday morning, the 4th, I spent a bit of time having some beer with my housemate Josh and some other string players from the festival - Laura, Laurel and Linnea. After making a bit of dinner we took off in my car for Portland, where there were going to be fireworks. After a lot of searching for parking and eventually finding space in what looked like the local projects (dubious), we walked over to the hill where the fireworks were to be. The Portland played some "American Favorites" (with a bit of Tchaikovsky for good measure...) to about a 45-minute fireworks show, which was very impressive.
After we returned, there was a bit more beer and the following portrait of Laurel, Josh and Linnea (L to R) which, though ambiguous, remains iconic in my mind:
Epic, to say the least.
In any event, I'm back to writing. It feels good, almost comfortable in a relaxing sort of way. Hopefully I'll have another song (mostly) done by tomorrow... fingers crossed.
Thursday, July 01, 2010
On we go.
Here at Bowdoin it's been an eventful couple of days. Tuesday's lesson with Claude Baker was an interesting getting-to-know-you kind of meeting. I showed him the two pieces I am submitting for the Gamper Festival, to which I think (hope) he responded favorably. I'm proud of the string quartet, even though it's a bit short at 5'30". These musical products are starting to feel more authentically "me."
The best part of the lesson for me was the crystallization of something that I was just beginning to perceive in my music and to which I think most of my other teachers had merely alluded, hoping I would get the hint. My harmonic language is too static in a large-scale way - often my pieces were getting locked into a set of pitches, returned to over and over again, that made the piece stand still even if the gesture and rhythms of the music looked like the they should chug forward. The string quartet does this less so, I think (I got the impression he did as well). But, now that I am keenly aware of it, the songs I am writing should take on a sensibility informed by the careful consideration of this kind of harmonic action. I'll be bringing in the first one to lesson tomorrow - we'll see how it goes.
-----
The weather yesterday was absolutely perfect. Today as well, despite a few extra clouds. "Home," pictured above, is a great place to hang. All of the people in the contiguous apartments are great fun and have been making our little area of campus quite warm and comfortable. The mosquitos, however, have not. They are vicious. The vermin even come out in the middle of the day - something to which I am not accustomed, coming from northern NJ. Good thing I have plenty of DEET in the spray I bought.
I found a driving range and 3 golf courses today as well. Those should provide some amusement in the coming weeks. Hopefully they won't be too much of a distraction from writing.
The rest of today has a master class with Glenn Dicterow and then lots more writing. I think Chicken Tikka Masala is on the menu this evening. Hopefully so is a lot more of the song cycle.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
2sday
Today is a much nicer day in Brunswick, ME. The sun is out, it's a perfect 71°F, and lots of work has already been accomplished.
After working through most of the morning I took off for my newly adopted 11:30 gym routine. The gym, at least one of them, keeps odd, spaced hours here. 11:30 is an opening time (goes until 2:30, I think...) and so the treadmills are totally free. I even have my own adopted machine...
Lunch was nice, but breif (I have been perpetually hungry these past few days) and I made some pasta salad for later... hopefully that staves off some of the hunger this evening.
Working this afternoon I tried something new. I was speaking with Harold a few months ago, when he was writing his song cycle, Beautiful Ohio for the NY Festival of Song. He said to me, after having recited a number of the poems he was setting, "Don't you find that you have to memorize the poems before you start setting them?" I replied, "No," at the time, but thought that something like that might benefit me in the songs I am working on now. It's a set of 6 for Soprano (or Mezzo) and Guitar. I have been a bit paranoid about the way that the songs should weave together - I feel like the message of the set should shine through the music...
So, I wrote all of the poems out on separate pieces of paper and began to draw.
I looked for similar words, the same word that carried different meanings in different passages, important rhymes, rhythms, cadences, etc. Through all of this, I gleaned not only a better insight into the text, but a more secure (and hopefully productive) plan about how to go about getting to the double-bar.
It's always fun to try something new, especially when it feels like the strategy supports your saying whatever you want to say, rather than moving your style in a direction in which you are uncomfortable going.
-----
First lesson's at 4... brought a lot of music. We'll see if Claude Baker takes a shine to my music.
After working through most of the morning I took off for my newly adopted 11:30 gym routine. The gym, at least one of them, keeps odd, spaced hours here. 11:30 is an opening time (goes until 2:30, I think...) and so the treadmills are totally free. I even have my own adopted machine...
Lunch was nice, but breif (I have been perpetually hungry these past few days) and I made some pasta salad for later... hopefully that staves off some of the hunger this evening.
Working this afternoon I tried something new. I was speaking with Harold a few months ago, when he was writing his song cycle, Beautiful Ohio for the NY Festival of Song. He said to me, after having recited a number of the poems he was setting, "Don't you find that you have to memorize the poems before you start setting them?" I replied, "No," at the time, but thought that something like that might benefit me in the songs I am working on now. It's a set of 6 for Soprano (or Mezzo) and Guitar. I have been a bit paranoid about the way that the songs should weave together - I feel like the message of the set should shine through the music...
So, I wrote all of the poems out on separate pieces of paper and began to draw.
I looked for similar words, the same word that carried different meanings in different passages, important rhymes, rhythms, cadences, etc. Through all of this, I gleaned not only a better insight into the text, but a more secure (and hopefully productive) plan about how to go about getting to the double-bar.
It's always fun to try something new, especially when it feels like the strategy supports your saying whatever you want to say, rather than moving your style in a direction in which you are uncomfortable going.
-----
First lesson's at 4... brought a lot of music. We'll see if Claude Baker takes a shine to my music.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Day 1.. sort of...
Today is the official start of activities at Bowdoin. As a composer I have very little directed time. This is great, actually, as I have already done some writing, been to the gym, made lunch, printed staff paper (!), and taken a shower (not necessarily in that order).
Walking around the Bowdoin campus is a pleasure. It's beautiful - buildings nestled nicely between lots of trees, lots of timeless architecture and functional interiors that rival colleges many times its size. The library is very beautiful, but I'm not sure of what its holdings are. The music library is VERY small and has VERY limited holdings - a bit disappointing, but perhaps a good excuse to learn some more classical repertoire with which I am not entirely acquainted.
Put another way, there's not a lot from the last 100 years.
The gym, on the other hand, is fantastic. The free weight room is particularly nice, with more weights than two football teams could take up and a water fountain that apparently has an unending supply of water kept at the perfect temperature. Even better: it's next door to the recital hall where composer practice rooms are.
I'll spend most of the rest of the day writing - I've already made some good progress on songs for guitar and voice that are settings of text by Linda Loomis - excerpts from her book, "Apple Tree Summer." After working through the most recent piece, "Apologies," with Ken Meyer, writing for guitar has become an intriguing challenge for me. I think it might reinforce some of the sonic tendencies that I'm starting to adopt as my "voice" is developing.
Lastly: I have never seen so many squirrels walking. I have seen squirrels run, many of them. But it is on a rare occasion that I see a squirrel strolling along a path. Or spread out on the pavement, sunning itself. Both of these things I have seen more than a dozen times so far, in three days, here in Brunswick. I think the squirrels retire to this place.
Walking around the Bowdoin campus is a pleasure. It's beautiful - buildings nestled nicely between lots of trees, lots of timeless architecture and functional interiors that rival colleges many times its size. The library is very beautiful, but I'm not sure of what its holdings are. The music library is VERY small and has VERY limited holdings - a bit disappointing, but perhaps a good excuse to learn some more classical repertoire with which I am not entirely acquainted.
Put another way, there's not a lot from the last 100 years.
The gym, on the other hand, is fantastic. The free weight room is particularly nice, with more weights than two football teams could take up and a water fountain that apparently has an unending supply of water kept at the perfect temperature. Even better: it's next door to the recital hall where composer practice rooms are.
I'll spend most of the rest of the day writing - I've already made some good progress on songs for guitar and voice that are settings of text by Linda Loomis - excerpts from her book, "Apple Tree Summer." After working through the most recent piece, "Apologies," with Ken Meyer, writing for guitar has become an intriguing challenge for me. I think it might reinforce some of the sonic tendencies that I'm starting to adopt as my "voice" is developing.
Lastly: I have never seen so many squirrels walking. I have seen squirrels run, many of them. But it is on a rare occasion that I see a squirrel strolling along a path. Or spread out on the pavement, sunning itself. Both of these things I have seen more than a dozen times so far, in three days, here in Brunswick. I think the squirrels retire to this place.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Bowdoin (BOH-den)
For the next 6 weeks I will be at the Bowdoin Music Festival in Brunswick, ME. I'm here as a composer, but hopefully will get to spend some time practicing, too.
I arrived yesterday around 5:00 pm. Things are beautiful here - the campus reminds me very much of Vassar; more trees, though (perhaps fewer varieties - I'm not much of an arborist). General orientation meetings have happened and the people I've met so far seem nice. One of my roomates, Josh from Australia, seems like someone I will most certainly get along with - he's a violist to boot.
Visited the Hannaford (grocery store) this morning early (around 8) and am doing some work before an 11 O'clock meeting with Claude Baker, the first session composition faculty member, to figure out schedules, masterclasses, etc.
There are A LOT of master classes and concerts scheduled even in just this first week - I think about 11 events in all. I am excited to hear a lot of repertoire and hear some first-class musicians do some coaching (Glenn Dicterow and Liang Wang are both going to be here next week!).
Just have to remember to do some writing, too...
I arrived yesterday around 5:00 pm. Things are beautiful here - the campus reminds me very much of Vassar; more trees, though (perhaps fewer varieties - I'm not much of an arborist). General orientation meetings have happened and the people I've met so far seem nice. One of my roomates, Josh from Australia, seems like someone I will most certainly get along with - he's a violist to boot.
Visited the Hannaford (grocery store) this morning early (around 8) and am doing some work before an 11 O'clock meeting with Claude Baker, the first session composition faculty member, to figure out schedules, masterclasses, etc.
There are A LOT of master classes and concerts scheduled even in just this first week - I think about 11 events in all. I am excited to hear a lot of repertoire and hear some first-class musicians do some coaching (Glenn Dicterow and Liang Wang are both going to be here next week!).
Just have to remember to do some writing, too...
Monday, May 10, 2010
Living in the Past
Recently I was struck by a similarity in business and music while listening to the radio:
On Monday I heard a report on "Marketplace," the American Public Media program, about the debate over Facebook's privacy policy. The debate in the senate over whether you should have to 'opt-in' instead of being given the (debateably) difficult task of choosing to 'opt-out' seems like a potent issue with points on either side.
One of the pros cited for allowing Facebook's database to be available to sites was that we could potentially be lead to products and services that we might enjoy based on our previous likes and dislikes (if Facebook ever heads the calls for a dislike button). To my way of thinking this is perhaps the worst reason to allow Facebook's data to be broadcast across the web, and for a number of reasons:
First, our consumerism-to-the-max attitude is what got us into the recession we are now just beginning to escape. Sure, it leads to strong buying and earnings for companies, but what we need is a more efficient, global system, not one that requires us to spend more. If we choose the latter then what are we left with?
Second, advertising has not become responsible or sophisticated enough in a Web-3 kind of way that it would be anything short of a hindrance, constantly miscalculating our wants and needs - perhaps confusing the two (as we do on occasion)?
Now, even supposing these first two points are wrong, there is a third issue that overshadows them both: the social isolation and dependence on the familiar that things like Facebook-information-sharing enables and encourages is such that it limits not only ourselves but our economy.
As a consumer base we have become more superlative than innovative. The reliance on the familiar, the need for a trusted brand name or piece of jargon merely inhibits, in an ever-increasing way, the ability of the consumer to want and need a product that will push the given market in a new direction. Innovations like Apple's iPhone and Amazon's Kindle are fewer and farther between. Consequently we just want faster and cheaper instead of newer and more imaginative. Good shoppers always lament the scarcity of people who do good research on products through publications like Consumer Reports or the BBB. These avenues aren't pursued merely out of laziness and complacency for the familiar. McShopping anyone? This attitude represents many ideological problems. If we become reliant (ie. we need it more than just enjoy it) on the familiar will we become so much so that progress will actually slow due to our inability to cope or support truly ground-breaking change?
As a contemporary classical musician this feels like a conceptual repeat. For decades music has become more and more of an aphrodisiac, made to soothe and calm, rather than intrigue and stimulate as art is supposed to. As on Facebook, the boundaries between living life and advertising have been blurred. Shouldn't we consider shaking off some of this illusory 'familiarity'? Does a recommendation from Joe in Montana carry more weight than our gut feelings? If so, why? Why can't we trust ourselves anymore, even just to have an adventure and respond to the world, instead of hoping that it responds to us?
On Monday I heard a report on "Marketplace," the American Public Media program, about the debate over Facebook's privacy policy. The debate in the senate over whether you should have to 'opt-in' instead of being given the (debateably) difficult task of choosing to 'opt-out' seems like a potent issue with points on either side.
One of the pros cited for allowing Facebook's database to be available to sites was that we could potentially be lead to products and services that we might enjoy based on our previous likes and dislikes (if Facebook ever heads the calls for a dislike button). To my way of thinking this is perhaps the worst reason to allow Facebook's data to be broadcast across the web, and for a number of reasons:
First, our consumerism-to-the-max attitude is what got us into the recession we are now just beginning to escape. Sure, it leads to strong buying and earnings for companies, but what we need is a more efficient, global system, not one that requires us to spend more. If we choose the latter then what are we left with?
Second, advertising has not become responsible or sophisticated enough in a Web-3 kind of way that it would be anything short of a hindrance, constantly miscalculating our wants and needs - perhaps confusing the two (as we do on occasion)?
Now, even supposing these first two points are wrong, there is a third issue that overshadows them both: the social isolation and dependence on the familiar that things like Facebook-information-sharing enables and encourages is such that it limits not only ourselves but our economy.
As a consumer base we have become more superlative than innovative. The reliance on the familiar, the need for a trusted brand name or piece of jargon merely inhibits, in an ever-increasing way, the ability of the consumer to want and need a product that will push the given market in a new direction. Innovations like Apple's iPhone and Amazon's Kindle are fewer and farther between. Consequently we just want faster and cheaper instead of newer and more imaginative. Good shoppers always lament the scarcity of people who do good research on products through publications like Consumer Reports or the BBB. These avenues aren't pursued merely out of laziness and complacency for the familiar. McShopping anyone? This attitude represents many ideological problems. If we become reliant (ie. we need it more than just enjoy it) on the familiar will we become so much so that progress will actually slow due to our inability to cope or support truly ground-breaking change?
As a contemporary classical musician this feels like a conceptual repeat. For decades music has become more and more of an aphrodisiac, made to soothe and calm, rather than intrigue and stimulate as art is supposed to. As on Facebook, the boundaries between living life and advertising have been blurred. Shouldn't we consider shaking off some of this illusory 'familiarity'? Does a recommendation from Joe in Montana carry more weight than our gut feelings? If so, why? Why can't we trust ourselves anymore, even just to have an adventure and respond to the world, instead of hoping that it responds to us?
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