The Lost Passion of Music

I'm not alone in my quest for inspired music. It seems that there are a large number of people who don't buy into the oh so shallow genre that is pop music. These individuals strive to find artists and music which have been born from the heart and not the wallet. (So to speak.)

Excerpted from google.com, the first definition of the word "music":

The art or science of combining vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion. Although what is "beauty" and the "expression of emotion" may possibly be up for debate, I feel that there is a certain sense of agreement universally or just a universal definition of what sounds beautiful. Every single person may not enjoy typically pleasing sounds, just as there may be different types of music that shouldn't be considered pleasing to the ear, but they are. I have talked with many of my friends, both those who are musicians, and those who consider themselves heavy listeners, and never have I heard so much agreement with the statement that the passion and true beauty in music is slipping away, pop artist by pop artist. (Or however we as people can agree things are changing. I consider it to mostly be by way of pop/Top 40 music. This piece is not something I am writing to attack writers of pop music, performers, or anyone involved.) Sadly, if you listen to the lyrics, or even the music itself, which has been poked fun at by Axis of Awesome's 4-chord compilation (see below), which includes quite a bit of music that can be considered or was at some time top 40.  The originality and true feeling that seemed to have once once inspired and brought music alive have been squashed by a combination of things including, but not limited to: the media, pressure of record labels, managers, publicists, and likely even fan's negative opinions of some of the more original work. This is likely not a true reflection of the quality, but a reflection of some fans being influenced by the media themselves. Artists are pressured to create music that will sell, instead of the music they are proud of and want to see put out into the world to touch lives, with the attitude that "if it sells, that would be wonderful." Instead of writing a song based on their inspired scribblings or a life experience, they're basing their music off research done on what's popular and what will fans eat up like hot cakes.  I know it's a tough world out there to make money and to balance your reputation. But in my eyes, a true musician is someone who is proud of the music he puts out there and proud of himself when all is done with. Do what you love, and hopefully you will someday (whether it takes 1 day or 10 years) be recognized for the true, wonderful artist that you are.

Video: Axis of Awesome: 4 Chords Song

The xx, John Talabot, and 2:54 @ The Hollywood Palladium 10/12/12

The xx is one of my favorite bands and has been since the first time I heard them. I listened to their album (xx) several times over in one day, and became somewhat obsessed with their music. The fact that they only had one album out likely added to me becoming such a huge fan, but their first album stood alone for three years, so I obviously wasn't the only one who stuck around patiently waiting for their second album to be released. Of course, along with the release of their second album, Coexist, came a tour around the U.S., which isn't their native country. That was another thing that had become a dreaded feeling for me as I fell in love with their music: the fact that they are from the UK meant that I would likely never see them in concert. So earlier this year, when I heard The xx was going to be doing a U.S. tour, I practically jumped for joy. My friend and I decided we would go together and we got the tickets. It had sold out within minutes, so we were fortunately able to find tickets with hiked prices from a resale website. (Totally worth it.) Outside the Palladium before the show, I was interviewed on camera for Livenation!

The two bands opening for The xx were 2:54 and John Talabot. I hadn't heard either of them live before, but  I knew the band 2:54 was also from the U.K.

I didn't hear much of John Talabot's set after finding the first couple of songs uninteresting and uncomfortable, but listening to 2:54 was the best way I could have imagined to prepare myself for The xx. The crowd seemed to get really into the band and the energy building inside the venue

When The xx took the stage, I think the only reason I didn't go deaf was my own loud cheering. I've genuinely never felt suck positive energy and heard so many people who knew the lyrics to the songs being played at a show before.

I was a little concerned that they might overtake the show with only songs from their new album, which although I liked, wasn't what I'd been listening to for the past few years on repeat! They managed to play quite the balanced set-list between both albums that pleased the crowd very much. The band's stage presence is phenomenal and their gratitude obvious. They even added a light show that changed throughout the night, which just added to the experience. I was impressed by how many fans knew the lyrics to the songs from Coexist, considering it didn't come out long ago.

Without question, it was my favorite concert of the year and possibly of all time.
Photos by Daisy Marietta, (c) October 2012

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