The problem with The Signal‘s mélange, she said, is that “I don’t know what’s coming,” i.e. whether the next thing will be a composed piece for orchestra or a recording from the last Pop Montreal festival.
The quote above was lifted from this article in Toronto’s Globe and Mail which I loved for its thought-poking potential. I’m no proponent of taking up the “elitist” yoke when it comes to any one particular genre of music, and mixing it up does seem the fashion-forward pose, but when is it progressive, and when is it bait-and-switch?
* Super awesome lure by Mark Frauenfelder.
Damn, I was going to blog about that piece but you beat me to it.
Two New Hours occasionally had some great music, but the host was cadaverously stiff, and it had the worst theme music of all time. One wag described it as “the sound of thousands of radio dials across the country spinning in unison.” (For you kids out there, radio tuners used to have dials. I know.)
I haven’t listened to much of The Signal yet but the vibe seems vastly more enjoyable and relevant.
Molly,
Nice juxtaposition (and the lure is great).
My favorite definition of elite is:
A type, approximately 10-point in printing-type size, widely used in typewriters and having 12 characters to the inch.
That, I think everyone can agree upon. Other than it, it’s pretty clear from the two posts you link to — the MO one and the Globe and Mail article, I mean — that everyone has a different understanding of elite, and that many (still) run with the politicized version of it (I won’t bring up the F word here).
Of course, some genres are more prevalent and dominant in any given society, but I think that every genre or type of music has regrettable elitism within it. Some of the worst are the indie hipsters bent on living in the event horizon of ultracool, not the blue-haired orchestra patrons. Even with my supposed destructive dinosaur’s perspective (thanks Sam Bergman!) as a working ‘classical music’ critic, I just ignore people who close-mindedly rate “their” music over others,” or for that matter spend endless hours putting up straw walls to define their music compared to others. I don’t listen to music that way, do you?
If we could understand elitism as looking for the best in any genre or by a composer or group, things would be better off. As a music omnivore, I am personally just tired of the fussin’ and a feudin’ about genres and who is better…It’s not science or sport, so what’s the point? Just like what you listen to and be open-minded to what’s new and new to you…
Andrew Druckenbrod
Classical Musings
http://www.post-gazette.com/music/classicalmusings
Post-Gazette Classical Music Critic
adruckenbrod@post-gazette.com
In my comment I tried and failed to link to:
http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/insidetheclassics/blog/2008/07/newspapers-are-dead-whats-next.html
hyperlinked to the text Sam Bergman, whom, of course, I love as one the most articulate orchestral musicians out there, even if I disagree with his rather one-sided and stereotypical assessment of the history of music criticism therein:
best,
Andrew