When Music Critiques Itself

I love the song Royals by New Zealand singer Lorde. It is full of irony and wonderfully tongue in cheek.  As commentary on the state of mainstream music, it is pure brilliance in a language contemporary youth culture has forgotten.  Fun without substance has been the rhetoric of choice in pop music.  First with Adele, and now with Lorde, the steady infiltration of the singer/ songwriter back into the mainstream is apparent.  Those of us with the ears to hear are breathing a sigh of relief at what appears to be a light at the end of the tunnel for pop music. 

Royals appears to have caused an awakening from the self-congratulatory, pseudo-empowerment party/break-up songs of the past 10 or so years.  The song’s commentary on the self-indulgent and irreverent state of the pop music genre contains enough irony to get people thinking, without feeling scrutinized.

Nowadays, making direct statements about the whether or not someone has done their job well is reserved for Politics.  Rock critic Henry Owings had this to say about blogs as the emerging music criticism forums:

“My biggest gripe with online journos is their false sense of importance when they're oftentimes just regurgitating press releases and tour dates. Of course, that mindless mentality is what many labels love. Me? I just find there to be a negligible amount of talent in what passes as a blogger in this modern age. What ever happened to attitude? What ever happened to opinions? What happened to pissing off advertisers? What happened to alienating readers? What happened to having fun? Sadly, I believe that the new boss is the same as the old boss. I just wish and pray somebody would be out there stirring things up instead of following the herd of mindless sheep. But then again, when you have publicists that just needle you all day to write about their clients, it makes a blogger's job easy.”
Harsh words, but he has a point, which you can read in its entirety here.   

Unencumbered by the limits of print media, bloggers have a unique opportunity to be the most candid with the state of mainstream music, but generally remain addicted to status quo reportage. In his article Fragments of a Sociology of Rock Criticism, rock critic Simon Firth talks about the kind of “arrogance to pass judgment on a record, a thickness of skin to proclaim one’s views in print (Jones 244).”  He also describes the trend of critiquing the artist’s persona above the music as detrimental to sound music criticism (Jones 244).  Persona has widely usurped adventurous creativity and refined musicality in mainstream music. 

Any artist who critiques another are attacked, mainly by the new genre of gossip media and, pseudo-stalker fans, “stans.”  A “stan” is a term taken from the Eminem song of the same name, for a fan who follows celebrity so closely through social media, it is borderline cyber stalking.  These types are vehemently protective and defensive toward any criticism aimed at their favourite celebrities.  As a term it implies it’s okay to be stalked as long as via the Internet.  That such as a body of people exists is the perhaps the biggest indication how far we have strayed from constructive art criticism across disciplines.  Even Lorde recently came under fire for her comments about fellow pop singers Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus (whose fans actually sent out death threats to Lorde). 

This all illustrates the decline of criticism lamented by Clement Greenburg has not been limited to art.  Unabashed criticism in music has been scarce arguably since the late nineties at the peak of Bubblegum pop, Boy bands and Girl Power.  I think what many thought would be a brief reprieve from the overt melancholy and aggression that characterized Grunge and Rap music of the mid-nineties, turned into a 15 minutes too euphoric to let pass.  With the murders of Rap icons Biggie Smalls and Tupac, and the suicide of Nirvana lead, Kurt Cobain.  It seems audiences were ready for something less…. heavy.  Although, it was a tense period for mainstream music, there was contemplative defiance about culture that is gradually resurrecting.

Perhaps this because much like Rock criticism, Pop criticism is too undervalued. But audiences have always been responsive to socially conscious Pop music. This fact is widely demonstrated in the growth of Rock and Folk in the sixties and 70s and most recently the rise of Hip Hop culture. However, the more entrenched in commercialization an art form becomes the more difficult is to return to it's core values.  That is why all art needs criticism.  Jones talks about the uphill battle he faced early in his career, for Rock criticism to be viewed as relevant and credible as a part of Arts criticism (Jones 236-239).  Here is a great article on why music criticism is important, in spite of the resistance of some mainstream artists.

This is what makes Lorde and Royals so refreshing.  The song’s self-criticism brings pop music back to earth.  A voice of their own, Lorde calls out her generation for their materialistic aspirations. She subtly reaffirms that you don’t need celebrity for importance.  The lifestyle of everyday is more relevant then the irreverent opulence that media and other entertainers push in our faces.  Perhaps Lorde represents a shift we have all have been waiting for, of the beginnings of a mainstream artist community where iron truly sharpens iron.  Perhaps we’ll begin to see more artists become more considerate of the impact their music has not just on popular culture, but on music as an art form.  Maybe artist ego will finally move out of the way so music can take a look in the mirror and fix itself up a bit.  Music centered music, what a novel idea.

Interdisciplinary Performing Arts

Interdisciplinary art in the performing arts is becoming increasingly popular Performance art has always utilized art forms from other disciplines but I think there is even more interest in creating the most multifaceted experience through integrating the arts.  What comes to mind is the Gesamkunstwerk or “the total work of art” as articulated by German composer Richard Wagner.  His medium was music and his platform was Opera.  Gesamkunstwerk is the pinnacle of experiential entertainment where the elements of a production are so seamlessly integrated that it results in the audience’s complete emotional immersion and subsequent connection to the work and story.  Opera is a great venue for all the to transpire, since the primary story is told by combining theatre and music. To my mind, the Metropolitan Opera’s most recent production of the Wagnarian opera trilogy The Ring Cycle is good example of  Gesamkunstwerk. The staged production includes digital effects, animation, and puppetry, all of which enhanced the audience experience of the story.

 Official Trailer for Wagner's Ring Cycle
(Metropolitan Opera, 2013) 

Many musicians and entertainers of contemporary genres create their concert tours in the spirit of the total work of art.  Although, not really a fan of the music, I find the work of pop singer Lady Gaga particularly interesting. She's put a lot of thought and artistic knowledge and understanding behind her persona. The presentation of her work is Gesamkunstwerk in to pop music. She created the Haus of Gaga to act as a creative think-tank to help create cohesion between her music, image, and shows.  Here's her take on it:

Haus of Gaga has part in every aspect of Lady Gaga’s stage persona. They develop interpretations of Lady Gaga’s artistic concepts across disciplines like hair, make-up, and costume design, sculpture, digital media, and dance.  

Celebrated contemporary artist, Jeff Koons, designed her most recent album cover. Check out Koons talking about their collaboration for the Artpop album below.

The visual elements throughout the experience are a crucial consideration of performance art.  Visual art manifests imagination in such a way that we can wholly embrace the truth of what we see, or challenge it head-on.  In creating the setting, this power informs the colour schemes, the style of application of the medium, the action, colour, and intensity of lighting.  The music should conjure the visual elements that give shape to the environment, and the most of all the feeling.  

Music not only provides inspiration, but it is often the catalyst for other artistic creations.  Dance is probably the most obvious example.  When hearing a new song, movement comes first, through tapping a foot or finger, or nodding the head to the rhythm.  Music enters our bodies and cycles out through singing or dance.  

When speaking of the visual arts, the best dancers seem to dance as if every movement they make, is to transform the body into a kind of sculpture if even for a split second.  I believe lines are integral to dance.  I think of the dancing body as a series of moving lines meeting, expanding and intersecting to the whims of the music and rhythm.

Here is Martha Graham's powerful choreography "Lamentation."   She talks about the inspiration of the piece and how it was interpreted through the costume and it's use as a prop within the work.  She follows this with the story's affect on one audience member who was deeply moved by the performance.

In life, a variety of external influences affects and inspires us.  We build our lives through these experiences, which empowers and evolves us as individuals and cultures.  The dynamic nature of interdisciplinary performing arts practices interprets and translates elements of one into another creating a broader artistic experience, a total work of art.

At the core of all this is the story.  How does the story move us toward understanding?  The arts are our vehicle towards discovery and understanding ourselves.  Anyone can be given facts, but the critical thinker looks for the reasons those facts exist and if they make our lives more meaningful.

Foodie Communion

My favourite blogs are ones that share tangibles. Food, and health blogs, are what I most frequent particular because they are most practical to my daily life.  Generally speaking, I’ve found blogs too tempting for my critical nature because the often lure me into debates on loaded subjects like current affairs, culture, ethics, or religion.  In my hectic life, I rarely have time to get into these matters with strangers, despite my interest.  So I often search blogs for new recipe ideas, research health and wellness trends related to the food we eat.  I’ve never been much of a meat and potatoes person, and so I also look to blogs for recipes from other ethnic cultures.  Who better to get recipes for Southern Indian food from then from a blog written by a Southern Indian? Or Pho from a Vietnamese blogger.

For example, my husband’s lactose intolerance has me investigating dairy-free recipes from what I would call lifestyle diets like the Paleo diet and Veganism. I found a recipe for some fantastic Vegan cupcakes complete with dairy-free icing on one delectable blog by Chef Chloe.  Another, great food site I found through a friend of mine is the hilariously brazen, Thug Kitchen.  On this one most of the recipes are plant-based but they also have plenty of Paleo friendly recipes as well.

I am not necessarily adoptive of the particular ideals of Veganism or Paleo dieters, but I do find a lot of the information useful and I enjoy the creativity of new experiences with food that practitioners’ of these lifestyles share.  These I can apply or dismiss very simply in my life and I enjoy that type of blogging. 

Think this what is emphasized in the article by food critic/blogger Denveater,  “The Virtual Roundtable: Food Blogging as Citizen Journalism” (2009).  There’s something communal and thus comforting about blogs. He states, “while the comments on blogs, like the blogs themselves, are often personal and conversational, potentially making all the difference between what is merely public and what is truly communal”(45).

He also talks about the organic nature in which many blogs develop and this being directly related to the unlimited space the internet provides to do so (44).  What transpires is emotionally winding journey into the relationship we have with food in our life outside of simply eating. This can provide a wealth of discussion that stems from a basic love of food.  However, sentimental, Denveater suggests food writng is not with out a sense of responsibility to “invoke” the experience of eating for the viewer through poetic devices (44).   On responsibility, he also acknowledges the potential to influence the course of someone’s livelihood through this form of citizen journalism (46).  Where traditional journalism is about informing the community, food blogging shows how citizen journalism is about connecting with your community.

Blogs are best used as a public space for private reflections.  Hopefully you can attract like-minded people with whom you can share ideas.  The occasional debate may spring up, but it’s all toward a better understanding of each other and perhaps inspiring taking new paths in life. 

Works Cited

Denveater. "The Virtual Roundtable: Food Bloggin as Citizen Journalism." World Literature Today January-February 2009: 42-46.