I suppose a statement of purpose is in order. I'm rather opinionated when it comes to the music world. I study culture, I'm a musician myself, and I'm not shy about voicing these opinions. People have often told me, "You should write reviews and articles", and well, not quite knowing how to get a job with a magazine doing such things without having to capitulate to major label demands to kiss up to their pet projects and new hot no-talent, and to truncate the tangents in order to make room for advertising, I decided to start this blog. I suppose in some ways it's a copout and a lame thing to do. A million and one idiots and then some the universe over has a blog about something: politics, music, movies, their own personal lives, and most of them, I'm sure are rather boring and inane and full of pointless meanderings about their precious opinions about things most of these people have no fucking clue about. I suppose it's appropriate that I add my name to the pantheon of "unqualified" opinion-peddlers, if only to feed my own starving sense of self-importance. My sincere hope is that someday, NPR ends up calling me for my opinion about some artist or issue I've written about. Then I will know I have succeded. Everyone knows that you're not an expert until you're on NPR. That's what I strive for. To be seen as an expert in the eyes of others.
I mean, let's lay our cards on the table and admit that the wonderful thing about the blogisphere is that EVERYONE gets to feel like an expert or, depending on the degree to which they whore themselves out, and their proficiency in things like Flash, JAVA, Html, php, and a million other initals and nicknames and acronyms, they can at least pass themselves off as experts. Really, the culture of the expert is absurd. Most music journalists are just wordsmiths who are capable of articulating their own largely un-objective opinions with at least a modicum of artistry. They're not jawdropping musical talents themselves (though one could point to Patti Smith or Lenny Kaye or Peter Laughner as exceptions), or members of some cultural cabal (though they may like to think so); in fact most of them are corporate cogs or elitist journalism graduates who wouldn't know how good music feels in their gut if someone threw Funhouse on a record player, shoved a set of JBLs up their ass and blared it on repeat at maximum volume for 24 hours. They are, it seems creatures of a more close minded sort, more obsessed with being members of some rareified intelligentia then they are communicating the magic and power of music. There are of course exceptions, as there are to every generalization. But really, if I have to read one more fucking article about how brilliant "Holla Back Girl" was or how delightful Fergie's solo record was, I'm going to vomit into an envelope and mail it to SPIN, Rolling Stone, and Blender. It may be fun or amusing, and thats ok. But it's not this inspired, vital artistic creation alot of people seem to see it as. It is not good music. Pop music used to be--The Beatles, Mowtown, Stax, doo wop, all pop, all insanely good music. This stuff though... It's a gimmick. A schtick. A novelty act. And a bad one at that. Cabaret and vaudeville were novelty acts too, but they were novelty acts conceived by creative geniuses. Not fashionistas jacked up full of more chemicals and plastics than a DuPont factory.
I read somewhere once that most music journalists are just bitter failed musicians who seek to take out their embittered sense of rejection out on more successful musicians and, if at all possible, serve as a cultural patron for friends, influences, and perceived allies. I think this is probably true. And while I don't see myself as a failed musician by any stretch of the imagination, I've come to realize that more musicians should actively participate in the critical enterprise and at least bring some sense of reality and informed opinion to the dialogue about music. I know how shitty it is for an unsigned band to tour, how hard it is to catch a break, how difficult it can be to find a gig, to make a living, how much it can suck to have to teach this craft you've dedicated your life to to essentially disinterested and unmotivated kids...and how even the smallest successes can become towering triumphs, and how just one person getting it, one person singing along in a club full of 5 people can validate your entire existence. It's those moments we, as struggling, unsigned musicians live for (assuming we're not in it for the money, glory, or sex...where is all of that by the way? Someone's holding out on me...)
So anyway, here;s where I'll dispense my own un-objective opinions, witty asides, frustrations and passions. If any of you are curious as to my own musical ventures, like everyone else, I have a My Space music page which is located here:
www.myspace.com/matthewlandis
