An anomaly occurred just a little less than a month ago, when Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” charted on the Country Billboard chart. It was, at that time, maybe taken as a joke. But then you started listening to it… and you couldn’t really tell what the song was. Was it a country song, but made with hip-hop instruments? Or vice-versa? Regardless if it feels like a glazed-donut dipped into an orange 7/11 Big-Gulp, the song itself represents perhaps a new age in contemporary music.
For those of you not familiar with the music or the many monikers of Richard D. James (and if you clicked on this link I hope to God you are), let me run down the night in phases of the first non-festival Aphex Twin show on U.S. soil in over two decades at Brooklyn’s Avant Gardener.
Some bands think about product before emotion. Some bands think about the end destination, rather than the journey. Some bands get too caught up on what the final outcome might look or sound like.
There was a bit of news last week that may have been overlooked. Warner Music Group announced its roster of newly signed artists for the coming year. On there already were the usual staples: Coldplay, Madonna, etc. But there was one signee that trailed off from the others – an algorithm generator. But as far as news goes, no one batted an eye.
There seems to be a trend going on the music world today, but this one has no signature sound. No trademark looks, face tattoos, or use of auto tune. In fact, it’s a movement to kind of not be recognizable at all, but to be minimalistic in approach. Less is always more. It bears no similarities to the genres that came before it, nor does it try to reinvent the wheel. They’re simply tunes that can be played with no more than a piano and an 808 drum machine. One critic might call it the “music of the future.”
Harmony Korine has always been that outlier of a filmmaker – one doesn’t seem to figure out where the artist ends and the man begins. And during his nearly 30 year career, he’s always played that card like a magician: you don’t call upon him to show you a trick. Rather, he calls upon you.
There’s been a musical revolution going on in the past year. Young hip-hop artists have been gaining notoriety for their “bad boy” images and excessive lifestyles. It’s a new form of punk rock, some people call it, where all the resources needed are available to them and all that’s required is just a little attitude and emotion.
It was around this time a year ago when it was announced that FYF (Fuck Yeah Fest) was done for in Los Angeles. But not only that, Texas’s Day for Night and Free Press festivals had also gone out the window, all as a result of their founders and festival runners being accused of sexual assault. For music fans in those areas, it was a deal-breaker – a heartbreak from what were probably the most eclectic music festivals in the U.S.
Brooklyn has always been a hot bed for multi-cultural pop, ever since the tech-boom of the early 2000s which caused a mass migration across the East River. And back then, the bands didn’t focus on one type of music. It wasn’t all one sound, but they were all different sounds, focused around one idea.
Sunday night contained a fair amount of surprises, some fun choices (Spike Lee, Ruth Carter, Olivia Colman), and some questionable (you know exactly which ones I’m talking about). It seems like this discussion happens every year, but it feels like this year has a bit more engaging of a backlash due to the ultimate winner.