In Conclusion

As I near the end of this project I am realizing that the information I have already given you may seem random or purposeless. As with most music blogs, this one set out with only the modest goal of recording the thoughts and opinions of one single music listener. Whether or not anyone read it was mostly irrelevant – I set out with the hope that maybe if someone came across it they might want to hear what I had to say and might even happen to enjoy it. I didn’t make it marketable or even visible. I knew that if anyone read this thing it would only be because they shared my opinions or in some way learned from them.

But, even though Mr. Roy has asked the question “Can the blog be just random articles? Does it need a direction?” I have an insatiable urge to synthesize everything that I’ve put up here. Maybe I’m being a little bit obsessive compulsive, maybe this is what blogs should be – random cross-sections of information gathered for no particular reason. Maybe I’m just letting all the years of conditioning by the US educational system get to me. But I need a thesis. I need a reason to be writing all of this down.

So here it goes. I am expecting that most of the people who read this blog will be unfamiliar with most of the bands I’ve talked about. They are obscure for good reason – they challenge the kinds of sounds in music that we are used to hearing. They make music that can’t be sold to most people. And thus, out of choice or necessity, they remain independent. I constantly hear the complaint “There’s no good music around these days.” So to all of the pessimists who say that, I have good news: “You are horribly, horribly mistaken.”

Good music always exists. Because people are creative. As long as we don’t turn into passionless robots, we will maintain that creativity. Think about it: on the Earth there are billions of people, and among those billions of people there are millions of musicians, and among those millions of musicians there must be at least a few good ones.

There is a problem with mainstream music. The necessity of making a profit from music necessarily dilutes it. Because major record labels need to make a profit they tend to put out albums within a narrow range of popular styles. They are careful not to put out sounds that might be offensive or excessively experimentative.

You’ve heard this argument before.

I’ve shown you a wide range of some of the most bizarre music on the scene today. Whether or not you like it, I think, is irrelevant. But maybe at least this blog has shown you a side to music you never knew existed. Maybe at least now you know that not every band today sounds like the Jonas Brothers or Fall-Out Boy.

Then, on the other hand, all this crusading for independent music feels to me a bit idealistic. If you listen to independent music exclusively for long enough you will come to fetishize it. And there is obviously nothing inherently better about bands that are experimental or low-budget. I have mentioned at least a couple bands that you’ve almost certainly heard of before (Radiohead, Lil’ Wayne). And they are still, at least in my opinion, good musicians.

Good music is never confined to a single sphere of listeners. Good music exists across national borders; it exists perpetually, across different eras; it is can be as popular as it can be obscure.

I like to think I’m open-minded. Or at least I strive to be. Because it is open-mindedness that ultimately makes visible the best of anything. If you want good music, go looking for it.