High fidelity is dead, or so says Rolling Stone magazine. There's a lot of truth in what they're saying. Basically, everybody has adopted the MP3 as the listening format of choice — not a good thing for people who actually care about sound.
I'm not here to debate that point. Technology marches ahead, sometimes inducing changes in habits. Listeners have sided with convenience over good sound and there's not much that I can do about it. Sure, I can write and write and write, but that won't make people want to listen to vinyl (or even CDs!) again. Heck, I'm not here to debate that either. Instead, lets consider the good in all of this.
While I can be something of a "digital curmudgeon," it's not I can't see some light shining on the bits. The Internet is both a fabulous resource and pool of opportunities. In fact, this is the key to music's future. Artists are no longer constrained to seeking label deals (major or minor) to get their music out there. Sites like CD Baby, Artist Share, and iTunes have become the new "record store." Need some recommendations on new stuff to buy? You were inspired after getting that new Radiohead thing? Check out Music-Map for a moving (and I do mean "moving") collection of related artists. Moving back to a more simple example, musicians can just create a MySpace page to get their stuff out there. Despite what some grumble on about, we are not suffering from a dearth of new music.
All of this brings me to Redwing Blackbird. Two local guys who have known each other for years. It shows in their music — intimate little stories presented with acoustic guitars and gorgeous vocal harmonies, the kind that can only be created by old friends.
Article comments
1 - Michael J. West
Really? People complain about a lack of new music? What planet are they standing on when they make those complaints???
2 - Tom Johnson
And let's not forget that all this digitalness can help some artists record that may never have been able to do so in the past, thus enabling more people to experience their unique vision.
What I worry about is the inevitable traffic jam - at some point, and we may be there now, depending on whom you ask, there's just going to be too much to choose from, too many new artists seeking attention for us to devote much to any one of them. There are certainly worse problems to have - such as the opposite situation.
3 - Mark Saleski
What planet are they standing on...
i believe that would be Planet TheresNoNewMusicThatSoundsLikeTheStuffILikedInCollege.
;-)
4 - Tom Johnson
And sort-of related to this, there's an intriguing video showing just what has happened to music lately because of the "loudness wars." Not directly related to the topic at hand, but I have a feeling some of the audio geeks might get a kick out of this, and maybe some of the non-geeks might understand why many get upset about how music sounds today.
5 - Mark Saleski
yeah, your point about recording is right tom. a couple of decent mics and a pc with a decent sound card and kaboom, instance recording studio.
6 - Tom Johnson
People ALWAYS complain about a lack of good new music. I think it's pretty funny how at the end of every year people start saying how that year hadn't been as good as the previous year, when, of course, they had said the same damn thing the previous year. Suffice it to say that people need a couple years to fully digest what they've both bought and missed in any year.
7 - Tom Johnson
Oh jeez, duh, that article you link to, Mark, points to that "loudness war" video that I linked to. Oh well.
I wish in that article they had pointed out that the examples they show of U2's "With or Without You" are examples of GOOD remastering. I know we're supposed to infer that, but I don't know that the average reader is going to get that.
8 - Josh Hathaway
We talked about that briefly in the "bonus" hour of The B-Sides Concept Album last night. "With Or Without You" still has open space. They didn't compress it to hell. They didn't crank the volume out the ass or horribly distort, thicken, or boost the bass. It's a great, great job they did on The Joshua Tree.
9 - Tom Johnson
I gave that a listen this morning, Josh, and it was a good discussion. Wish I'd gotten to hear that live last night, but about a million things got in the way. (Completely off the subject at hand, but I do have to add that "Kite" is one of my absolutely favorite U2 songs. Had I voted in that U2 thing, I would have been one "them." Very powerful song. From what I heard, it was written about letting go of his kids, and then while on tour it became about his relationship with his dad when he died. It works beautifully on both levels. And, man, let me tell you, as a parent, I really feel it now.)
10 - Michael J. West
too many new artists seeking attention for us to devote much to any one of them.
I don't buy it. There are already scores more artists/CDs released today than there were 20 years ago, yet I'm still finding artists who are so all-fired awesome that they turn me into evangelists for them. As long as there are still such artists out there, we're in good spirits.
11 - Josh Hathaway
Tom, I love "Kite" and think it is a magnificent song. I was just surprised to see it come in ahead of "Beautiful Day," which was probably the song most widely played in the states from that record. Bono tells the story of the song and its transition on the Elevation DVD from Boston and it gives me chills (until he ruins it with the nonsensical crap about hip hop driving big cars and new media). Still, an incredible song but just not one I'd have expected to be in front of "BD."