breaking others and others
Musicians and bands on Myspace are curious creatures considering all one needs to do is create a profile for free, upload your music and suddenly you have brought into existence something that in previous generations would have required the backing of a major record label. It is true, of course, that there were unsigned bands prior to the invention of the Internet but for the most part they were regional and what music they did create, especially in the age of costly to mass produce 45 records, was limited in scope and availability.
Now, suddenly, you have the entire world as your potential audience through Myspace. Gone are the middleman and agents, gone are the record companies getting 75% of your sales. I see this new era of the independent musician as a direct reaction against the age of global record companies that arose out of the 1960s, producing second-rate music and selling it at inflated prices. I am sure such monsters as Time/Warner will out live me and continue to keep their business model going since it still brings in money; but what makes me happy is stumbling upon anonymous bands who I'd never have a chance to discover in the off-line world, listening to them and enjoying what they've created without paying a single cent for it.
Here are three Myspace bands I discovered recently. I've already posted about CH3MICAL R3NT BOY, a band that apparently uses the number 3 in place of the letter E. I am not sure why but this song using Anne Sexton reading her own poem works for me. Groove on.
W.H. Auden has always been a poet I've meant to read … one day, when I could find the time (which, of course, has yet to happen). I suppose in my own ignorance I thought that Auden was one of those dry, British wits who dabbled in socialism and wrote monstrously long poems that require several encyclopedias of art just to get all the allusions (then I realized I was thinking of John Ashbery). If this poem, put to music by The Lily White Boy, is any indication Auden actually is rather delightful.
Finally, a non-poem based song by Detroit Dead Dance. I am not sure what this video is about nor why combining Baron Silas Greenback and the multi-armed goddess Kali into a dance number seemed like a good idea but now, I suppose, no one can say it's never been done.