And I Thought Disco was Bad ... | Eastern North Carolina Now

But nothing compares to the abysmal pop music of today

    Today's pop music is predicated upon the lowest common denominator within the human experiment. There is little that is uplifting, no building upon the art of the past, just make money, and lots of it, paid by the dimmest bulbs of all time. In fact, in the relative theory of: Which came first - the 'Chicken or the Egg'? I argue that it is the 'Egg', the stupid consumer of bad music begging for that stupid, really bad music as pop art, and it is a prolific commodity. In all critical honesty, it is a race to the bottom, the extreme bottom, and may reflect the poorer path of our times.

    At that bottom are a plethora of genres of music, some of it most original in its contextual lack of inspiration, but nearly all of it still so terrible. It is as if all fundamental melody and message is wrung out of the process. The music still exists, and it may be remembered for a time, but no music from these days, that which is popular, will ever be considered classic in nature, that which will be remembered for a very long time. Most unlike the music from my generation: Some of the late fifties, the sixties, a good bit of the seventies, at least that which Disco did not kill off. Interestingly, my children love the music of my time, and tacitly feel cheated that the music of their times is so unremarkable.

    Today's pop music is not really music as much as it is the regurgitation of a stylized craft, a lifestyle of presentation of the shallows of a cliched existence. Kind of like an Andy Warhol painting, almost real art, but adored by the shallow chic of those with far too much money, and far too little substance.
The uninspiring overlords of all that is sad and pathetic: Kanye West and Jay Z: Above.
    The difference between the Warhol Crowd, and the crowd of musical zombies that drink in the anti-social, misogynist message of Hip Hop and Rap, the soft Indie Rock of limited notes and imagination, and the cross over Country, the glitzy, over produced dancing Girl or Boy bands are being treated to plenty of style, but not much substance. It's like a fresh, piping hot sandwich, mostly steamy condiments, but egregiously light on the meat.

    Then all music made in these times must be terrible, right Wyatt?

    Actually, not so much as one might think, considering the unambiguous demise of pop music. To be more precise, the musical talent in these times is pretty good, it is just that the music that makes the big money right now is mostly crap; an imprecise, meaningless mess, where former 'Gangsta Rappers' and the other aforementioned co-conspirators, completely devoid of any measurable talent, suck up the money of the unlearned, the pathetically shallow consumer, the uninspired 'Egg', who essentially drive this bad music money train.

    So where are the better musicians that you speak of, those musicians that well know their instruments, who are inspired to better communicate the message of melody?

    The answer: They are resolutely standing proudly in the fringes, more concerned with honing their craft than feeding the pathetic 'Egg' of the 'Chicken or the Egg' conundrum, thereby staying true to their craft, ever gaining more the skill to better convey their melodic message. These are the better musicians that endeavor to lift these pitiable 'Eggs' from their place in the primordial ooze. It is the place of: the terrible Gangsta punks, the over styled dancing bands, all the crossover crap to keep them wallowing in that swamp of stupid, and to never be lifted up, where they could escape the grabbing tentacles of what is so horrendous.

    These resolute musicians of estimable talent, who learned instrumentation of melody, may be the salvation of that uplifting message. Personally, I search for them. I attend their shows. I buy their music. And, moreover, beg you to do the same. Their salvation will eventually be our own on many levels - the ones that truly matter.