How can I quantify my head bobs, how can I turn my foot tapping, finger pointing, neck distending beats into words?
Unfortunately, the music of today is no longer the passionate cry of those living on the fringe of society, but rather carbon copies of distilled popularity contests with the longevity of a carton of milk left in the sun. So what make my brain tick? What flicks that switch in my head that shuts off my public facade and turn me into a raging, screaming machine crying my throat coarse midst a wave of fleshy, sweating human bodies?
The problem with contemporary Pop music lies in its lack of depth - Pop is ambiance to cover up the hum of the refrigerator or the grunt of the engine.
I can't seem to put myself into Pop music. A large part of my music is respect, worship, passion - how can I put so much of myself into an industry that milks its own trends tit-dry? How can I worship the willful idolatry of perceived hipness and marketed self expression? I may as well go to the zoo and masturbate over a mountain of monkeys aping eachother over the newest and latest innovations introduced by the zookeeper.
So I listen to a wide range of music, I love music in general, but; the hipster music of the blacks, the fish faced gook music of Asia, the soulless mewling of lounge/cocktail/club have no purchase on my soul. They fail to move me even if they bob my head and flash perfect 36 DDs in my face.
Okay, maybe not the entire truth. The tit-ass combination of R&B or the lolita-complex music of Asia does keep me keenly interested - albeit for all the wrong reasons. I am going to evaluate two concerts I attended recent. The first is the Jay Chou Concert, the second the AC/DC concert. One I went grudgingly, wishing to give it the benefit of the doubt. The other I went passionately, a dream come true. There will be bias, there will be harsh words, there will be prose, but at the end, you will come to see the difference between vile idolatry and faithful worship.
So - Jay Chou. Biggest, brightest star of the Chinese/Asian pop scene. He sings, he dances, he plays music in every style. His 'critics' call him a genius, a pioneer, a superman of music that has brought change and innovation to the stale snail race that is Asian Pop. Wow. This guy sounds pretty damn awesome. I got some free tickets from my friends to his sold out concert - he certainly seems to deserve benefit of the doubt.
The concert plays, the music plays. I was left hopelessly confused. So many themes, so many costumes, so much bullshit that I thought it was some kinds of Boy from Oz ripoff Asia edition. Who the fuck is this guy? Innovation? His catalog was like a shopping cart that crashed into the 'Whats Popular" warehouse. First some generic Chinese style music, than some generic imitation of Indie Rock, then some imitation of Latin music where he did not even dance to his own song, then some imitation of ancient Chinese classic music, then some imitation of kindergarten music involving holding hands and walking down a field of fucking flowers. I shit you not. THIS is innovation? THIS is class? THIS is the great yellow hope of Asian music? The emo haircut faggot fails to even touch the helm of barely known western artists like Anti-Flag or home brew bands like Eskimo Joe. He is like a super synthesis of pop, some kind of uber-mensch production that like a bloated black hole has consumed every revenue generating format and spat out a fetal discharge self titled an artist. The fucker even considers himself to the progenitor of a new Asian Fusion style. I quote. "They say I've been standing still ... but this is the music I want, and I don't see what I want by moving ahead."[18] To demonstrate his point, he named his 2006 album Still Fantasy after his 2001 album Fantasy. His inability to sing pronunciation has been criticized as "mumbling"[19] which he also insisted will not change. So this guy is proud because his inability to improve is a merit and he can tell his critics to go suck themselves because he is some monstrous cash generator. Nice. Viva la Music. He is also considered one of only three artists on the Asia TIME's list of most influential top 500. God help us all.
I only had two ten dollar speakers but I was sucked into the music body and soul. Now I sit in the stadium, the same riff playing but it's loud; its savage; it tears through me like a torrent. Angus performs his classic duck walk, the crowd around me goes wild, the cheering is so loud but the thrashing of the electric SG pierces the roar. Thunder! I shout. THUNDER! I scream. The baseline kicks in, the drums hit home. I have died and gone to a better place. No more timetables, no more worries about the future, no more nagging from the old man, no more marriage meetings. I am in heaven via the Highway to Hell. This is it.
For a guy stuck between gook Confucianism and western Individualism, my escape is music. Ever since my virgin ears heard Californication on the radio as a teenager I was hooked. I need music that inspires, and musicians that I respect. Currently, I love Muse. Go Check em out. This video was before they were even famous. Now - they are EPIC.
