Here is my playlist that is neither cool nor uncool, nor do I want it to be either:
Pause It and Turn It Up - Biffy Clyro
I Caught Fire (In Your Eyes) - The Used
Glamorous Indie Rock and Roll - The Killers
Listening - The Used
4th Dimensional Transition - MGMT
Diary of Always - Biffy Clyro
Nolita Fairytale - Vanessa Carlton
The Greeting Song - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Cleanin' Out My Closet - Eminem
Stan - Eminem
Disenchanted - My Chemical Romance
Funky Monks - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Greener With the Scenery - The Used
Light With a Sharpened Edge - The Used
Horseshoes and Handgrenades - Green Day
In making this playlist I found that a few of the same artist came up more than once, such as Eminem, Biffy Clyro and The Used. This shows that I listen to certain artists that I like of a similar genre, though it does go from Vanessa Carlton to Green Day. However, this could also be due to the fact that I accidentally managed to delete about 90% of the songs from my iPod, so the results would most likely have been different otherwise.
Brian Eno
Brian Eno basically said that no one in this day and age is interested in one specific genre and that people take different things of what they like until eventually everything is mixed up and there are multiple genres, rather than just a few of what they used to be: rock, jazz, ethnic, pop.
Edit: I am going to continue being stubborn and say that cool does not exist, however maybe at a push I would just admit that to me it doesn't as it isn't something I concern myself with. In that case, I would then simply not know what it is, or for that matter, what uncool is.
I prepare for the noble war. I'm calm, I know the secret. I know what's coming and I know no one can stop me, including myself.
Ella, you have no choice in whether something is cool or uncool.
ReplyDeleteEno's premis what that we no longer see the distinctions between genres and have melded various elements together (much like cells splitting and reproducing). I am about to be incredibly patronising and potentially offensive so feel free to stop reading now. I'd like to add that the following views are not necessarily mine and are designed to aggravate and will be especially annoying as they are about music and music is perhaps the most personal thing a person can have, so to have someone disparage your favourite band or artist is really annoying.
Honestly this will annoy you
I wouldn't read this if I were you
much of what you have on your playlist is either rock or metal however many people would claim that some of those bands are 'light' or watered down versions of 'real' music. Green Day could be seen as generic and derivative of other better bands and be criticised for selling out what little credibility they did have by making punk lite albums and songs based around cliches and are now nothing more than the U2 of the alternative music scene. The Red Hot Chilli Peppers are perhaps one of the most overhyped and bland bands of all time who churn out derivative songs based around something to do with California as one reviewer wrote
"Double albums can be fearless declarations of self-indulgence, an idea dump for a band looking to expand its boundaries, give the secondary members a few chances to songwrite, or share that gestating song cycle about warring clans of magical elves with the world. The Red Hot Chili Peppers don't seem to be likely candidates for any of the above, having spent a two-decade career trafficking in progressively diluted funk songs about California, sex, and having sex in California...They've released nearly identical, bittersweet songs about California, sex, and, increasingly, nothing. These songs chart the same and appear on albums that perform nearly identically. All the while, the band continues to sell a ton of copies as the rest of us openly mock Anthony Kiedis (simply by quoting Anthony Kiedis) and find some nice things to say about John Frusciante.'
So you see whether you like it or not things are cool and certain things aren't cool. Pretending this isn't true is like walking out in a storm and not believing in the rain which is soaking you to the bone.
PoMo is all about 'cool' and being pretentious whilst claiming not to believe in cool.